Certainly it's beautiful, but I have a load of 'countertop art' that didn't make the cut. So my issues ...
A) 1400W and enough power for produce 200F water is a great start - but is there any active control to ensure the water is really ~200F from start to end ? Most of the 'worm-heater' designs fail at this point. The temp is determined by the physics of the piping and not controllable.
B) Is there any system CONTROL to the bloom/brew indicator, or is it just telling you that your in the int 30 seconds of the cycle ? I'm wagering there is no control there. It would make sense if the device dumped in the first ~10% of water for bloom, and waited a bit then 'brewed' - I see no indication that it does anything different for a 16oz vs 40oz batch - heat it up/dump it in as fast as the heater produces hot water. Sorry - I'm way past being impressed by pretty but meaningless idiot lights..
C) I think the 40oz glass pot is beautiful, but a bit small. I'd like to see 1.5+ liter capacity, but can accept this limitation. The main issue is that I'm still working for a living so I need to make a pot, and then consume that pot over ~3-4 hours. A thermal carafe is a REQUIREMENT.
Functionally this is a minor spin on the Mr.Coffee design, as are most drip coffee makers, a worm-heater, a cone holder, and a pot. It's a pretty one, but I personally think the entire design concept requires more control. Bunn's heated-tank designs make a lot more sense in terms of temp control IMO.
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I'm (once again) actively looking for a coffee maker, and also a drip-coffee grinder, but I don't see the advantage aside from the eye-candy effect.
The Technivorm is the same capacity, good reputation, has a thermal carafe, costs a lot less, but looks clunky like a Kynex project.
Ratio hasn't been produced yet, pricey, unproven, has no thermal carafe, zero reputation but looks sweet.
Secondary issues: The Ratio +20% price change indicates that this guy is still getting a reality-check in costs & profit margins and may never get into production (he a kickstarter candidate, not a biz yet). 20% is a substantial error. The 'my grandparents' stories & "designed & built in Portland" on the one-page website is weak and acidic IMO - tell us who YOU are, not some ancestor or location worship.
Absolutely best wishes, to Mr.Hellweg and the Ratio, but I'm not his $480 guinea pig. I'll wait for someone else to tell me what I've got wrong.
