CuisinartPlus 12-Cup Hot Water Coffee Maker, Black/Stainless

I bought this coffeemaker for my wife as a Christmas present (2011). We love it a lot. It makes great, HOT coffee, and the hot water system works perfectly. If you are like me, you are reading these comments in order to learn whether or not you should buy this product. With that in mind, let me give you a few things to consider:The Not So Good1. Plastic taste - A number of folks have complained about a plasticy taste, especially on the hot water side, and I can verify that we have experienced a little of that, but only on the coffee side. It took us about 3-4 pots of coffee before the plastic aftertaste went away, and we haven't tasted it since. We have never tasted it on the hot water side. It's possible that the people who keep tasting it truly have models that have a problem, but it's also possible that they just imagine they are tasting it. Either way, at least for us, whatever plastic taste was there before seems to be gone now.2. Hard to fill the coffee reservoir - It is true that the hole you pour water through to fill the coffee side is poorly positioned and quite small. Some folks use a funnel, others rotate around to the side of the coffeemaker to improve their pouring angle. Me? I just pour carefully. I have not spilled any water (yet). My biggest issue is that I find the last 1/2 cup of water difficult to get out of the carafe. If I try to pour 8 cups of water into the reservoir I can get the first 7 1/2 out easily, but that last little bit is tough. To compensate I just fill the carafe with a cup or so more water than what I intend to pour into the reservoir - say, 9+ cups if I want to brew 8 - and then discard whatever extra water is left in the carafe. Problem solved.3. Slight residue from coffee grounds - We use the bundled reusable coffee filter. We have found that it leaves a very fine residue from the coffee grounds at the bottom of our coffee, which isn't a big deal, but is at least something worth mentioning in case that sort of thing bothers you.4. Coffee brewing time - The coffeemaker is not slow, but it certainly is not fast. Reading some reviews led me to think this thing made really fast coffee, which just is not the case. I would say it's average, which really isn't bad, per se, but you should temper your expectations. A Bunn this is not.The Good1. Great coffee - Isn't this why you buy a coffeemaker? This unit makes really good coffee, period. It is VERY hot. I mean, you can put cold milk/creamer in your coffee and it'll still be hot when you're through, especially if you select the hottest carafe heat setting (a nice touch, I might add). A coffeemaker should make good coffee, and this one does not disappoint.2. Speedy hot water system - I was very impressed with how fast the hot water system heated the water. Once again, after reading some reviews you would think this thing took forever. It doesn't. In just a few minutes it does its job as advertised. It's certainly faster than heating up a pot on the stove, although it only heats one serving or so at a time. But the reheats in between each serving take less time than the initial heating of the first serving, a real plus if you plan on making more than one hot drink at a time. But keep in mind that this hot water system is not intended to completely replace a kettle if you intend to fix a lot of tea or hot cocoa at one time. If you are making hot drinks for more than 2-3 people at a time, it might be faster to heat a lot of water on your stove rather than waiting for multiple reheats. As long as you keep this in mind I don't think you will be at all disappointed with the hot water system. It really does work well.3. Simultaneous dual function - I got the impression from previous reviewers that you could not make coffee and hot water at the same time. This is not true. My unit will brew coffee on one side and heat up water on the other side simultaneously. Perhaps Cuisinart updated this model to add this function, or perhaps the previous reviewers were simply wrong. All I know is that mine does both at the same time and they both perfectly.I disagree with some of the reviewers who complained about other various issues with this coffeemaker. The hot water drain plug on the bottom of the unit is positioned exactly where it should be, and is simple enough to use. If you are using simple tap water for the hot water system it'll work just fine. The five beeps that indicate that the coffee is finished brewing are not too loud, nor intrusive. My microwave makes more noise when it beeps. The hot water reservoir should be drained occasionally (since you canot dispense all the water you put in), but this isn't as big of a deal as previous reviewers make it out to be. This takes about 10 seconds of your week. The electrical cord is a little short, but do people expect it to be 10 feet long? In the end, just like with any product being reviewed by hundreds of people, every possible flaw will be brought to light. But all in all I think this is a great product that is worth the money (assuming you buy it on sale - the retail price on this thing is outrageous; I got it for $85). I highly recommend it.

