Hamilton Beach FlexBrew Trio 2-Way Coffee Maker, Compatible with K-Cup Pods or Grounds, Single Serve & Full 12c Pot, Permanent Gold-Tone Filter, Black & Silver

Why I Stuck With FlexBrew
***Preliminary** First cups down this morning on carafe side. This is my third Hamilton Beach FlexBrew. That in itself may sound negative, but each of the first two lasted approximately 10 years each. In the age of ‘modern electronics’ of this nature is probably pretty good. This new version seemed to already address a couple of minor changes I might have liked with the old units. This model is more convenient, more sleek, and eliminated a couple of flaws–ease in cleaning, programming clarity, and eliminates the problematic switching between carafe and Kcup mode. The switch out of the Kcup and ground coffee pods on the Kcup side is easier. It has a convenient self storage area for the Kcup grounds pod. I have yet to brew a Kcup. Eliminating the ‘selector switch’ is eliminated due to the dual water reservoirs. The display is brighter and much improved. Some elements are the same, or almost identical–carafe and brew basket. I know it’s early, and still have to become more familiar with both Kcup and Kcup grounds side, all of which I use, depending on my situation. I no longer travel, normally brew a few cups, but occasionally wish to only brew a singe Kcup (flavored or cocoa etc.) which suits my needs. I still have to pull unit from under cabinet to fill water, but I’m used to that…this enables me to more accurately pour the water without spilling. My initial impression (n=1 pot) is very good. I will update with any meaningful changes or additons to this review.

Works as intended and keeps coffee nice and hot!
I needed a new coffee pot for the work office. Small office with five employees, but we all drink two to three cups a day. We also had a K-Cup machine for those afternoon cups. I was able to throw away my normal coffee maker and the K-Cup machine which was great.Setup is easy, but changing the time and programming was slightly confusing, but once you figure it out, super easy. Just wait a second for the hour to stop blinking and it moves to the minutes. Same for programming the auto brew for the morning.Coffee tastes great, and the warmer keeps the coffee really hot. Much hotter than a Mr. Coffee brand maker that we got rid of. My one and only complaint is the brew time. The 12-cup maker part makes coffee as excepted, but slower than the Mr. Coffee to brew the same 12 cups. The K-Cup part is the disappointment. The brewing part can house a standard mug or a travel mug. What the instructions don’t tell you is no matter how much water you put in the tank for the K-Cup, that is what is coming out. My first cup overflowed and made a mess. As you can imagine, I filled the tank up to full and pressed brew, and then waited, and I mean waited. It takes a solid three to four minutes to start brewing the K-Cup side. Normal K-Cup brewers brew in seconds to a minute at most. Even to heat the water up. However, this coffee maker takes forever. I was able to go to the bathroom, wash a few mugs, and straighten up the kitchen all before the thing made a noise that it was heating up the water. I am really perplexed that the K-Cup part takes so long to brew and that is supposed to be the faster and more convenient option. Baffles me.

Best coffee maker we’ve ever owned.
Love this thing. Owned many different coffee makers. This is the best we owned. It does take a bit longer than usual to brew. And that is when using standard mode. Bold would take even longer. But if you’re patient, it’s not that bad. Display is nice and crisp. We use the single serve, the whole pot carafe, and Kcup. We make tea, loose tea, instant coffe, and ground coffe (single serve and pot). So I’ve used pretty much all of its features. Works fine without a hitch. Had it for a number of months so far and no issues. Parts dissasemble for easy dishwasher cleaning. Coffee and tea comes out great. This replaced our old coffee maker and electric tea kettle. Loose tea comes out wonderful. Sometimes we make tea from tea bags. Coffee comes out fine as well. Even use Kcup too. It uses any style of KCUP, generic as well. Simple to use as well. Just fill the resevoire with the amount you need each time you use the coffee maker and that is the amount that will come out. I prefer this to the ones where you have to choose a pre-determined size since mugs vary. This way you have your own choice of how much comes out. Really versatile and will generally replace most of your coffee and tea needs for most people.

