12-Cup* Coffeemaker, Programmable, Exclusive VORTEXTM Technology, CM1331S-1

Nice Coffeemaker!
Snagged this coffeemaker for $30 during the July Prime sale recently and after running a pot of water through it last night per the instructions, made my first pot of coffee this morning. It’s great! Coffee tastes great and is plenty hot. I’m not super picky on pots anyway but a few things I like about this one:1) It measures 13.5 inches, which is about 2 inches shorter than my previous one. It fits in the small kitchen space under my cabinet and oddly looks much more sleek than my former monster sized one.2) The stainless and black match my kitchen appliances perfectly, which are all stainless and black.3) There’s nothing crazy/fancy/unnecessary on this coffeemaker- no serious bells and whistles that I will never use anyway. I don’t want a machine that requires me to pursue an engineering or IT degree.4) My favorite feature on any pot I buy (including this one) is the “sneak a cup” for when I’m desperate to have a cup of coffee FAST; other features include pushing a simple button for strong brew, programming it to brew ahead of time, a clock that’s easy to set and a cleaning cycle to run vinegar through it every month or two as indicated.5) The carafe seems a bit heavier/more substantial than my old one, which I accidently cracked by banging it in the sink and destroyed. I also really love the bigger handle for some reason- this carafe is easy to pour- no drips on the counter at all.6) I think I read in the reviews some people had grounds in their cup of coffee- I didn’t experience this at all. Maybe it’s the filter being used? I just bought the Amazon Basics basket filter- super cheap but holds up. I think I’d just double my filter if I had that problem anyway.I’m glad I bought this Black and Decker coffeemaker- I normally buy Hamilton Beach small appliances but love this one for it’s basic features, great tasting coffee and smaller but super sleek look.

Great coffee maker for the price
I drink my coffee black, so taste wise on a scale of Keurig (1) to pour over (10), 10 being best, I rate this a 6-7. I’ve never owned a Black and Decker coffee maker, but I’ve had their toaster ovens for years, and thought I’d give it a try since I needed something that could make larger amounts of coffee at a time. I’m very glad I chose this unit. I think it looks really good in my kitchen and I like the size of the footprint. Features I like and use are brew strength, cleaning function, and the timer setting on the warming plate- which brings me to the 4 stars: I don’t know if it’s just my unit, but the plate runs so hot that after just 30 minutes, the coffee started tasting a little scorched. That’s not a deal breaker for me since I have a stainless carafe, but if you want to use the warmer, that’s a consideration. Otherwise, it makes really good coffee for an auto-drip.Some reviews complained about how the water goes in. I do have to pull it out from the wall and open the cabinet door above it, but that’s where I store all my coffee paraphernalia anyway, so not a big deal to me. Besides, I’m old enough to remember when the first Mr Coffees came out and between those first models and percolators, it’s something I’m used to doing since they all filled from the top.Cleaning: when I first got the coffee maker, the first few batches tasted appliance-y, so I had to do a cleaning cycle off the bat. That fixed the issue, so you might need to do that as well. The glass carafe, basket, and rest of unit are easy to clean. I just wipe down the inside of the lid and the shower head with a paper towel between cleaning/descaling cycles, and the unit looks like new. Given all the pros and cons, I think the pros win and recommend purchasing this coffee maker.

One of the best basic coffee makers out there…
Standard filter size, nice distributed water pattern onto coffee grounds, large tank if needed, Bold setting, clock, future brew timer, stay warm timer.Bold setting: Eh don’t really notice a difference.Future brew timer: Must have, it works perfectly.Stay warm timer: This is huge to me, you can set it to 3 different amounts of time to keep your coffee warm. I use the 1 1/2 hour bc I don’t know when I’ll be up and about day to day. And it has displays a timer on the front how much longer the coffee warming element has left. It is just a really great simple feature.Standard coffee filter size. It’s a 12 cup, I make 6 cups before bed. Then wake up to fresh brewed coffee every morning and don’t have to make it at that moment, groggy. Very nice, simple and pragmatic coffee maker for the price.

Fitler not included
Decided on this coffee maker based on reviews AND under Product Info, stated filter as “Reusable”. Reusable coffee filter is NOT included. Just wanted others to know. Coffee maker works great.