OXO Barista Brain 9 cup brewer Admin Review

[Joe]

The review is here:

[ptrmorton]

I love my Bonavita, but a review of the OXO Brain would be interesting.  Thanks Joe.

[Joe]

I love my Bonavita, but a review of the OXO Brain would be interesting.  Thanks Joe.

I'm interested too

[Joe]

Preliminary review;

I received the Barista Brain 9 cup a few days ago. I am in the process of brewing several pots and performing my specific tests so that i can make my recommendations. As a heads up, it's a really cool brewer that makes a really nice cup of coffee, it hits most of my checkmarks and it has a few others that i don't care about like a wake up timer for brewing. At the moment I still prefer my technivorm but I definitely think it's a significant notch above the Bonavita and it's priced as much too. The Technivorm is constructed better- less plastic, but lacks all the neat tech. OXO products have a way of growing on me, I think that good grips pour over gets used most out of my pour overs because it's easy and makes good coffee. I think I would be extremely happy with this and never have gotten a technivorm if I had started here.

[mp]

Thanks Joe!

Good to know.

 

[Joe]

review is up.

not on video review but I'll post here. I have been using the OXO brewer for about a week and the coffee quality seems to be sweeter than my Technivorm with the same coffee. Definitely better than the Bonavita quality. It is priced around $200, so priced inbetween the Technivorm and Bonavita. The price point is ideal I believe for someone not yet ready to plunk down the cash on a technivorm. Durability would be my main concern.

[Ascholten]

you say it's sweeter than on the TV.   Maybe you need to twiddle with your TV technique a bit.  the TV is very versatile that way and you can do a lot with it to change the coffee profile.

You said this has more tech than the TV, while tech is cool, it's also more stuff to break in the long run.  Gizmoier does not necessarily make it better.  Nothing against the oxo, just a general statement.

I have a few TV's which I love because they are durable and well... fairly simple for in the office so I don't have to teach a bunch of knuckle dragging hammer swinging mechanics how to make good coffee hehe.

Aaron

[Joe]

you say it's sweeter than on the TV.   Maybe you need to twiddle with your TV technique a bit.  the TV is very versatile that way and you can do a lot with it to change the coffee profile.

You said this has more tech than the TV, while tech is cool, it's also more stuff to break in the long run.  Gizmoier does not necessarily make it better.  Nothing against the oxo, just a general statement.

I have a few TV's which I love because they are durable and well... fairly simple for in the office so I don't have to teach a bunch of knuckle dragging hammer swinging mechanics how to make good coffee hehe.

Aaron

Agree with everything you said except there must be something that lets it retain more sweetness in the coffee. techniques are like extra tech for me...unnecessary. It should just work and work correctly. Maybe the processor, or the way it pulses the brewing.? no idea but whatever system they are using works well. Will it work as well 10 years from now? I can't say.

[Ascholten]

By technique sometimes with the TV, just open the coffee basket using the half way setting so it drips out slower.   The temperature of the water can make a difference too, it controls how fast it runs through,  ie warmer water 'heats to the correct temp' faster and spits out faster, resulting in a shorter brew time, etc etc.

Aaron

[forgop]

I've used this for over a year and a half. I had a 20% off coupon and bought a discounted gift card for another 20% off. Great cup of coffee.

[Joe]

By technique sometimes with the TV, just open the coffee basket using the half way setting so it drips out slower.   The temperature of the water can make a difference too, it controls how fast it runs through,  ie warmer water 'heats to the correct temp' faster and spits out faster, resulting in a shorter brew time, etc etc.

Aaron

not all technivorms have that option. Mine does not for instance and mine is also a thermal carafe- no warming plate. But yes if you don't mind tinkering with techniques certain features of certain brewers will allow for some modifications of brewing variables. For review purposes I am only dealing with brewing as instructed.

If I had to make a choice for a brewer to last me the next 10 years, I would choose Technivorm hands down. 2-5 years I might have a bigger decision.

[Ascholten]

I have 3 Tv's a caraffe and a regular pot one.  Anyways,  you don't know for sure how long this one will last.  It very well may last more than a few years... time will tell.

Aaron

[Badam]

Great review Joe. I am very happy with my current brewer, but when it inevitably fails it's nice to have another option to consider besides TV and Bonavita.

Really digging that Sette you have sitting next to it....

[Joe]

I will post some new things i have discovered. The bottom plate is not just a dumb peice of plastic. It actually has a sensor for the Caraf. It saved me this am when i got a little excited and pushed the brew button before placing the caraf underneath. The on button flashed red and would not brew. I placed the caraf underneath and light blue confirmation light... i like this feature.

The condensation issue is completely related to the brew head/basket not having enough venting so condensation goes back into the water reservoir.

[stevea]

Joe - really nice review.

I've READ that the thermal carafe is sub-par, loses heat  a bit too fast.   Any comments (from anyone) on that ?  Someone in amazon claims you have nuke coffee after less than an hour in carafe.

FWIW my experience is that the bonvita carafe was a notch inferior to the Capresso in that regard too, but I think it's the lid design at fault.