I'm looking for a new drip brewer for my wife and son.

Previously, we owned a Technivorm Mochamaster, which lasted quite a few years but eventually died, followed by a less-than-two year old Bonavita BV1901TS that has just died and can't be replaced under warranty (evidently, Bonavita has undergone some sort of reorganization -- bankruptcy or acquired I guess -- and isn't honoring warranties issues by the previous owner.) I may be able to fix the Bonavita myself, but it'll take weeks to get the part I suspect has failed.

Both drip brewers had a thermal carafe, and neither kept the coffee warm. Online reviews suggest that this is a common problem for other brands as well. This time around I'd like to try a glass carafe, though I do have concerns about burnt taste from leaving it on the burner too long. If that happens too often, I'll advise my wife and son to pour the coffee into a thermos.

I don't want another Technivorm (don't like the shower head design and cost) or Bonavita (never again.) Unfortunately, there are a lot of bad reviews for all of the SCA-certified drip brewers out there. Complaints are all over the map. A surprising number of buyers complain about the brewer stopping partway through the cycle, just like our Bonavita.

One of the models that seems to have fewer complaints is the Ninja Specialty Coffee Maker CM401. Anyone have experience with that one? Any recommendations for other models?

Ratio 6. It's great. One button operation. Great build quality. James Hoffman has a review of all of the brewers. His complaint about the carafe is true. But the rest of the pluses completely outweigh that one minus.

I've owned two Ratio Eights, still keep one at home for my filter brew, gave my older unit to my sister. It's an incredible brewer, but a one-trick pony since you cant adjust temperature, which I'd like. I bought the nicer metal carafe for the newer unit I use, and it does a great job in everything but its ability to pour nicely. The lip of the pouring spout is woefully bad and dribbles and literally streams at almost a backward 45 degree angle when topping off a mug.

I kinda miss the flexibility of my Brazen, but haven't felt the urge to get another one. There's other machines that are in development coming to the market soon that will be the new plus ultra of filter brewing that might be home-friendly at a significant cost; so I'd wait a while longer before making big buying decisions.

If you're only brewing 1-2 cups at a time and are looking for plenty of control (temp, flow rate, customized pours), the Gevi 4-in-1 is worth considering.

I've found cup quality to be better than any other home brewer I've used (my previous machine was also a Technivorm). Oh, and though I wish they would offer the brewer as a standalone unit, the built-in grinder is shockingly good. I'd even say it rivals my Vario w/ steel burrs in the pourover range.

It's not without its faults, and I have mixed feelings about it's current price tag (I backed it on Indiegogo when it was $499), but assuming longevity is good, I think it's a unique option in this space.

Thanks, folks. I hadn't looked at the Ratio brewers, and I think the Ratio Six is just what the fam needs. Showed my wife the Hoffmann review and she says she can handle inserting and removing the "stack" and isn't concerned about the way the carafe pours.

So, we've been using the Ratio Six for about a week, and I must say it lives up to the recommendation.

• The coffee tastes great (for drip).

• After brewing the coffee bed is uniform and flat, no holes. So the shower screen seems to be doing its job.

• The carafe keeps the coffee hot/warm far longer than either our previous Technivorm or Bonavita, likely due to the sealed brew path and maybe the carafe construction (can't tell without sawing it in half.)

• Cosmetically, it's quite attractive, and I love the mostly-metal construction.

So far, we don't have a problem with any of the issues raised by James Hoffman.

• The carafe spout closes reliably and we have yet to get any water stuck in the lid, even after rinsing it under running water.

• The carafe pours just fine so long as you follow the direction card pasted on the handle: tilt the carafe, then pour.

• No problem with little bits of water splashing back at the operator when the stack is removed.

• I haven't tested the markings on the water reservoir. It's a non-issue with a full pot, and half-pots seem to come out fine. At some point I'll do measurements, but it's not urgent.

The one questionable design decision is the removable cord. While I like that concept in general, the location of the plug is in the rear of the machine, directly under the fill port. If you miss when pouring water, it can splash onto the back edge of the brewer and slide down to the plug. Not good to have water on the plug, though it's probably sealed well enough to avoid disaster. A removable plastic shield over the plug might solve the problem.

Otherwise, I'm pleased. Wish it has been less expensive, but you get what you pay for. Thanks for the recommendation nrcoffee.

Behmor Brazen.

