Review of Sunbeam Mr. Coffee 12 Cup Coffee Maker (price, reviews, European)

[reviewer]

Sunbeam Mr. Coffee 12 Cup Coffee Maker

Rating: 2 out of 5

• Currently 2.0/5.0

This coffeemaker was bought to replace my very expensive European one after it broke down on me. I was looking for something to get me by and keep me in coffee while I researched, and then saved up for, my next expensive European machine. That being said, I was just looking for something cheap to hold me over. This was something cheap to hold me over, but I would never want to depend on it long term.

One nice feature that it has, and the reason I chose it over a few other coffeemakers in the same price range, is two windows into the water resevoir. This is a great feature if you're like me, and forget whether you already put the water in. I do that constantly, and with this machine I didn't have to pull it forward, open the lid and look in to see if I had filled it already. I did like that.

It has the pause and pour feature, which I insist on, but it doesn't work very well. It stops dispensing the coffee while you're pouring a cup, but, apparently, it doesn't actually stop brewing. Once you put the pot back, it dumps a bunch of coffee, which ends up all over the counter and warming plate. That really irritated me. Too much cleanup for sneaking a cup of coffee.

On the subject of cleaning, this one is a pain to wash. The basket doesn't come clean very easily at all, and with all the leaking and spiliing, the warmer plate gets really dirty. I also found, after a few weeks, that the edges of the warmer plate aren't sealed very well. I actually found coffee under the warming plate, which I wasn't able to get out.

The coffeemaker does make a decent cup of coffee, but nothing special. Of course, you're not really looking for special at this price, just hot and ready coffee.

Review by professional reviewer, Aug. 25, 2011