FlexBrew Single-Serve Coffee Maker for K-Cups and Ground Coffee

All the practical reasons I really like this Hamilton Beach coffee maker. (I first bought the Sboly, which made me appreciate this model all the more-my Solby review is at the bottom.) ABOUT THE HAMILTON BEACH -The coffee ground basket is solid plastic with screening at the bottom. This makes the basket very firm to handle and easy to empty hot coffee grounds. It has a rigid lip that you can knock against the edge of the trash can without getting the coffee grounds all over the floor. The lid is hinged so there is no folding plastic parts, and snaps on and off if you want to do that. -There are two cup levels to choose from although you would have to make the coffee twice to fill the larger cup. When I do want to fill a larger cup, I just use the cup I usually use and pour it into the bigger cup. The container it sits on to raise the cup is rigid and stores the second k-cup basket, nice! -You pour in the water you need up to 14oz, which is perfect for the 16oz cup. It is also a little shorter and fits under my cabinet door when open-personal thing but turned out to be very relevant in my situation ;-) -The reservoir lid is hinged - pop it open, pop it closed. -So, I forgot to run some plain water through before I started using it and there was a weird taste in the first two cups of coffee. I ran water with a little white vinegar through about 2 times then plain water about 2 times to get rid of the odd taste. Now it is perfect. AS COMPARED TO THE SBOLY What I did not like about the Sboly (it may seem odd to include this part but all those bells and whistles sounded really good in theory but were not so great in practice.): -The Sboly splattered, and I was using the appropriate level for my cup size. My cup is of standard size. We looked at it to make sure nothing was clogged. My husband said the pressure of the hot water was too great for the design, therefore spitting instead of dripping. -The Sboly's level adjustment tray seemed sort of flimsy. Even when I set my average weight coffee cup on the tray empty, it gave a little, slanting downward. It didn't bode well for the future. -I did not like the basket they provide to use with coffee grounds. When you open the top, the crease where the lid folds down appeared white, like folded plastic does just before it breaks. The whole thing is screened, which sounds good in theory, but makes it difficult to handle when you are trying to change the grounds, especially when they are hot. The top of the lid is larger than the bottom, and it started to fall open when I would go to remove it from the coffee maker. It is also a challenge to find a way to hold it when you are trying to dump the contents in the trash can and you cannot knock it against the side of the trash can to get the grounds out because it is not rigid and there is no lip to catch on the edge of the can. Again, the lid being bigger than the body makes this process awkward. Overall, flimsy and difficult to manage. -The Sboly's preset cup sizes sounded good in theory but were really a pain. My husband uses 16oz to-go paper cups that obviously hold more than 12oz so I could not fill his cup as much as I would like. Also, if you are making 12oz cups of coffee, a 30oz reservoir is kind of weird, why not 36oz, so you fill it every other time instead of every time. Again, sounded good in theory. The lid to the reservoir is not hinged and it took me using both hands to get it in the right spot when putting it back on; I kept dropping it in the reservoir when I used one hand :-) -Finally, with the top open, it was just a little too tall to open the cabinet door above it where I keep the coffee. I also had to find a place to store the k-cup basket where I wouldn't forget. Another funky shaped doo-dad with no obvious place to call home. -So I returned the Sbolyy, and got my refund no problem. I hope this helps somebody!

