Breville Precision Brewer Pid Temperature Control Thermal Coffee Maker w/ Pour Over Adapter Kit - BDC455BSS

This is a phenomenal machine! It is very well thought through, easy to use and has some awesome features. Best of all, the coffee it makes is excellent and it delivers excellent results every time.Great stuff:Features, features and more features. These are not gimmicks either, this machine does an excellent job making a single cup of coffee as well as 12 cups, as well as 6 cups as well as cold brew. The single serve Pour Over feature that uses the V60 drip method will produce a slightly different taste and give you even more control. If you don’t have that accessory, this machine will still make a single cup of coffee just as well, but slightly different in taste. But we are talking 50 shades of great. For all options, you will need 4 different type of filters! That might sound crazy, but the reason is, the system it optimized to make the best possible cup of coffee given the amount of water you use. Most machines are optimized to make a full pot, but if you choose to make a quarter pot or even a half pot, the flavor of the coffee will change and be a bit different. This machine’s name is actually very accurate because it precisely brews coffee in accordance with the amount of water you use to deliver great results. The cold brew is dope!! It comes out very strong and concentrated. Overall, I prefer this coffee the most. It is smooth to the point that its difficult to describe. Just do it.Not so great stuff:Here’s my gripe…the machine is the “Precession Brewer” right? Yet I have to fill the tank with water to the correct level. WHY? This machine is so smart, why couldn’t they have just given us a big water tank and let the system do the work? The time it takes is only slightly longer overall by having to add the exact amount of water, but still, for a $300 machine, they should have programmed the intelligence into the water tank. In fact, the intelligence is already in there. The system knows what you put in there and will change the allowable coffee options based on the amount of water. Anyway….not going to solve this problem here.Overall:5-Stars. No “major” complaints. Excellent coffee results from all options. Lots of options, lots of control, yet two-button-brew simple to use. Yeah its expensive, but you are worth it. I know you are! Enjoy.

Key items:1. Thermos works great. East to put lid on, no spills while brewing, easy to take out and pours without needing to open anything. Super easy to use and stays hot for hours. My life is easier coming from years of using a french press and better tasting.2. I like the cone insert with Melitta brown #4 filters. Instructors don't say which size to buy.3. Fill the thermos to the Max line then pour into plastic container. Grind your beans (I use Breville grinder - perhaps close to 10 years old). I found that six (6) cup setting works for us vs. 10 recommended when using the measuring spoon.4. Water filled, ground coffee in filter - filter in device along with carafe - use the top button to dial it to Gold setting and press bottom button and you're brewing.5. Some water is left in the tank. I take a paper towel and folder it many times and put it in the drain to absorb the little bit of left of water. Then I use that to clean the unit shower and other parts.6. Coffee is consistent and easier to use in less time than french press. Very happy with the unit and it's not too loud. (I had to post because of many complaints which worried me before I purchased - they are not true).

We recently purchased this coffee maker as an upgrade from our Bonavita BV1900TS. The reason for our upgrade was two fold. We are both coffee snobs and wanted to get back to a SCAA certified machine (we had one before that broke). The quality/flavor most SCAA certified units produce really is noticeable if you care about that type of quality and control. We also wanted a machine with more versatility and the ability to control the brew temperature since we are in a higher elevation (Utah). Here is our review for our first week with the unit.FIRST IMPRESSIONSThe first thing we noticed when this unit arrived was how large in size it was, not a problem for us, but could be for people with limited counter space. This unit sits at about 16" tall and 12" wide. Unboxing was simple with easy to review instructions on how to setup the unit, everything was very straight forward. Love that it comes with a reusable basket filter! The first time you use the unit, it will ask you to fill the reservoir with water, test the water hardness, input this into the machine, and run a cycle through the unit.NOISEWe were VERY surprised at how loud this unit it while it brews, almost to the point I was ready to call Breville customer service thinking something was wrong. After some online searches I found this was normal for this unit as it uses the same pump system for the water as it's espresso makers and is prone to noise and vibration. In small spaces, or if placed on a noisy surface I can see this being an issue for some. After about our third brew cycle with the unit I don't notice the noise as much now (not sure if just used to it, or the machine mellows up a little bit in sound after use).DRIP COFFEEThis machine makes an amazing cup of coffee. The fact you can choice the bloom time, brew temperature, and switch between basket and cone filtration makes this a coffee snob's dream. If you don't want to take the time to mess with all of these settings simply set the unit to Gold Brew which will brew your coffee to the best SCAA standards, automatically adjusting time and temperature. I have seen some reviews with the carafe not keeping temperature but we haven't seen this issue at all. We usually brew about 6 cups of coffee everyday and I have poured from our carafe almost 4-5 hours after brewing and the coffee is still hot. The carafe is very large so brewing smaller portions might not keep it as hot for long. It is nice the unit can make up to 12 cups for when we have guests.COLD BREWThis unit does do cold brew, but we have yet to test this feature and will review once we take time to use it. We do love that this is an option.POUR OVERThis unit came with the pour over attachment which we were excited to try. The attachment goes over the current drip spout to prepare it for a pour over. This unit however does not come with a glass or ceramic coffee drip show in the photos. We assumed the unit came with this, being a $300 unit, but had to order that separately from Amazon for roughly $18, this is a little disappointing give the high price point AND the fact the pictures show this with the unit. We will review this as soon as we receive the drip cup.PRICEWe definitely did splurge on this unit as far as cost goes. What lead us to this unit was we wanted a replacement for our OXO 12-cup coffee brewer which broke, but we loved. That unit was also SCAA certified,so we wanted to try another unit that had the same stamp of approval. There are a few other units that include this certification but don't have the control and versatility that this unit offers. Unless you really want to play with your coffee and enjoy venturing into different brew methods on your beans, I would say this unit isn't for people who simply want a unit to make coffee, set it and forget it. However, if you love to play with your coffee and want to play with all this unit has to offer, take the dive and go for it!