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Hamilton Beach Stay or Go Coffee Maker with Thermal Carafe and Two Travel Mugs |
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List price:
$89.99
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- Coffeemaker features 10-cup thermal carafe and 2 travel mugs
- 3 brewing options: into the carafe, or one or both mugs
- Programmable clock, automatic shutoff, water filter
- Thermos mugs with 360-degree sipping are dishwasher-safe
- Measures 14-1/2 by 10 by 8-1/2 inches
Your money's worth
Rating: 
I was sold on this unit for its price. The thermal carafe and travel mugs alone are worth more than its list price. A friend of mine has this unit, so I felt comfortable purchasing it. First off, to address some concerns, there is indeed trouble with dripping as noted in previous reviews. However, I don't feel that it's an unusual amount, considering this is a drip coffee maker. After my first few pots, I was able to minimize dripping to the point where I don't need to clean up after myself. Secondly, the issue of turning the coffee maker to fill the resevoir. I've found that I have no trouble filling it from the front. I can understand why people are having this trouble. It's a tall unit. It takes a bit of coordination. Finally, previous reviewers complained about the taste. I did a very standard cleaning, have not used the water filter, and have had no troubles with taste.
Con:
1. The unit is big and tall and is awkward on the counter.
2. Its capacity is 8 cups.
3. The cup indicator is on the INSIDE of the water resevoir and is hard to see, especially when filling.
4. It does drip. I can't deny that. But it is manageable.
Pro:
1. The thermal carafe is excellent. Preheat and you will have perfect hot coffee for 2-3 hours.
2. The travel mugs are handy. The 360 deg drinkability is surprisingly useless to me, but to each their own.
3. Clock timer is handy.
4. Easy to clean and easy to use.
Overall, I'd have to say that with its deficiencies, it's still the best value. The thermal carafe and the travel mugs alone make this coffee maker a good purchase. I'd recommend it if you're in the market for a thermal carafe coffee maker.
Got a bad taste in my mouth.
Rating: 
I'm a coffee junkie and a coffee snob. I spend $8/lb on Starbucks coffee and regularly buy good cups of coffee away from home. I'd been using a relatively inexpensive Mr. Coffee for the better part of a decade, til I broke my carafe. I'd decided the key features I wanted in a new machine were timer (which I'd already used regularly with my old machine), and a thermal carafe, so the coffee stays fresher & hot after brewing.
The price point on this H-B unit seemed pretty good, considering it came w/2 Thermos-brand travel mugs (which I didn't really need but do use...) I echo others' comments about the travel mugs being too large/tall as well as drip-prone. H-B touts the uncloseable openings all around the rim as an ease-of-use function, in actuality it's just so you can brew directly into the machine and create constant dripping hazard. Also, these mugs aren't well-insulated. I have other travel mugs made of actual brushed steel that work better (the Thermos ones w/this unit feel like brushed plastic exterior, as is the carafe.)
My biggest gripe about this maker, and the one which will probably result in it being returned, is that it brews awful-tasting coffee. It *may* be the filter H-B provides as some have suggested here, then again I've brewed with that removed and it's still crappy compared even to my older, cheaper, dirtier machine. You can smell the funky, skunky flavor you'll be getting whenever you open the (annoyingly front-hinged) lid to the water resevoir, or when you open the (drip-prone) brew lid, as well as in the (also drip-prone) carafe itself. Maybe it's due to the thermal-carafe design, I dunno. I've cleaned with vinegar (within 2 weeks of owning it), and have washed the carafe more often than I did with my old glass pot. No luck.
This thing has some really poor design features which I could overlook. But it makes bad coffee - the ultimate sin! Yeah, wirting this has been therapeutic. I'm now convinced that this thing is going back to BedBathBeyond!
Great value.
Rating:
I've been using mine for almost three months. Preheating the carafe with tap water, it coffee stays quite hot for a couple hours, and drinkably hot for three or four hours. Yes, it does drip when one takes the lid off and tries for that last half a mug of coffee, but so what? (By the time it gets down to that point, the coffee is lukewarm anyway.)
It goes without saying that the coffee is not boiling hot, like a French press/plung pot, but that is the price one pays with any drip.
I mostly purchased this unit because of the versatility in brewing options, and they have proved quite useful. When one considers that the Thermos mugs alone cost $20 each, the price point isn't bad at all.
I was surprised to learn the Hamilton Beach and Proctor Silex are essentially the same company; had I know that, I probably wouldn't have bought this pot, but I'm glad I did. The only thing that probably does better in the thermal carafe market is a Capresso, which doesn't have the travel mugs.
