Larger cup quantity

Only been using for about a month. I originally ordered another Cuisinart thermal coffee maker to replace my old one I used almost daily for almost 5 years. My Cuisinart arrived damaged and wet inside. Assume it was a refurbished item although is stated it was new. I returned it and decided to give the Krups a try based on reviews. The Positives: it makes a good cup of coffee, particularly on the bold setting. It looks good on the counter. The display is much easier to read and set for automatic brew than the Cuisinart was. Not really negatives but things I feel fall short of the Cuisinart thermals. It is awkward to fill, not terrible but have to be careful not to spill. The claim it keeps coffee hot for 4 hours is generous. Maybe still warm up to 4 hours at best. The Cuisinart thermals I had kept the coffee hot for several hours and warm almost the whole day . This may not be an issue for most who just drink their coffee for the first hour or so after brewing, but they are touting a thermal pot so I thought I'd mention it . So far I do not regret the purchase. It does make a good cup of coffee which is the most important feature.

I've owned a drip coffee maker from another company for many years which developed a leak, prompting my decision to try this Krups machine. The features are easy to deal with, nicely laid out. There's a polite little beep when if starts a brew cycle, then 3 more polite little beeps when it's ready to pour. I like that feature because it allows me to do things in another room and still know when the cycle is done.

The great thing with this machine is that the thermal carafe really holds the heat. My other coffee maker was good at making coffee, but the thermal carafe wasn't good at retaining the heat. I preheated the carafe with hot water from the tap, and did the same with the mugs into which the coffee would be poured, yet that first sip of "hot" coffee was never really hot enough, which meant that sipping slowly would produce a pretty well cooled down sip at the end. Not so with this one. The ideal brew temp for coffee is somewhere in the 193-203 degree range as I recall, and the Krups is probably heating to the upper end of that range. Now I have to go easy at the beginning because it really IS hot, and I can sip slowly and still have pretty warm coffee at the bottom of the mug. And the carafe holds that heat for hours. In fact I forgot that I'd left some coffee in the carafe one night, and even though it sat overnight on the counter in the kitchen, when I took off the lid in the morning to clean the pot, the coffee was still amazingly warm!

It has taken me a while to fine tune the brewing to bring out the flavor of the coffees I buy, but I expected that. There's a regular or a bold option (bold causes the water to pass more slowly over and thru the grounds, extracting more flavor), plus I grind the beans myself and can choose from a range of grinds, each of which makes a difference in the final taste. But I'm satisfied with the flavor, and certainly with the heat. I've owned drip makers that I think may have tweaked out a somewhat more flavorful brew, but difference is minimal, and I am still tinkering with the options to see if I can improve it yet again.

For the price this is a great coffee maker! We have had two "band Cs" over the past 10 years: the last having a system with a hot plate (on a stainless steel carafe?!) with a metal plate on the bottom that RUSTS and stains our countertop.
This Krups unit doesn't have those feature, MUCH SMARTER DESIGN! We've only used it a few weeks so cannot comment on long term reliability or cleaning, but the functions are well thought out and it brews tasty strong (use Bold setting) HOT coffee. EG, this morning, we lingered and I had my 3rd mug after clearing snow from the driveway 4 hours after brew time and the coffee was still mostly hot, a big deal since that last 10 oz was alone keeping warm in the bottom of the carafe the entire hour 3-4 after brew time and I put a bit of cream in the coffee too. We use #4 paper filters vs the gold filter provided, less small grounds in the carafe. Am optimistic this could be our best reasonably priced SS carafe unit in past 10 years, but time will tell.

PROS Brews excellent flavored HOT coffee
Great price (especially the Amazon Black Friday deal we got)
We usually brew 10 cups (3 mugs ea for the two of us) but have the 12 cup option when guests are here

Mixed : The AUTO setting is a little strange to set, getting used to it (maybe shuda read the manual)
Pouring is OK, can't seem to get that last 2 oz out

CONS the cycle complete BEEPING, brand C uses it too, PLEASE have a way to cut it off w/o opening unit to cut wire!

22 MON UPDATE SEP 2019 -- I decided to update my earlier review dropping from 5 to 4 stars (maybe a 4 minus) since we had to have the unit repaired last Feb after about 15 mons of use. I see a few others that needed repairs after the 1 yr mark; ours just quit, lights and clock on but no pumping despite monthly cleanings. I kept this 4 stars since Krups customer service was NICE TO ME and sent a prepaid mailing label to send the unit for service and paid shipping to return it !!! Brand C did not do that on a prior coffeemaker that failed under warranty (it costs $20 to UPS a $60-90 unit for repairs). We kept an older unit in the closet to use while the Krups was getting repaired. So far so good as the warranty will be up late Nov. It makes a good morning batch of 10 cups and really nice to have the 12 cup option when we have visitors. I always use Seattle's Best or Starbucks French roast beans and the Bold setting to have STRONG east coast cup of coffee each morning. Hopefully I'll get another 1-2 years of use, but am buying a basic expresso unit this Fall so will have that backup as well.

First of all, can we all agree that one of the major coffee maker companies should get smart and partner with Yeti to make a lightweight, stays-warm-forever thermal coffee maker? Yeti could even do it themselves for that matter. Now about this Krups coffee maker. I spent a few hours researching and reading reviews about the various thermal coffee makers and here's my conclusion: User reviews are just about the greatest threat to the efficiency, mental health, and overall advancement of humankind! How is it possible that one product (take any product on Amazon, for that matter) can receive such wildly different reviews? Honestly, if we were to believe every single review we read, we would NEVER AGAIN buy a single thing because we would be convinced that we're going to be duped. What I'll say about this Krups thermal coffee maker is that the carafe is heavier than most traditional glass coffee pots, which could be a concern for someone with limited strength. But I'm talking extremely frail! Otherwise, think of your coffee routine as a mini morning workout. Second, the carafe is somewhat complicated to take apart but so what? This is a thermal carafe where every inch of insulation matters and anyhow, we're adaptable people and a little mental change of routine does all of us some good. Third, the coffee absolutely stays warm in the carafe. Believe me, I pour out coffee that doesn't steam because of my obsession with having hot things when they're hot. I'm also living in an off-grid cabin in CO where temperatures plummet each night so it's not like I'm brewing coffee on a tropical island where I could leave my mug sitting around for hours and the coffee would still be hot days later. And finally, the coffee tastes quite good. I like strong coffee and if I wanted a stronger brew, I'd go back to the French press or pour-over. So my final advice is to buy this coffee maker if it looks like something that will work for you. And if you're obsessed with having a coffee maker that is just as perfect as the imaginary dream coffee maker you've made up in your head, and if every little new or different thing will haunt you with feelings of deep regret for the rest of your life, then try swinging by Goodwill or another thrift store and pick up one of those old Mr. Coffee makers with the switch and invest in a really good Yeti thermos that will truly keep your coffee piping hot for days.