Review on Hamilton Beach 49981A Coffee Single by Donna Lawson

This is my first impression of this coffee maker and is subject to change. I award four stars out of five. Link to my video review. I like this coffee maker very much. I'm the only one in my family who drinks coffee, so I don't need decanter-style coffee makers, and I really don't care about machines that can whip up faux lattes or iced mochas. And as much as I love our coffee at a time, I really don't have the time or inclination to go through that 5 a.m. process when I'm warming up my Peterbilt service truck to drive to work. . No, I just want my coffee maker to make me a strong cup of coffee while I pack my lunch for the afternoon. Enter the Scoop coffee maker. It wasn't expensive. And given the many reviews I've seen on here, I was a little skeptical and a little wary of spending my hard-earned money, if only to be disappointed. In the end, my old Keurig B70 does a great job, but seems to be missing something. I had a problem switching from disposable K cups to reusable baskets. Just because I'm a diesel mechanic doesn't mean I don't care about the impact of billions of coffee pods in landfills or appreciate saving 50-85 cents a cup. However, it seems to me that the reusable baskets produced slightly weaker coffee than I would like, and the cleaning process negated any Keurig benefits. Do not get me wrong. I love my Kerig. I won't get rid of him anytime soon. But I figured there must be a better way. This is where the benefits of Scoop really come into play. First, it can brew my entire travel mug at once. Check! With my Keurig, I have to scoop my soil into each basket, essentially brewing two 8-ounce cups. Scoop is slower, but with the extra work of loading K-Cup baskets, it's really not that much slower. And Scoop produces a stronger cup anyway. Which brings me to the only scam I can think of, and that's the Brew Kettle. Only 14 ounces. Oh well! I would like to see 16 oz instead. But it's just a minor misfortune. Cleaning is easy. Simply pour out the grist and rinse out the scoop primary filter. I take out the secondary filter and clean it, and since I'm a bit obsessed with keeping things clean, I take out the filter well and wash it too. The pieces are dishwasher safe and I'll try them on the top shelf, but rinsing and washing with mild soap doesn't take long, especially if I'm just waiting after work. Scoop is easy too - just two buttons. The normal button is for regular coffee at a gas station. Bold type represents finer grinds and premium blends. I prefer Black Rifle Coffee Company. This makes Starbucks feel burnt and bitter. BRCC is an invigorating coffee that will wake you up and bring you back to reality before you work overtime. Love it! (I know, shameless cork. Get over it.) Just pour in water (I use the mug I'm going to drink from), pop in a scoopful of your favorite brain fuel, press the button, and release the scoop to go the rest. . I measured the temperature at the spout of the cup. In the cup + -155 degrees. For reference, my Keurig's brew temp is set at 192 and the cup temp is +-153 degrees. So Scoop is probably brewing around 175-190. Some people might want a hotter coffee, and that's fine if you want to burn your taste buds from the first sip. I see a lot of steam rising from my cup as my kitchen fills with the aroma of coffee, and I'm okay with that. My hydroflask will keep coffee hot for hours anyway (yep, another shameless stub). Bottom Line: If you drink your coffee black, you love simplicity and don't need coffee bars or devices that do 12 other things. You don't need to, then you can just try this thing. At less than $40, it's a bargain and doesn't feel cheap at all. I'll add this once I have time to see how it works in the long run.