I am not a coffee snob. I drink it with milk. I use Folgers decaf. I refuse to grind my own beans. I prefer to let billion-dollar multinational corporations do the grinding for me. I used to plop three heaping tablespoons of Folgers into a cut-open plastic jug and pour my reverse-osmosis filtered water over it. Then I put it my microwave for 14 minutes. I drained the coffee through a Brawny paper towel into a 30oz Balfor thermal mug I got on Amazon. OK, so a bit savage and feral, but I didn't want to be a total suburbanite with a coffee machine. The Bonavita BV1500TS brews in one-third the time. I bought one of those gold-tone permanent filters so no drinking paper residue. I was delighted to see Bonavita is thoughtful enough to put a 4-pack of filters in the box, so I didn't have to wait for the permanent filter to arrive. I was sure my low-temperature microwave method would be less bitter, but it was the exact opposite. The Bonavita made perfect coffee, and it was my goofy old method that made the coffee taste bad.

There is a review on CNET, "Bonavita BV1500TS review: A high-end brand's step-down coffeemaker brews with bitter results," by Brian Bennett. He claims this model makes bitter coffee. He also says he loves the 8-cup model. He notes that he tested with a very touchy coffee known to be bitter. I almost bought the bigger unit based on this. I am so glad I didn't. The coffee I made today was the best-tasting, smoothest, most delicious coffee I have ever had anywhere. I disagree completely with Bennett's review. Maybe it is outdated. Maybe he got a bad unit. Maybe he did not run three carafes through the unit in preparation, as the directions tell you to. Maybe he got the coffee maker on a grumpy day. As an engineer, I can see that the water delivery system needs to cool the water down from boiling before it drips on the grounds. Maybe Bennett left the lid open or blocked the vents or tested in a hot or cold warehouse. All I know is he is dead wrong. His testing was not double-blind, so I don't put much credence in it.

The unit came in a couple days, even with regular (not Prime) free shipping. It was delivered on Saturday despite saying it would be Monday. Yeah Amazon. The unit was well-packed, and had a decent little manual included. As noted, I loved they put in 4 filters, although the gold-tone filter came today too, but only after I made the first cup.

OK, its fast, and fantastic coffee, and its small and compact. The bad is that while it brews in minutes, you have to wait for the water to drain past the coffee after it stops brewing. No different than any other machine, I suppose. There is a plastic lip inside the stainless steel carafe so it never drains completely. No problem, one factor in getting this one versus the 8-cup model is that there is a glass double-wall thermal carafe available for this model. Its 30 bucks, here on Amazon. I will suffer with the stainless carafe until I do a "treat yo'self" to the glass one. I did love how the top screws onto the carafe, with perfect registration and a lever to open carafe drain. It does have a very restricted flow out of the carafe. Come on Bonavita. This is a drug delivery system. We want it fast. I did not notice any leaking or dripping problems as some others have noted. After I made the three conditioning pots, for the actual first coffee I did not bother to screw on the top. I just poured directly into my 30oz Balfor thermal mug, then added the milk. The perfect temperature of the coffee made it taste even better. This was after adding milk however.

No, this is not a shill review. I bought it with my own Social Security money here in the Florida retirement community. I am just so used to being disappointed with products, it was great to get one that exceeded my every expectation. Best yet, I save wear and tear on my old analog commercial microwave, a Sharp R-6300. Search Google for Sharp R-6300 and you can read an article I wrote years ago about that great unit. Next up is a tea-maker I also ordered from Amazon. I hope its as good as this product. Its another way to reduce the usage of my microwave, which I consider irreplaceable.

I got so worked up writing this, it occurs to me there is no reason I can't make a second pot tonight, its decaf after all. Now I get to try the paperless filter, yippee.

[Update, Oct 2021, four years later.] I still love this coffeemaker. I not only have used it every day, I have taken to brewing tea in it, so that means I use it more than twice a day on average. A family-sized tea bag makes 5 cups, four brews fills the gallon jugs I used to buy at the supermarket. Way cheaper, I can make decaf or caffeinated tea, and no artificial sugar or high prices. I love that it just takes one button press, no "features". I don't want to program a computer with every product I use, I just want to press a button and have it brew and turn off automatically. I don't want a heater under the carafe.

I had to buy two more double-walled glass carafes. One I dropped. Good thing, since its pour spout was hand-firmed and way too tiny, it was nearly impossible to pour without dribbling coffee down the side. The second was not properly sealed so condensation formed inside. There is a little glass nipple on the bottom where they are supposed to seal it off, and that was not sealed. The handle is two small as well, but it kinda works. My review for that will be "Italian style, Italian quality." I came back here today since I am considering buying a second one, since I don't want to go a day without the machine, when the first one wears out. I did learn that some people credit the cone filter with better coffee. Oh, I gave up on the permanent filter, it left little grounds in the coffee. I just use a #4 cone filter from Publix. They are cheap and work great.