I really like my Ratio 6. The only issue I have had with it is when I made a mistake. I like to preheat the carafe with hot water before brewing. A couple of times I forgot to dump out the preheat water and brewed into the already full carafe, which resulted in overflow. Curiously, this lead to coffee getting trapped between the double walls of the filter holder. Also, I wouldn't recommending submersing the filter holder when cleaning. I found that I could leave it tilted on a paper towel to get the liquid out. Never had a problem when I used it properly.

Not Italian, but I love my venerable old Bunn A10. It's about as reliable as concrete, I must have somewhere near 5000 pots thru it so far, and very consistent with good brew temperature. I guess it'd be classified as automatic pour-over, not drip, as it has a shower head that puts all of the water into the basket within several seconds after pouring water into the machine.

I had chosen this machine a decade ago, because at the time there were few American options that actually kept a reasonable brew temperature, and none of the better Euro options available in 110V really fit my counter space. I had my reservations initially, but looking back more than 10 years now, I'm glad I went with the Bunn.

The only down-sides to the A10, from my perspective, have been:

1. Water tends to evaporate from the boiler, at a rate of roughly 4 fl.oz. per day. This machine keeps a boiler full of hot water, for fast brew time in a commercial setting (Bunn = commercial), and the boiler is vented. This hasn't been a big issue for me, I usually just compensate for the evaporation rate when pouring the water for the next batch. In other words, if I want to brew using 24 fl.oz. water, and my last batch was the prior morning, I simply load 28 fl.oz. If you wanted to be more exact (eg. tenths of fl.oz.), then you'd want to prime the machine with a few fl.oz. fresh water to top up the boiler, which could add 30 - 60 seconds to your morning routine. If you're using this machine daily, as I always have, you quickly get used to just compensating for the evaporation when you load water.

1a. Note that there is a plumbed-in version of this machine, which I suspect probably resolves this issue by always keeping the boiler topped-up. I really don't know, as I own the manual pour version.

2. The boiler makes a slight boiling noise as it cycles on and off all day, which could be an issue for those in a small apartment. It's no issue for us in a larger house, and we frankly don't even notice it anymore, even when we're in the room with it. But I do recall people asking why our coffee maker is making a boiling noise.

3. Unless you want to make a science project of testing other filters, you need to buy Bunn filters, which are usually only sold in boxes of 1000, 5000, or 10,000 units. This is because of the pour-over cycle putting up to 32 oz. of water onto the grounds relatively quickly. If the chosen filter has a flow rate that is very slow, it could cause the filter basket to overflow. This is no issue with the Bunn filters, so I just buy a box of 1000 filters every few years, and put it in the cupboard.

4. You'll want to shut down the machine and drain it if you go on vacation for more than a few days. It's no issue to leave it over a long weekend, but if you're headed to the islands for two weeks, you'll want to drain it and turn off the boiler, lest it evaporate itself dry.

5. The choice to keep hot water in the machine makes it a good choice for anyone using it everyday. If you're only brewing once or several times per week, it becomes more a hassle than a convenience.

Note that there are a few different shower heads available for this machine, which may help in finding alt filters, or if you have particular water quality issues.

I've been running mine since probably 2005'ish, if I had to guess. No issues with scaling, or any others that I had fretted over, pre-purchase. It has been a rock-solid machine, making excellent pour-over coffee, for many years.

re: Bunn - Maybe things have changed, but a number of years ago I had a used A10 and used B10. They work the same. The water is in a boiler and kept hot. Pour water into the top and it displaces water in the boiler which is sent to the brew basket. iirc, the B10 has a present button thermostat. The A10 has a bulb thermocouple and internally can be adjusted. I modded my A10 with a different thermocouple assembly mounted so that the shaft poked through the wall so the temperature could be adjusted. The B10 is a cheap wannabe. The top area where the water is poured is RTV glued to the boiler. A leak there means a new machine. I tried to reseal the B10 I had and it finally ended up as trash.

The one thing they had in common is if you pour all the water in at once and you have a too-fine grind, have a mop ready. The basket will overflow and that does not go into the carafe- it pours over the edge of the basket, onto the counter, and onto the floor.

I recommended the Brazen (I have the original, not the 'smart' brewer) because it has temperature adjustment, preinfusion, a setting for altitude, a cycle that calibrates for the boiling point as well as adjusts for electronic drift, and most importantly, brew temperature adjustment. With all that we have learned as to how important brew temperature is, I do not see the sense of getting a drip machine which is without that ability. If you are buying roasted, pre-ground coffee in a big red jug for around $4.00/lb (less than most of us here pay for green), sure; brew temperature doesn't matter at all. But then again, if you are using that coffee, the likelihood that you are participating on this forum is pointless.