Hamilton Seashore 2-Method 12 Cup Programmable Drip Espresso Maker & Single Serve Machine, Glass Carafe, Auto Pause and Pour, Black (49980R)

Solid, basic coffeemaker, and great alternative to k-cups
Purchased this as a holiday gift for my 85-year-old father. For all his life, he has used a plug-in percolator, but the extra cleaning required for it was becoming cumbersome, so he wondered about switching over to k-cups. For environmental reasons, we decided against those, and we needed a machine that was simple and straightforward to operate. This one ticked all the boxes, and Dad is delighted with it. The fact that there’s only one switch and one button to push made it easy for him to learn, and he likes that he can brew a single cup for himself, or a full pot if he has company. The coffee it brews tastes fresh and bold and clean-up is simple. The machine seems nicely built and looks good on the counter. Very pleased.

Very good and flexible coffee maker for the price
It’s a pretty straight-forward coffee maker with the added benefit of having the separate single cup brewing feature. I particularly like the single cup option because I drink decaf and my spouse drinks regular, so am able to get up in the morning and make myself coffee using the single cup side and make regular coffee in the carafe for my spouse, which will stay warm until she gets up. Otherwise, it’s got your typical bold/regular setting and programable brewing clock.
I read a lot of reviews about leaking and overflowing and I found no evidence that this would be the case, unless you were not following instructions for quantify of water and/or coffee for either the carafe or single cup side that every other retail drip coffee maker recommends. Or using coffee ground too finely, like for espresso.
Which brings me to my biggest gripe for this coffee maker and all other retail drip coffee makers – they are all sized to accommodate only 1 tablespoon of coffee for every cup or water. I don’t understand why they don’t make coffee grind baskets that can accommodate the coffee to water ratio that every premium coffee brand recommends and coffee shop uses, which is 2 tablespoons of coffee for every 6 oz. of water. I just don’t get it. None of the coffee makers will accommodate 24 tablespoons of coffee in a 12-cup capacity coffee maker. It will overflow with grinds every time in this and every other retail drip coffee maker I have looked at. I have found that I can use more than 1 tablespoon per cup of coffee, but have to put on the bold setting, which slows the rate of water flow which usually prevents the coffee from overflowing the basket, provided I don’t try to brew to the 12 cup capacity. It’s one of the greatest mysteries – why the industry hasn’t adapted to premium coffee standards and remains stuck in the 1970s, when using any more than 1 tablespoon of nasty pre-ground Folgers-like coffee would cause people to stop drinking coffee altogether. Please join me in rising up against this anathema!

For many years, the best-tasting and most flavourful coffee we ever made has been with our Drip-O-Lator, made by Enterprise Aluminum in Macon Georgia. We bought this for cottage-use a long time ago–when they were still being made–at Robinson’s General Store in Dorset Ontario. Later, we bought another, and then, they disappeared from the market. It was very cheap to buy and is simple to use: Measure the amount of cups you want into the middle of three graduated marked canisters; pour the required amount of boiling water into the upper marked canister, and wait a bit until it dribbled through into the bottom part of the coffee pot. Later, we had it dribble directly into a thermos butler, rather than into the pot on the wood stove. When we could get it, we used fresh spring water gushing from a woodsy hillside outcrop. That is a perfect coffee, always, fresh-ground or pre-ground—either way.
When our Cuisinart maker with the built-in grinder stared leaking all over the counter at home, I research all available options for a new one. We took a chance on this Hamilton Beach, with mostly(not all) good ratings noting its low price. This machine, in its first days of use, rivals the Drip-O-Lator in flavour and even in simplicity of use. I can’t fathom the truthfulness of the critical reviews. The single-serve side is not messy, and the flavour is first rate. We bought the crinkly made-in-Canada basket for the multi-cup side, and the results are just the same on both sides, using Nabob Bold Full City Dark. This water is from a well, hydrogen peroxide treated and softened, but judging by the results, that seems perfectly fine. The Cuisinart never made compelling coffee, even in fresh-grind mode. The pre-heated urn never kept things warm and it was messy to pour in its necessarily upside-down position.
The Hamilton Beach is very economical, seeming to deliver the same volume of brewed of coffee as the water that is poured in. Access to the water tank is convenient, and the graduated lines are very visible. The single-serve side takes a tiny bit of coffee grounds in the bottom of the stainless mesh basket, and then the amount of coffee you want to drink is poured into the upper chamber from the cup you’ll be drinking it from. Finally, the machine has a name that’s easy to pronounce and spell—this Chinese make (I guess) does not have a pretentious European name, like the other Chinese machines.
The Cuisinart , even in fresh-grind mode, never made compelling coffee.
At home, our Cuisinart coffee maker with

Best coffee brewing machine as it makes single or pots. I use the single side to make tea as well. Seems to be standing up well as it is used more than once a day and people fall in the door to have a cuppa, they don’t even want to visit haha.

I bought one of these coffee makers 10-12 years ago and it worked perfectly until a few days ago. Perhaps my fault for not running descaler through it from time to time.
I was thrilled to discover the model is still available. I had no issues whatsoever with the original machine. I love the option of a single brew which I use occasionally for myself and sometimes for someone who’s visiting who likes their coffee stronger or weaker.
The controls are clean and simple. Love the 12-hour AM/PM clock.
I’ve run the pot, basket and single cup components through the dishwasher countless times without any issues.
I highly recommend this machine.