I got this on an "open box" deal for $66, and for that price it's impossible to beat. For the list price it's still quite good but possibly more difficult to justify. I would say for what I paid, it's a five star product. For the over $100 list price, it's closer to four stars. Read on for my detailed thoughts.

I've worked at a few coffee shops, done cuppings with roasters, tried many different brewing techniques, roasted my own beans, etc, so I've definitely tried plenty of good coffee. This coffee is good. When you pay more for a drip machine, you're essentially buying consistency -- water temperature, volume, brew time, where the water is distributed over the grounds, all of these things matter, and make a difference in the flavors that end up in your cup. So while a $10 walmart dripper just indiscriminately dumps some moderately hot water over your precious coffee, a more expensive maker will control these variables with greater and greater precision. It's possible a moccamaster is more precise, but I don't have experience with one. I can say that the coffee the bonavita produces compares favorably with the extremely expensive, top of the line fetco machines (with proprietary spinning showerhead drippers and all the other bells and whistles) we had at the last coffee shop I worked at. I've changed cities since I worked there, so it's difficult to compare apples to apples, since I don't have access to the same beans, but using fairly middle of the road beans I've gotten pleasing results. It's not as good as the godly-est pourovers I've ever had, but it's fairly consistently quite good, doesn't require you to stare lovingly at your hario for 10 minutes, and can brew several cups at once, unlike an aeropress. Changing the volume of beans used and the fineness of the grind yield relatively predictable results, which is a wonderful encouragement for experimentation in search of your personal perfect recipe.

To address some of the common complaints:

I find the coffee plenty hot when the machine is finished brewing. It's very important to preheat everything before you start brewing, especially since it's a comparatively small volume of hot coffee. I run a two or three cup "blank pot" through the machine to rinse the filter and heat everything up before I brew.

It's true, the pot does not keep the coffee hot all day, however I have to say it's just a little ridiculous to expect it to. It's a relatively small volume of liquid (less liquid=less heat retention) in a pot that has a fairly large surface area, including that big, plastic, heat sucking lid. This is part of the reason for the tall, skinny design of the moccamaster, to minimize the surface area of the lid. I've found the bonavita carafe keeps my coffee reasonably hot for a couple hours, which is plenty for me. It might not be the world's best thermal pot but it's also not terrible, and the wider lid makes it easier to clean. For what I paid it's fine.

It's got a few plastic parts but what coffee maker for around $100 or less doesn't?

I don't know if they changed the design of the carafe since the previous reviewers bought theirs, but I don't experience the problems they've had with pouring without the lid. I wouldn't call it a great pouring experience but it also doesn't make a huge mess as others have complained. It definitely pours better with the lid but if I pour a cup without I don't have any problem. Maybe a drip or two but nothing out of the ordinary. That being said, the complaint about there always beings about a tablespoon of liquid remaining in the carafe is totally true. It doesn't make me crazy, but it is kind of mystifying how I can leave the thing upside down for hours, come back, and there's still a tablespoon of water rolling around in there. I don't think the volume of liquid is enough to affect the quality of the coffee, and if you wanted to you could just dry it out with a towel, but it is a very strange design problem.

Bonavita offers a double walled glass carafe replacement that looks beautiful and is probably better than the stock one on most counts, but is rather expensive given the cost of the machine itself.

Overall, if you want something approaching consistency and quality from a drip brewer, this is a good choice. Maybe not the world's best, but also not the most expensive. Since I got it for 66, I'm quite happy. But if I had bought it for list price, I might have felt like I would rather have saved some money and just worked on my chemex technique. So at 66, five stars, over 100, four stars.

