Steve, you mentioned you like the cone brewing basket over the standard Mr. Coffee. Same here, I believe the cone basket allows better extraction,
I've always *suspected* that, but frankly I just have bad memories from places I've worked w/basket filters, vs even the cheap old Krups I owned several decades ago. The only basket unit I had the least respect for was Mom's Bunn - fast & pretty good.
I *think* I could get better basket performance than my first & only try from the Breville Precision, now that I've learned to use it. I'll save that for 'Experimental Wednesdays'.
stir with spoon to get all the grounds involved [...] I find the flavor is extremely rich this way.
That's on the queue for next X-Wednesday, but frankly it's a bit too fussy for everyday use .... unless it's unbelievably great.
I also use a mesh basket, I don't like paper, I feel that it's absorption of the oils kind of steals some flavor.
Dead-on and I've done side-by-by-side pots to prove the point.
But here is the hitch .... there are all kinds of papers on how coffee drinking impacts health and as a 2-pot-per-day post-colon-cancer type, I am concerned that most papers suggest coffee is mostly good for you, but a few point to some negatives. Then I came across a paper that suggested the difference is the use of paper vs screen filters. Where ... paper-filter=good health, screen-filter=mixed results. The CLAIM is that paper traps various plant sterols, diterpenes yada yada that impact cholesterol...heart disease and even a few more rare cancers.
So for a while I used a metal-mesh inside of a paper filter, then re-used the paper filter like 4-6 time. The paper filter builds up a really interesting layer of goo, that frankly tastes good. OTOH - not gonna live forever.
My metal cone 'gold tone' filter does fit inside the Breville, but it sometimes requires an extra jiggle to get it into/out-of place.
I am expecting a pour-over adapter from Breville. I haven't tried the cold coffee options, but I have been using the 'cup'(up to 20floz) setting to make my wife's decaf, and this 'cup setting makes a tolerable cup of tea or bouillon if you tweak the temperature up toward the 98C max.
So in all -
Makes a really good pot of coffee to 40floz (can't really say at 60floz).
Is educational to tweak the temps & rate & bloom time - but in reality you'll settle in around gold-cup.
If all you want is full pots of drip coffee, then a Bonavita or Oxo is likely as good a choice for less $$.
If you will use the cup, or cold-brew or pour-over options - then it's a win.