I have been searching for a coffee maker that could brew ground coffee AND/OR coffee from the pods. I MUCH prefer ground coffee over the pods but occasionally I'll receive coffee pods as a gift and would like to use them so I wanted a unit that could brew both but wasn't so insanely over priced. I came across this one and thought I'd give it a shot. I've had the unit for a few months now and I have to say that I am incredibly happy that I made this purchase. It performs just as I wanted it to. It takes up very little space on the countertop and brews perfectly, both grounds AND from the pods. I wanted to wait until I made sure to try the pod function before I left a review and I am VERY happy to say that this is an AWESOME unit. VERY reasonably priced and does the job perfectly. I have always preferred to brew my coffee as I need it so the single brew is what I wanted but if you like an entire pot of coffee at each brew then this is not the unit for you. The ONLY drawback I have run into is the the unit does not have room for taller travel mugs but that is a very minor issue and one that I worked around quickly by taking off the adjustable stand below and, TADA! it fits taller mugs!. It is VERY easy and quick to clean the unit and I LOVE that I no longer need to fuss with coffee filters thanks to the reusable supplied one which I have pictures of attached. The plate that the cup sits on is not a hot plate but again, that's not an issue for me because I brew the coffee when I want to drink it so I have no need for it to sit on a hot/warming plate waiting for me to pick it up. I brew it, grab it and drink it. Overall I would give this unit a 9.5/10 the only minor loss was that it isn't a warming plate that the mug sits on but again that is not a problem for myself. LOVE THIS UNIT!!!

Great machine, very affordable and well made and designed. Pro: 1. Great build quality 2. Fits a large range of cups from mugs to tall travel mugs and holds around 14oz at max 3. Produces a very hot and fine cup of coffee within the limits of the k cup design 4. Extremely quiet Con: 1. Brew time, for me a little over 3 minutes doing about 12 ounces of water Overall I am happy and I only hope they can improve the brew time in future models along with a brew time function

I have had the name brand single serve coffee makers in the past, but ended up not using it (then) and gave it away. Working from home has afforded me another opportunity get one to save some time and get consistent results with less work than a regular coffee maker. I know, I know; yes, I can make my own coffee, but having had a single serve coffee maker at work, I had a stash of coffee cups here that I needed to use. I did not want to spend the High price for a coffee maker, I just wanted a machine that could brew my coffee without any additional bells and whistles. This machine works great. It is easy to understand, use, and brews coffee with consistent results; meaning, same heat consistency, taste and time (about 4:20 to brew a 14 oz cup). I read the reviews prior to buying this machine, and still owning several Hamilton Beach products, I knew I could trust this brand. No issues in my two weeks of owning it it is very easy to clean and use, plus it comes with it's own brew-your-own coffee basket, making the overall value a well-worth investment in my book. I would gladly recommend this brewer to anyone that is looking for single serve coffee maker that is affordable, that works, offers consistent results and does not need additional add-ons that you need to buy separately.

This is the second one I bought there was nothing wrong with the first one I gave it to the Goodwill because I bought another model that had a reservoir that holds water do not buy one of these that has a water reservoir it gets slimy inside the container this one here is the one you want to buy you can pour up to 16 oz of water in this and it will get it all hot and not leave any in the container to get slimy or you can Brew however many ounces you want up to 16 this is a fantastic coffee pot and I will tell you why some units just heat the water and then it boils into the coffee grounds this unit gets the entire 16 oz of water boiling hot then a pump releases it through the grounds I have had other coffee pots like this one but they don't get the water hot enough a certain name brand one I will not mention but this is the one it is my second one absolutely fantastic I had the first one two years but I gave it away so I was so happy to get this I guarantee you'll be very happy with this again my personal opinion but stay away from the model that has a water reservoir it doesn't use all the water much of it stays in the reservoir and it gets slimy this is the model you want to buy be sure to read all the customer reviews sometimes you will find one for a few dollars last money but it doesn't get the water hot enough this will give you a boiling hot cup of coffee I am very pleased with this Hamilton Beach FlexBrew this one also does not take up the whole counter as one of the bigger ones with the water reservoir does this coffee pot you can put the pods in it or it has an adapter where you can just use the grounds on a scale of 1 to 10 I give this one a 10 trust me on this I am a coffee connoisseur