I tested the brewing temperature on this Bonavita BV1500TS 5-Cup. It's hard to get a good measurement of the water coming out of the shower head as it cools as it hits the thermocouple probe so I then placed the probe in the grounds in the basket. Temp was 193.7F and the Coffee in the pot measured 187.9F. I would say the water brewing temp is probably consistent with the SCA Certified optimum brewing temp of 195F-205F even though this particular 5-Cup model is not SCA Certified. Water distribution is evenly distributed across the grounds from the shower head as stated. This 5-Cup model comes with the Cone Shape Basked and Filters.
I've owned the BV1900TS for about 2 yrs 9 months now. I bought the BV1500TS to replace this one because it's not functioning 100% anymore. After the first year, the beeper stopped working at the end of the brewing cycle. Not a deal breaker there but just something I'm mentioning. After 2 years 3 months it now shuts off randomly during the brewing cycle and you must restart it again. You can't restart it right away and usually have to wait 30 seconds to 1 minute or so to restart the brewing cycle. I've read the reviews from other people having this same problem and being disappointed as I am. I descale my coffee makers religiously every 45-60 days with the Mfg recommended descale solution. I think Bonavita is one of the better SCA Certified Coffee Brewers out there that won't break the bank but disappointed with the longevity of the coffee maker. I would expect to get at LEAST 3-4 years out of it before it starts crapping out and not right after the Mfg Warranty runs out just after 2 years. The cost of the BV1900TS or BV1901TS is anywhere from $109-$180 so not exactly chump change for a coffee maker.
So, I decided to replace it with the BV1500TS 5 Cup Coffee Maker since it's only $60. I can live with the smaller capacity as it brews the same quality cup of coffee as the BV1900TS 8-Cup Coffee Maker.
Here are some other notes. The Cone Shape Coffee Grind Basket is exactly the same size as the Round Shape Coffee Grind Basket on the BV1900TS. This means if you prefer the Round Shape Coffee Grind Basket (as I do) you could purchase that separately and use that instead of the Cone Shaped Coffee Grind Basket. I already had one since I own the BVTS1900TS so I use that one instead. The double wall stainless steel pot keeps the coffee hot enough for about an hour. Not great but I go through it pretty quickly. Especially now that I have the 5-Cup Coffee Maker. If Bonavita could improve the Coffee Pot and make it Vacuum Sealed Double Wall such as one from Zojirushi which is probably the best thermal insulated carafe or mug out there this coffee maker would get almost a perfect score. Another thing I will mention that I didn't realize until I received my 5-Cup Coffee Maker is that the Carafe Lid fits nicely in the Filter Basket, then on top of the Carafe which then will all fit on the platform under the shower head. No need to store these on top of the coffee maker or somewhere else when not in use. This is the way the Coffee Maker came packed in the box. Never realized that until getting this one and they will store the same for both the BV1900TS and BV1500. You need to put the carafe lid on before pouring coffee. It's that way by design, so you will put the lid on immediately after brewing to trap heat and flavor in the pot. That last cup you really have to almost invert to get the coffee out and then remove the lid to get the last little bit out of the pot. This is not a deal breaker for me either. Just another thing for people to complain about.
All in all I would recommend the Bonavita Coffee Makers. They are SCA Certified and best bang for buck in brewing a cup of coffee to the right specifications.

Starting out liking it a lot. With a cold pot serve temp is 180 -185F, with a hot pot 190-195F. With the #4 cone filter it allows for me to get more coffee in my brew. I like my coffee strong at about 38g coffee to 600ml water. My pot does not leak or drip right after pouring. In case you are wondering the 5 cup mark for the water is 750ml and each cup is 150ml.

As soon as it arrived I unboxed, loaded a filter, and started brewing cold filtered tap water with a cold pot. After measuring the results poured out the water and added new cold filtered water. Then brewed 3 more cycles without grounds measuring the results with a hot starting pot and basically cleaning the unit also. Once done I brewed two 4 cup pots about 3 hours apart thoroughly enjoying them, all stats were consistent with the above numbers.

A point to be aware of is the shower head will have some condensate water in it after a brew that ,at least in mine, did not drip out. I had to tip it forward and give it alittle shake to get it to drip out. This is likely not an issue for those with somewhat dry environments and use clean water but otherwise a good idea to get that out each time.

Will update...
...a few days later 3/13/22
The carafe is the only real problem with it's retention and the thermal ability is low quality in general. My Yeti travel mug is much better. The reason I picked a thermal carafe brewer was because I did not want a hot plate under the carafe. So I am switching to a glass carafe. I have a Hario style 700ml borosilicate glass server which works but not great. I have 2 more on order I will picture once I test them.

Will update...
10-07-22 Sorry I can't really help with the glass carafe since what I ended up using is not being sold anymore. But I have discoverd why some have rust issues. It is directly connected to over filling the water reservoir. As soon as you get about 4mm over the 5 cup MAX mark. Water will slowly leak into the center tube with the hot water line heading to the showerhead over the basket. Not into the hot line but around it leading right down to the heater coil. I noticed this the first time I decalcified the unit. Becuase I over filled it by just enough to see the drips going down the center tube. Mine leaked enough to puddle under it but if the over fill was not as much I could see the inside getting wet but not puddling. Then just rusting over time. Not a defect as long as you follow the directions. Other than finding this the experince with the unit has been great and I am happy with the purchase and suggest it to others.

