Comments on: Cuisinart SS-700 Singe Serve Brewing System

By: Correction tape

Correction tape — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 00:12:58 +0000

I really appreciate the information.

By: Tassimo Direct

Tassimo Direct — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 05:03:34 +0000

I have used a few other coffee makers and thought this one would be good for the one a day cup of coffee that I have. I should not have bought this as it seems like it has a mind of its own. Sometimes it just will not work and other times it will.

By: Steve Petrosino

Steve Petrosino — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 06:37:31 +0000

Review from Steve Petrosino for the Hourglass Hourglass Cold Brew Coffee Maker The Rating is: The stainless steel filter is what swayed me from the Toddy to the Hourglass. Some people complained about leaks, some did not. Mine leaked significantly. Upon careful observation...(story shortened)...the factory does not always trim down the bowls enough to let the center piece tighten against the rubber gasket. I sanded the lip of each bowl down to the start of the threads. Now there is a tight seal against the gasket. No more leaks! The factory should do a better and more consistent job to eliminate this issue. An alternate solution would be to acquire an extra set of gaskets and use two on each bowl.

By: Daniel Z. Jagendorf

Daniel Z. Jagendorf — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 05:50:25 +0000

Review from Daniel Z. Jagendorf for the Hourglass Hourglass Cold Brew Coffee Maker The Rating is: The hourglass cold brewer is a beautiful piece of kit, it looks great.
The coffee it produces is much smoother than heat brewed.
The formulas are very useful for cold brewing and not something I would have considered before.
It's great for making a usable amount of coffee (I've tried cold brewing with a french press and it feels like more effort when it has to be done more often).
However, it takes up a lot of space on a small countertop.
The hourglass concept is unnecessary (you can cold brew in a mason jar if you want) and the pieces tend to lock together.
If you don't tighten the blue ends to the center it leaks while you're pouring the coffee, but if you tighten it it locks. I've sprayed coffee from one side trying to unscrew the other. I'm afraid to use too much pressure to try and unscrew them in case they break. The black center piece could have been made with some form of grip instead of smooth.

The included container for the brewed coffee has a useful measuring cup lid, which only measures half a cup of coffee at a time. The lid could have held a full cup, with a half mark. On the other hand the whole screw top lid gets coffee into the grooves and has to be cleaned after each pour. I've purchased a pour lid container with measuring marks on the side and it's easier to know when to brew again.

So, the intellectual property is probably the best part of the purchase. If the company had put more effort into the function of the piece it would be a better product.

By: D. Learned

D. Learned — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 05:10:15 +0000

Review from D. Learned for the Hourglass Hourglass Cold Brew Coffee Maker The Rating is: Makes good coffee. I have to watch my caffeine and acid levels (I had a gastric bypass) so I use 50/50 caf/decaf beans with a coarse burr grinder. Better coffee bean quality does make a difference. It also makes convenient super great healthy iced coffee with skim milk and stevia sweetner.

I also had a problem with leaking and locking at first but there are a couple of tricks that work for me. First, after you fill with water gently screw the base together. Carefully leave the top part a little loose. The problem I found was that if you screw the thing tightly together right after you add the water, the water is still absorbing into the grounds and will create a powerful vacuum over time! So if you seal it up tight right away, over time the whole thing locks down tight! I am a big guy but still could barely open the thing after 24 hour cycle! Just leave it loose, just enough for the whole thing to stay together and 24 hours later you'll be fine. This seems to also alleviate some of the leaking problems too because when you do tighten it down the seal will be fresher (if that makes sense). You may get an occasional drip after that but you will learn to be careful and pour CAREFULLY into the bean canteen over a sink. I have very few dripping issues now.

I do wish it were less expensive.

By: Molly Matthews

Molly Matthews — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 04:23:37 +0000

Review from Molly Matthews for the Hourglass Hourglass Cold Brew Coffee Maker The Rating is: I bought this maker a few months ago and absolutely love it. I have missed drinking coffee due to my acid reflux and the Hourglass makes low acid coffee which I love and it's the only way I can drink coffee. I have used other cold brew makers but they are so complicated and messy I stopped using them after a month or so. The Hourglass is easy to use, easy to clean and allows me to re-enjoy coffee again.

I drink the cold brew hot (by adding hot water) but my daughter loves the iced coffee she can make. It's very versatile and I love the comments I get when people come over and see a giant hourglass on my counter.

Try this coffee maker!

By: Online shopper

Online shopper — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 03:35:06 +0000

Review from Online shopper for the Hourglass Hourglass Cold Brew Coffee Maker The Rating is: If you already love the smooth taste of cold brewed coffee, you will never go back to brewing coffee after using this machine. For too long, I made cold brewed coffee by putting grounds and water in a big jar and then straining it through coffee filters. I ended up with as much coffee on the kitchen counter as I did in my cup. The hourglass cold brew system is a delight. It's made from BPA free plastic and is simple and clean to use. All you do is measure the grounds and water into one of the brew chambers and then let it sit on your counter for 12 hours. When done, you simply turn it over and the grounds stay in the brew chamber and the coffee runs into the second brew chamber. Done! No mess! The directions say you can re-use the grounds if you put more water in right away. I've done this every time and the second batch tastes just as good as the first. All in all, I think by using the grounds twice, the system becomes quite economical. I read the reviews of the other systems and decided to spring for the Hourglass because even though it is more expensive, it seems to have addressed the issues that other reviewers complained about (no lid on the fridge container, plastic, etc.) This machine is worth every penny. See [...].

By: sky

sky — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 03:29:24 +0000

Review from sky for the Cuisinart SS-700 Singe Serve Brewing System The Rating is: No problems thus far, however Amazon is selling this product for approx 100.00 more then other stores. Bought mine at Bed Bath and Beyond for 199.00. Surprised at Amazon!

By: EmuCanvasBoot

EmuCanvasBoot — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 03:06:09 +0000

Review from EmuCanvasBoot for the Cuisinart SS-700 Singe Serve Brewing System The Rating is: Sadly, we are on our second Cuisinart SS700 in a month's time. The pump intermittently stopped working on our first unit. We purchased it online from [...]. We were able to return it to the closest store, no questions asked. Our replacement unit has started doing the same thing. The pump will sound as if it is cycling but the water is not flowing through the unit. It makes for a frustrating start to the day when you can't get that first cup of coffee right away because of having to unplug the machine and restart it several times before the pump kicks in. We are thinking of switching to a Keurig unit instead. Lastly, I noticed that BB&B no longer has the product available on their website either. Can't find a place to buy it online at all at this point... Too bad really, it seemed like such a good machine at first!

By: C. Jacobson

C. Jacobson — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 03:00:50 +0000

Review from C. Jacobson for the Cuisinart SS-700 Singe Serve Brewing System The Rating is: I purchased the Cuisinart after going through 3 Keurig B70s and a Brevelle since Christmas, (all three were defective with pump problems and very LOUD.) The Brevelle 700 worked okay but had these really annoying flashing lights that flashed all the time "Open Head". The arrow lights were extremely bright and bothersome.
So far the Cuisinart SS700 works really well. Very little noise and the pump works just fine. I like the larger water tank and nothing flashes at me!