Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

A few months ago, I had the pleasure of having a cup of coffee made with a good high end coffee maker. Using the same coffee, the taste was noticeably better than what I had become used to each morning. I decided then that I wanted to experience coffee on a new level instead of just as a way to help wake myself up in the morning. I began a search and arrived at the Bonavita 1901TS. The Pros: 1. It makes a REALLY good cup of coffee. I didn't do a bunch of tests to see if the water reached recommended temperature, but the coffee was much better than I've had in the past, and the grounds appeared to be equally saturated. The taste was without the bitterness to which I had become accustomed using a prior mediocre coffee maker. Some claim that they gave up creamers, etc after using a '"high end" coffee maker. I'm not ready to jump to that level, but I have noticeably reduced the amount of any after-products I put in my coffee. 2. I like the wider mouth on the carafe. If need be, the average hand has a little room to help clean the insides. 3. The size is nice and compact compared to many coffee makers that push 16-20 inches high. The footprint under your cabinets or in the open is small. Be aware, though, that this Bonavita does release a lot of steam during the brew process. 4. It's a very aesthetically pleasing design. Simplicity. *The Cons: 1. Lack of auto-brew. My schedule is such that I get up at 3am. I tried for the first month to brew coffee after I got up. Sorry, but that's an extra 10-15 minutes grinding and brewing that I could use for more sleep. I'm barely functional as it is and would prefer my coffee "ready to drink" when I get up. Even if I used pre-ground coffee, I still had to get up and turn the brewer on, THEN wait til it was done to put the top on the thermal carafe. Otherwise you lose heat the longer the top is off the carafe. 2. The brew basket will drip some extra drops after the chime goes off. This is a very minor annoyance for me, but you will have some drops on the carafe holder base, unless you immediately dispose of the filter/grounds or leave the lid off the carafe to catch the extra drops.....but then you lose heat as I mention above. 3. A caveat to the simplicity of the design. One switch controls both the brew AND the bloom. I wish the bloom had it's own individual control, or just allow the coffee maker to bloom every time. I don't think that hurts pre-ground coffee. 4. You must remove the basket if you want to store the covered carafe back on its base. That means either the basket OR the carafe lid is always sitting free with no convenient storage option. In the end, the lack of an auto-brew was just too much for me to overcome. It's too late to return it, but I'm selling it as I already purchased a different SCAA-certified coffee maker (with an auto-brew) feature. If I was retired or worked more normal hours, I could make fine use of this Bonavita, even with its minor limitations. As I said earlier, it makes an awesome cup of coffee! You will not be disappointed in that respect. Yes, I rated it four stars. For me, personally, the decision to get a different machine was more about how the Bonavita doesn't fit into my current lifestyle than about specific performance issues with the machine itself.