03-08-23 I found an ok glass carafe but it does not work with the original basket. I bought the Technivorm 13192 Manual Brew Basket. Which also uses the same filter but adds the manual flow control. It is now the best steep and release single cup brewer. My single cup starts with 400gm of water and 21gm-23gm of coffee. I also run it in the pre-infusion mode(blinking light).

Since it is still working like a champ with no rust I can find and it lets me brew what I like. I have bumped it up to a full 5 stars. Compared to other 5 cup brewers.
Carafe: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000TCVXAU/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Mug: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08TWBW5KG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

As for flavor of brewed coffee, there was nothing outstanding or deficient noted when using freshly-ground coffee. Instructions provide detailed steps and several methods for measuring coffee, such as volume versus weight to adjust flavor. Temperature: Temperature of freshly-brewed coffee is only hot enough to be satisfactory, nothing more. Previous comments about the short time the carafe maintains the temperature of the coffee are accurate! Don't expect hot coffee an hour later. While the most significant heat loss comes from lacking a nicely sealed lid during brewing, even when first rinsing the pot with hot water, the coffee in the carafe loses temperature quickly after brewing, just not as quickly as a typical glass carafe.

Handling: The lid of the carafe has to be removed in order to brew coffee with the filter basket resting on top. The gap between the top of the filter basket and brewer lid allows a lot of steam to escape during brewing, which may or may not affect overall brew quality. The spray nozzle array diameter seems to be better than many others, thus assisting in a wider dispersion of hot water over coffee grounds. Brew time was on par for a small coffeemaker.

Luckily the filter basket holds standard 8-12 cup size coffee filters, so I was able to continue reusing my mesh filter. The filter basket has to be removed from the coffee maker and from the top of the pot in order to place the carafe lid on after brewing. The carafe lid has to be screwed on immediately after brewing to keep coffee warm. Pouring the coffee with the lid on requires depressing the lid lever, which is easy to do. Putting on and removing the lid took a few days to become accustomed to but once I realized it is exactly one full turn, then all I had to do was place the lid in the position it will be when closed and spin the top around clockwise once with the lever until if comes full stop. After brewing, to get the lid on quickly, a little care has to be exercised in removing the filter basket with coffee likely to drip from the hot grounds, set it down and then turn attention to screwing on the carafe lid.

Although the unit requires the lid to be off during brewing, at least it is unlikely that overflowing will occur since the filter basket does not feature a a pause-and-serve valve on the bottom. Even without a pause-and-serve feature, the short brew time of a small coffeemaker like this one isn't very inconvenient, and much preferable to cleaning up big messes caused by the failure of pause-and-serve valves on other models. Due to the water reservoir being separated from the filter basket, there is no apparent chance of coffee grinds contaminating the reservoir if overflows happen.

Cleaning the parts is easier and more effective when instructions are followed, since the carafe lid separates into sub-components. Cleaning the brewer lid (above the filter basket) and shower head is also easier when knowing how to separate the different sub-components. Separating some parts for cleaning required snapping the brew lid off and back on, and the first time was difficult. I'm concerned the connecting points will break if they don't become easier to separate in subsequent cleanings.

The height of the unit is typical of small coffeemakers, so storing after use under a cupboard is easy. The width of the unit is wider than more stacked-style models due to the side-by-side design of the reservoir, but I like the concept because as mentioned above it reduces the chance of coffee grounds from the filter basket entering the reservoir. It was easy to follow instructions and turn on the pre-infusion feature. Don't repeat the process if you want it to always execute it, since it will stay in memory until the activation step is run again, so if you try to activate the feature again, it will turn off. (On/Off toggle function, same steps) This feature was one of the main reasons I selected this model. I hardly notice the time difference when running it versus running the brew cycle without the feature, so I'm leaving it on. I will have to measure the time difference between the two modes to see if the pre-infusion function is really doing something different. I've seen a complaint on here that claimed it did not.

After two weeks of daily use, the only complaint I have is that the coffee loses heat rapidly in the carafe. For people who really want the longest heat retention, you'd have to instill nearly boiling-hot water to preheat the carafe for maybe 10-20 minutes before brewing coffee. Otherwise, just count on the microwave to warm up that 3rd cup. 3.5 true cups is about the capacity of this unit, since manufacturers are allowed to call 5-6 oz. a cup of coffee, even though 8 oz. is a true cup. All coffeemakers use this fudge factor in describing their products.