![]() The SCA requires brew times between four and eight minutes and temperatures between 198 and 205 degrees Fahrenheit. While SCA testing is only for a combination of full pot, liter, and half-liter sizes (which of those they use depends on how large the carafe is) a Braun spokesperson said the company "maintains standards and parameters in all brewing sizes." That turned out to be not completely accurate in my testing for smaller sizes, but not too far off. I also paid close attention to the Braun's brewing time and temperature, and how that compared with the SCA requirements, and the results were on target. I tested away, immediately appreciating the MultiServe's removable reservoir, which helps keep the inner workings of the machine clean by discouraging the use of a potentially-not-100-percent-clean pot to fill the tank. Being able to lock in a few of those with a good brewer like this one brings you that much closer to perfection. Those factors are among a small legion of other variables that include coffee quality and freshness, grind size, ground quantity and saturation, water quality and quantity, and brewing method, among others that can help make or break the finished cup. There’s also a version that dispenses hot water for tea and hot chocolate drinkers.įood writer Joe Ray ( is a Lowell Thomas Travel Journalist of the Year, a restaurant critic, and author of " Sea and Smoke" with chef Blaine Wetzel. You may also be excited to hear about the drip-stop lever, which allows you to sneak a cup mid brew without making a mess, which is both classy and practical. Plus, there's an inexplicably endearing little dock called the "cup shelf" that flips down to set a mug on when you brew into it. ![]() The dial settings allow you to brew just the amount you want, even if you have more than that amount in the tank, a clever feat. There are seven options for that, from a five-ounce cup to a full pot, meaning you're also covered for your Contigo or favorite diner mug. Fill that reservoir up to the top, even if you only want a mug's worth, then add the grounds and set the dial on the front to match the size of the vessel you want to brew into. But here's where you start noticing differences. There's a glass carafe, a water reservoir, a clock, and the filter basket where you can use a paper filter or the included metal mesh filter. Much of the MultiServe's setup is familiar. You might be thinking, Hey! I can trick my coffee maker into doing a single cup's worth! Well, you can, but you'll do a lot better with the Braun. It's a traditional-style drip coffee maker that does everything from making a nice, large pot to a single cup. Since an all-in-one full-pot and single-shot coffee maker is elusive as a unicorn, and having both a regular coffee machine and a Keurig on the counter feels excessive, I was very happy to learn of the Braun MultiServe. Alternatively, if you want a pot's worth of coffee from a single-serve machine, you're out of luck. French press, Aeropress, pour-over drippers, and even the Moka pot come to mind, but those require more attention than a standard drip brewer. Yet it's difficult to find a reasonable, quick, and easy alternative for a single cup. (Nespresso, I see you over there, hand raised like Hermione Granger in Professor McGonagall's class, but you're not much better.) What then? When I asked Keurig PR about that last point, they got back to me, but they never answered the question. Are all the cheap hotels going to start recycling programs? How many people are going to be committed enough to bother? Plus, where I live in Seattle, you can’t recycle any plastics smaller than three inches across, and a K-Cup is an inch shy of that. While Keurig is committed to having their K-Cups in the United States be recyclable by 2020, I’m not sure how well that’s going to work out. Still, can't we do better? There are bazillions of those little Keurig capsules clogging our landfills in the name of convenience. Fill one with water, insert the pod full of coffee grounds, put your mug underneath, and press the brew button. For that, Keurig-style machines boast an undeniably convenient setup. Thing is, while regular drip coffee machines can brew a full pot easily, they struggle mightily when you try to make a single cup. There was a lot of convenience in that machine's push-button coffee, but thinking of how much waste this creates all over the world stuck in my craw. After a few days, I happened to look into the trash can next to the desk and saw almost nothing in there but a couple handfuls' worth of spent Keurig pods that would soon be heading straight for the dump. I recently stayed in a cheap hotel in San Diego, using room 417 as an office while I was in town.
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