I purchased this when my trusty old Keurig finally bit the dust. I’m particular about my coffee, usually using freshly ground beans with a pour-over filter and pitcher. But I occasionally used a Keurig pod when I just wanted a just a bit and didn’t feel like making a big production out of it. I bought the Hamilton Beach unit as a replacement, because it was about $20 less expensive than the basic Keurig model. It worked fine with Keurig pods, although I noticed that after every second or third cup it is necessary to clean out the outflow orifice at the bottom of the pod holder and the hole in the steel pod-puncturing unit to prevent the coffeemaker from stopping up and turning off. It takes less that 30 seconds to accomplish this using a partly straightened paper clip. Then I tried using the Flexbrew feature with freshly ground coffee. You simply re;lace the pod holder with the included filter basket. It takes about three heaping teaspoons of coffee, just enough to cover the fine-screen filter in the bottom of the basket, to make a 16oz mug of medium-strength coffee. The hot water comes through the same steel tip that punctures pods, but in this instance a rubber ring seals the filter basket when the top is closed, and the coffee is made under pressure, much in the manner of an espresso machine. The coffee quality is superb, and it is so quick and easy I hardly use my pour-over method at all any more. One more hint — I recommend rinsing the grounds out of the filter basked immediately after each cup is made, as it becomes brick-like when cold and dry. I bought this little gem of a machine thinking I would be using it only for the occasional cup of pod coffee, but it has become my number one way of making coffee all day and every day. Kudos to Hamilton Beach for coming up with a simple, versatile and inexpensive way to make coffee!

I bought this to be more efficient making coffee as I drink it rather than having a pot sitting on a burner for hours. I was also pouring a lot of over-cooked coffee down the sink. The typical Keurig machines seem more complicated than a brewer needs to be. I wanted one a single serve maker that I just pour the right amount of water using my coffee mug and push one button to brew. The Hamilton Beach FlexBrew says 14 cups max, but I routinely brew my 16 cup travel mug full of coffee with no problem. I use a Perfect Pod EX-Cup reusable pod for several reasons. The standard K-cup pods make a bunch of trash. They are more expensive and generally don't taste as good. I prefer paper filters over any of the permanent metal filters. The paper filters brew a better cup of coffee. The Perfect Pod allows me to use my favorite ground coffee and I can even buy Kona direct from the farm in Hawaii for special occasions. Clean-up using the Perfect Pod couldn't be easier. Remove the pod, peel the top, and the filter pulls right out with all the grounds nicely wrapped. The Hamilton Beach FlexBrew makes a hotter cup of coffee than my old 12 cup brewer, so people who use a lot of cream should like that. I like my coffee black, so it has to cool a bit before I can take a big swig. I now own two of these, one for the house, the other is out in my shop. The newer one is an upgraded version 49979 with an extra "bold brew" button and shiny chrome rather than grey finish. Both versions work great. I highly recommend either of them if you are looking for a single-brew, keurig-type maker. Pay a few bucks more for the 49979 if you want chrome or the "bold brew" feature.

TL;DR Get this if you like convenience and also not knowing when you'll start getting half cups of coffee instead of full ones! -- This is a great concept, especially if you don't want to be beholden to k-cups. You can pop in a k-cup or fill the provided basket with your own coffee and brew a cup of coffee quickly and easily. Fantastic. I bought my original one years ago. Still working to this day, so when I moved to an apartment, I left the old one with my sister and bought a new one. It died about 6 months after I purchased it--the hose probably sprung a hole or something, which meant the water didn't make it through the grounds, and I got progressively smaller cups of coffee. So I called customer support (they are responsive, I'll give them that) and they sent out a new one. Surprise! It was a different model! Smaller footprint, which was cool. The harder-to-clean pedestal that holds smaller cups isn't great, but I can sort of deal w/ it if I don't think about it too hard. A few weeks ago, it started acting up. I got it in May; it's the beginning of Feb. now. A few resets prolonged the pain, but I should've known it was a terminal issue. I contacted HB customer service again, hoping against hope that they'd see that an appliance that doesn't even last a year is an issue. They apparently don't, because I got a "sorry, your item is out of warranty, but here's a 15% coupon to take another gamble on our clearly badly designed product" response. No thanks. Onward to the next coffee machine.