Capresso 471.01 CoffeeTEC Digital 10-cup Coffeemaker with Stainless-Steel Vacuum Carafe and FrothXpress, Black
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Capresso 471.01 CoffeeTEC Digital 10-cup Coffeemaker with Stainless-Steel Vacuum Carafe and FrothXpress, Black
Customer Review: Outstanding
Summary: 5 Stars
It makes the best coffee I've ever had. The carafe works perfectly and keeps the coffee hot, and at nearly peak flavor, for hours. Those few reviewers who say that it doesn't keep the coffee hot simply have a carafe with a broken vaccuum seal.
I'm bothering to write a review because I had a problem with the machine, as some others have: the steamer stopped working properly, and the water tank was leaking. But at that point my experience was totally different from that of other posters who have complained about problems with the equipment and Capresso customer service. Get this: we had no warranty information on the machine, having received it 2nd-hand. Still, when my wife called their customer service, with no questions asked we were sent a pre-paid UPS label to return the unit. I put it in a UPS box on a Monday morning. On Wednesday afternoon---two days later---I received a new machine via UPS. (I know that they first received the machine I sent before sending the replacement because they replaced exactly what I sent, no more, no less; i.e., I sent the machine with just the water tank, none of the other parts, and I got back just a machine with a water tank.) I'm as pleasantly astonished by UPS getting it back and forth so quickly as am by Capresso simply and immediately fixing the problem at no charge.
Maybe Capresso "got the message" about customer service and made some changes. I could be bothered that the machine developed problems in the first place, but hey, things break. The bottom line for me is that it makes PERFECT coffee and, when there was a problem, Capresso took care of it astonishingly well.
Customer Review: All around winner
Summary: 5 Stars
It's 11:05am and I just poured myself a cup from the 7:45am brew. Still hot. Very hot. Hot enough that the mug was burning my hand and I had to set the it down. Very impressive.After a great deal of research and three machines in the last 2 weeks I settled this beauty, and it is a very handsome machine. Other reviews have covered how great the coffee is, so let me speak to a couple random things that stuck out for me.
-The carafe is amazing. Heavy, sturdy, beautiful, functional, no drip pouring, keeps coffee hot for much longer than my skeptical mind expected.
-If you can put together 4 lego pieces you can assemble the frother - very easy. Perfect froth on my first try.
-The parts on my machines appear to be very well made, and very durable, and replacements are provided.
-Machine is very handsome, and parts are well engineered for a tight fit.
-Ingenius water resivoir design with seperate water supplies (but you only fill one container) for coffee and frother.
-Cleanup on frother parts is under 30 seconds.
-Depending on your taste, machine will probably require more than the suggested grounds per coffee serving amount.
I expect to pay a premium for any device (car, appliance, home) that I end up being thrilled with - this is no exception. Buy this guy with confidence.
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Capresso, listen up! You should put the videos included with each machine you sell on your website. It would have gone a long way towards answering the questions I had before I decided to buy this. (andrew@slerp.com)
Customer Review: We can't live without our Capresso
Summary: 3 Stars
We bought this to replace one that died after twice daily use for about 3 years. We would have sent it back for repair, but we needed a coffee maker immediately, so we tossed it and purchased a regular drip coffee maker. But, my husband and I missed our Capresso TEC so much, that after a month we went and bought another one.
Pro's: Really delicious, foamy capucino.
Con's:
1) You have to make sure you follow the instructions regarding cleaning the machine and connectors and decalcify it regularly.
2) Only use skim or 1% per cent milk
3) sometimes the steam doesn't come on right away
4) The coffee stains the inside of the carafe unless you wash it very well immediately after each use. It's not good to let the coffee sit in there for any length of time. But the Capresso people advised me to use denture cleaner in the carafe, so I soak the inside of the pot every couple of months with a denture cleaner over night and it comes out like new.
5) The coffee will be hotter if you run hot water in the carafe before brewing. Otherwise, it's not piping hot. I don't mind, some people do.
I find the extra trouble worth it. My husband and I love flavored coffees and we use them in the Capresso. We find that the flavored coffees taste much better than with a drip machine. Some people just like plain, hot coffee. It's not for everyone, but a lot of my friends love my coffee and have gone out and purchased their own Coffee TEC's.
Customer Review: Best coffee maker ever!
Summary: 5 Stars
We've had a Capresso machine before this one, but there were a couple of annoying little plastic parts (the stop-drip lever, for instance), that required replacement a few times. Nonetheless, the actual machine brewed good strong coffee, so we were overall pleased, though we wished the plastics would get a strengthening or something.
Along came this one with the froth attachment -- it's built much more solidly. We'll have owned it for two years this December. We had to return the unit once, within about a year of purchase, because of some internal electrical quirk, and we got a new machine in quick time(Capresso's customer service is excellent). Otherwise, it's stood up to our abuse, and that's a huge thing. We routinely go through four full pots of coffee every single day in our house -- and it can be doubled if we have guests. We are hard on any machine, just due to the amount of use. This machine just keeps on brewing and frothing. The stainless steel carafe is a winner also. And we don't have any problem with the coffee temperature -- it's perfect.
The frothing parts are easily clogged up -- rather than get obsessive about washing every part after every pot, we keep a glass of hot water next to the machine and just keep the parts soaking in the glass, which keeps the milk deposits from setting.
The coffee is good and strong (chewy, if you like it that way) and the frothing attachment will spoil you for coffee any other way. This is a great way to wake up!
Customer Review: Not Perfect but I'm Buying Another One....
Summary: 4 Stars
It still makes the best cup of coffee. Over the last 15 years I have tried a series of coffee makers from cheap to expensive, including several by Krups. A friend gave me her old Capresso machine. I liked it so much, that when it died after a year or so, I bought this Capresso 471.
The coffee tastes better and stays hotter longer than my Krups' ever did. I have never had the problem some have mentioned with the carafe not keeping coffee hot enough. Perhaps theirs are defective. It is best to have the lid on the carafe placed properly, the 'button' lined up with the spout though. I like the sturdiness of the stainless carafes, having broken several glass ones in the past.
I also like the removable water tank. It makes for faster filling and easier cleaning. I have had the problem of counter flood occasionally, usually by not insuring that the filter holder was placed properly.
That said, after 3 years the negatives have been: the program switch broke recently, and the coffee carafe construction has given way. (The upper plastic part has gradually separated from the lower stainless part of the carafe over the last year, first causing a dripping problem from the seam and now completely coming apart). I am buying another one because the coffee tastes better than my Krups' (and far better than the Mr. Coffee and Black&Decker which were too weak), and my Krups machines never lasted this long !