I consider myself a coffee snob, but I also value convenience and ease-of-use. I love French press, Clover, and other gourmet forms of coffee making, but at home you can't beat a good drip machine. My previous Melitta maker was excellent, but it finally kicked the bucket so the search began for a countertop replacement. I love this Cuisinart CHW-12, and here's why:COFFEE MAKER - This machine does a great job of brewing and that's really what it's all about, right? The CHW-12 uses the #4 cone-type filter which I think brews better than the basket type filters. There is also a reusable gold-tone filter included. I prefer the disposable #4 paper filters (I use the Melitta unbleached) since it's easier to clean up and I just throw the whole filter and grounds in my compost bin. The CHW-12 appears to use the same brewing system as the Cuisinart 1200 series which is highly rated and well-respected. To my pleasant surprise, this Cuisinart brews a pot of coffee just as fast as my old Melitta "Fast Brew" maker. And, the "M" (for Medium) carafe temp setting keeps the coffee at about 180-degrees. That's a tad hotter than most makers, and is noticeably hotter than the Cuisinart 1200. I expected to be using the "H" (Hot) setting, but have not really needed to since "M" is hot enough. Compared to other makers I've used, this Cuisinart has less splash and spill-over in the brewing basket. That means fewer grounds and coffee get splashed out of the basket which makes cleaning up easier. The pause-and-serve feature also works better than most, with fewer drips. The carafe is about average with a good-fitting lid and easy, drip-free pouring. There is a small lip all around the neck of the carafe which means you have to tilt the carafe a bit further to pour - this could be viewed as a "safety feature" depending on how you look at it, and it takes some getting used to.HOT WATER DISPENSER - A great feature for my wife who makes tea, single-cup "manual" coffee, and occasional instant oatmeal. The hot water dispenser heats up very quickly - about 3 minutes from cold, and only about a minute if it has been turned on within that last few hours. That's about twice as fast as a typical stove-top tea kettle and faster than most electric tea kettles. The water dispenses at about 190 degrees and it keeps the water very hot even an hour or so after it's been turned off. There is a light to tell you when the water is hot and ready, and the light stays lit after you turn off the water dispenser to warn you that it's still hot. The dispensing mechanism seems well-designed and doesn't drip at all. The base plate is removable for tall mugs, and can be taken apart for cleaning. You can easily dispense 2-3 mugs full of hot water before having to refill the reservoir. If you refill the reservoir when the "add water" light comes on, then the added water takes less than a minute to heat up. I just get in the habit of adding every time I dispense hot water or every time I turn on the machine. There is no water-level window for the hot water reservoir so you have to go off of the "Max" markings on the filler door. A reservoir window would have been much better. The box and the manual make no mention of how much energy is used to keep the water hot, nor is there any mention of how long you can safely keep it on. I've had it on for days with no ill effect, but I'd recommend just turning it off when you don't need it.MAIN UNIT - Beware, this thing is tall and won't fit under most cabinets. This was almost a deal-breaker, but I found a nice spot for it on my chef's island. The main unit is sturdy and the stainless steel trim looks nice. There is a water-level window for the coffee maker, but (surprisingly) no window for the hot water dispenser. That's too bad, since a window on that side would have been nice. The top water filler doors open up wide for easy pouring but they swing back a bit too, so you may have to pull it away from the wall when filling. There is a "Clean" indicator and Clean mode button for flushing with a water/vinegar solution. I use filtered water exclusively in my machines, so this coffee maker should go for years before needing any kind of flush. Both the coffee maker and the hot water dispenser have built-in water filters so there should be reduced scale and other build-up. The filters are very simple fabric pouches filled with activated charcoal, so my guess is that they are mainly for flavor and not really to guard against scale, minerals, deposits, etc. The unit sits very stable and has rubber feet on the bottom. There is no power cord storage, unfortunately, and the power cord is short - only about 4 feet.CONTROLS - Like most coffee makers these days, the clock is small and hard to read. But the blue backlight is nice and the display is better than many other similar makers, including Cuisinart's 1200. The controls are straightforward and I especially like the main control dial which is very intuitive. The controls are all plastic but they have a good feel to them and are easy to use. You can program the auto-off time (0-4 hours) and you can start the brewing in any mode. There is a 1-4 cup setting which supposedly slows down the brewing process to better extract flavor. I have noticed no difference in the amount of time it takes to brew or the overall carafe temperature using the 1-4 cup setting, so there must be something going on behind the scenes. The blue backlight on the clock looks good, but it's the exact same color as all the other indicator lights so it's not always easy to tell what's going on with a quick glance. For example, you have to pay attention to tell if the hot water is ready (little blue light) or if you're in 1-4 cup mode (virtually identical little blue light). Also, a larger clock window would have greatly improved legibility.OVERALL - Great coffee flavor using the preferred cone-type filters, fast brewing time, hotter than most water temperature (a good thing), adjustable carafe temperature, and the added bonus of a hot water dispenser (that heats up very quickly). And you also get a reusable gold-tone filter. My only gripes are the tall main unit which doesn't fit under cabinets, and the lack of a hot water dispenser reservoir window.UPDATE AFTER 8 MONTHS OF USE: We finally remodeled our kitchen and installed standard-hight wall cabinets (15" from countertop to cabinet bottom). That means this Cuisinart coffeemaker just barely fits under the cabinets - but if fits! The lettering on the on/off buttons is worn but other than that it's still in like-new condition and works perfectly. Oddly enough, the lettering on the on/off button for the hot water dispenser - which we use much less frequently - wore off first. The coffeemaker on/off button - which we use all the time - looks better but is starting to wear off as well. After 8 months of roughly 4-times-a-week coffeemaker use, there is no loss in performance, no noticeable scaling or staining anywhere, and the machine has not lit the "Clean" indicator light yet. Still very pleased overall, although I would suggest to Cuisinart that they improve their button lettering.

Espere unos meses para poner una reseña, ahora después de usarla diaria me parece que funciona excelente.

We were very pleased with our coffee replacement appliance that arrived in a timely manner.

Muy buen producto, funciona Perfecto, aunque las instrucciones no son muy claras en cuanto al uso de las programaciones.

Perfect

Hasta ahorita ha sido muy funcional, tanto la cafetera como el calentador de agua.