I have only owned this coffee maker for 3-4 months now but I love this machine!! It comes with a reusable metal filter for both the carafe and the single cup makers. It makes fantastic flavor and is the exact some tasting no matter which way you make it, a pot, a single cup or if you use a K-cup. I will say you do have to fine-tune your measurements for the ground coffee but the overall operation of the machine is super easy with no more than a 3 button to a single button operation.The machine is fully programmable so you can wake up to that great morning coffee smell. You can even have it set to fill your traveler’s mug so you can avoid those crazy morning drive-thrus at Tims. I have yet to get a blockage on it but I am anal when it comes to cleaning my equipment. I also bought a 3-drawer, 36 k-cup holder from Amazon that sits directly below the machine and looks like the two were meant for one another. It keeps the k-cups out of sight and gives the overall appearance a little more professional look.I have found only 2 cons with this machine as nothing is ever perfect.First, the screen for the clock and programming, although really bright and clear, it shines through a tinted plastic that makes it almost disappear completely if you do not look directly at the right angle. So there are times I can’t see the clock or it’s hard to make out the display when I sit at my kitchen table.Secondly, my machine has gotten louder in the first 2-3 weeks when it was heating, brewing and finishing the cycle, the noise just got louder and louder. It’s not so loud it’s annoying or that it may obstruct your morning conversation with the kids or your spouse but it did get significantly louder and so I have to mention that. It was dead quiet when I first started using it, you could barely hear it but now you almost feel like your in a bistro now lol.That aside, this is an astounding coffee percolator. I love the carafe or single cup or even k-cup options. I love the automatic shutoff of the coffee warming plate for the carafe. It shuts off after 2 hours have passed after brewing. I love the 2 separate water level viewing glasses as they are super clear. The disassembly and cleaning of the machine are so easy you could get your four years old to do it, heck even gets the husband to do it. I love the fact you get reusable brewing screens. Being able to program my morning brew that’s another pro and above all else, for the price that you will pay for this machine and the flavor and speed you get out of it is simply amazing. Hamilton Beach truly made the definition of value with this machine. I also got the extended 3year warranty on top of the manufacturer 1 year warranty just in case this too good to be true machine doesn’t stand the test of time but at this rate I have nothing but positive thoughts that this machine will be here with me for at least another 5 years as long as no one steals it!!

Talking about the overall design of this brew station is excellent. Easy to access from pouring in the coffee to the water to setting it up for a single cup or the carafe. I’ve only utilized the “bold“ setting and very much enjoy the quality and the robust flavour of the brewed coffee. There are two factors that for me make it a 4 star rating instead of a 5. First is the design of the filter holder for the coffee grounds in the carafe section. It is more challenging to clean as the grounds never dry out given the fact the bottom of the filter basket is solid, is no drainage holes. It’s designed is good for flavouring the coffee but sadly not for the clean up. The other issue is the temperature of the freshly coffee in the carafe. There is no ability to adjust the temperature of the carafe contents after brewing and I often find the temperature of the freshly brewed coffee a little low for my liking. Not show shoppers but if they were able to address these I would easily give it six stars out of five. We are very pleased with the single serving portion of the coffee maker. Excellent taste and a very nice Crema on asingle mug of coffee. I really appreciate the ability to select how big a cup I want to have on the single portions by pouring in the amount of water versus having the machine decide how much water to utilize. Great design feature!. Pleased with the product and recommend.

A friend without prime did research and had me buy him one of these.Fast forward a few years and my Keurig died on me, and I was in the market for another machine.This can brew up to 12 cups of coffee on one side of the machine.And it can brew K-Cup single serve pods on the other side.Each side has it’s own single use water reservoir, with an amount indicator.The coffee pot side has a gold basket insert, so you don’t need filters.Dumping the used coffee grinds might be easier with a filter, but then not needing to buy them is nice too.Pressing the I/O (brew/power) button without water in the coffee pot side has the hot plate (stay warm function) enable for another couple of hours.The coffee pot side can be programmed to start your pot at whatever time of day you’d like.Just pre-fill the water level and of course the amount of coffee into the gold basket.The single serve side can take any K-Cup.Beneath the shelf for a cup/mug is a storage bit.Inside that is a pocket for using ground coffee, if you prefer one cup of coffee but don’t want to use a K-Cup.The machine is a little louder than my Keurig was, and it takes a little longer to brew.Not massively so, but noticeably.The coffee is definitely warmer than the Keurig machine.Without cream it would be too hot to drink immediately, but with just a little cream it is drinkable but on the hot side.Either side has the option for regular or bold brew.Aside from the toggle (between single serve or carafe), one set of controls runs the entire machine.I’ve only been using it for a few weeks, but it feels sturdy and well made.Much more solid than my Keurig machine felt.I agree with my friend, that this is a great machine.They’ve had theirs for four years and are still using it on a daily basis.