Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Greetings, I’m a longtime engineer and coffee drinker - and coffee makers are kind of my passion. I’m also a “made in America” kind of guy (when I can) and I’m also concerned about the problems with drinking through plastic, which leeches nasty stuff. I have used press pots (lovely but stupid hard to clean), espresso machines (awesome but lots of work for one cup), and my most recent affair with a Chemex (made in America, zero plastic in the path, great coffee). But the Chemex drove my wife crazy as it was 20 minutes of “art” to get a cup, which was cold very quickly after... So I began the search with the above criteria, and found this Bunn Speed Brew Elite - hmmm, looks cool on my counter, Made in America, great reviews, and if you are paying attention (I did) the only plastic in the coffee path is the spray head and the filter box, both made of commercial, food-grade silicon, which is the least leechy plastic you can get. So it checks all my boxes. HOWEVER this coffee maker ain’t like the other girls - it requires some up-front research, plus a thorough reading of the manual (I did it twice!) before you use it. (BTW engineers know what RTFM stands for ;-) ). I relish trying new ways of doing things, and that’s an important element of this Bunn. *** Tip 1 *** Run at least THREE pots of fresh water through it before you make any coffee, to get the “Zen” of it - once you do, it’s easy. Plus it makes for no smells or weirdness going forward (heck, you should do this with any coffee maker you get) *** Tip 2 *** Think of the “On Switch” as when you CLOSE THE LID AFTER YOU HAVE POURED THE WATER IN - the heated pot is already full of water, so you are technically pouring in “the next pot” to start the current one. *** Tip 3 *** Use Bunn Filters!!! If you use other filters without practice, you are just asking for a big mess - Bunn filters are TALLER than regular. Just Do It. Get it right (coarser grind, but more coffee - and this Bunn does use more coffee due to the fast head) and this makes a heck of a pot of coffee in record time, no kidding! It is literally so fast you have no need of a timer. Once I wrapped my head around that, I realized timers are kind of a kluge. Bunn Speed is The Way! BTW I ponied up a bit more for this Silver model - it just looks cooler on my counter, and helps to hypnotize coffee guests... It’s kind of a Unicorn - guests can’t take their eyes off of it - then they taste it, and can’t stop asking questions! Finally, it’s THE last drip coffee maker that’s still made in the Good Old US of A. Can’t beat that with a stick - another reason to support them! So take time to prepare to use this, and you won’t be disappointed. Highly Recommended.