Technivorm MoccaMaster Review

Norcross Apr 24th, 2014Reviews

I’m an avid coffee drinker. That’s not a mystery for those that know me, or follow me on twitter, or see me in the store, or happen to be around me more than a few hours. So when ants invaded my coffee maker back in the fall, I was rather upset. Yes, I had a backup machine and some other tools, but my primary coffee source was gone. Productivity? Impossible. THE CODE DEMANDS COFFEE.

So when Carrie Dils decided to set up a quick “Buy Norcross a coffee maker” site, I was beyond humbled. I’m not one for asking people for help when I’m capable. And while I tried to dissuade Carrie from doing it, the site was live and half funded by the time I finished a shower.
Bill knows coffee
I had my eye on the Technivorm MoccaMaster for a while. But my wife said I couldn’t get a new machine when the existing one was perfectly good. And it was. But after the antocalypse ruined our current machine, I had my reason. And thanks to Carrie and all that pitched in, I had the funds. I was now the proud owner of a beautiful new coffee maker. So after using it daily for a few months, I decided to write a thorough review on it, both pros and cons.

It IS like a cup of hugs

Pros

Simplicity

This is a big one for me. I’ve had coffee machines that have every option imaginable, most of which were never used. Some of those options didn’t even have anything to do with coffee. So the Technivorm model I have has one button: the on switch. The filter cup has a small toggle for full, half, and closed. And that’s it. No timers. No settings to adjust for the earth’s gravitational pull. Just a switch to make coffee and a toggle to control how much water goes through. Some people may think this is a negative (more on that later) but not me. Push button, get coffee. Even my non-caffeinated brain can handle that.

Brew Speed

To make an 8 cup pot (the max on my particular model) the total brew time is around 5-8 minutes. That’s fast enough to get the coffee in my facehole in the morning.

Build Quality

The machine is solid, plain and simple. There’s a plastic lid on the water reservoir and the filter cup is plastic, the rest is metal which gives it a solid feel. The base is level and doesn’t seem to wobble at all, which is nice. The carafe is metal as well with two separate lids: one for the brew process and one to keep it sealed afterwards.

Cleanup

The pieces come off easily for cleaning. They also recommend using a descaling agent every month or so, which I do. Not much else to say here. Keep your coffee maker clean lest you want poor tasting brew.

Coffee Quality

At the end of the day, this is what matters. Is the coffee good? I can say without any hesitation the answer is YES. Even my wife noted how much better it was. It follows a strict coffee brewing standard (water temperature, pressure, things like that) and does it well. And because the minimalist design, there aren’t a bunch of areas to get munged up to ruin the flavor. It makes decent coffee taste good, and good coffee taste great.

Even weird cartoons love coffee

Cons

Cost

Let’s not beat around the bush here: this is a $300 coffee maker. There are numerous machines that do a more than capable job for half that cost. Depending on how much coffee you drink, the cost may be excessive considering it does one thing: make coffee. But if you average out the cost over the life of the machine, it’s not that bad. Still, $300 can be a bit much for some people, which I completely understand.

Coffee Temperature

At times, the carafe doesn’t keep the coffee as hot as I’d like. Since it’s only brewed at 202 degrees, it doesn’t start as hot as some other makers do. There is a separate lid to keep the carafe sealed, but I often forget to use it. That being said, I usually finish the pot before it’s an issue. But if you are the kind who nurses it throughout the day, this could be an issue. They have models with the standard burn plate instead of the carafe, but I don’t like those because they “cook” the coffee over time, distorting the flavor.

Carafe Size

My particular model only makes 8 cups at a time. That’s OK for me, but some people may want more. They have bigger ones (I actually ordered the larger one, but it went out of stock afterwards). Also, the shape of it makes it difficult to clean, since my hand doesn’t fit inside it.

Lack of Features

This could be an issue for some people. Timers, scheduled starts, things like that. As I said above, there isn’t any of this stuff. There are no electronics at all, hell, there isn’t even a clock or a buzzer. So while I don’t see this as a negative, some would.

ENGAGE

Final Assessment:

I’d give this 4.5 stars. This machine is everything I want, nothing I don’t. The half star would be due to the carafe dimensions which makes cleaning it harder, and the two lids instead of one that kept the seal tighter.

So if you have the means, I would recommend getting one. You can go get one here from Amazon.

(note: this post contains a few affiliate links to Amazon)

2 Responses to “Technivorm MoccaMaster Review”

  1. Dave

    Great review been eyeballing that brand for awhile.

    The real question now is what are your favorite brands and type of coffee that go into this baby? Do you always go with a high end brand?

    • Norcross

      I enjoy a light to medium roast blend, but I’ll try almost anything that isn’t complete shit. My wife doesn’t like bolder coffee, so I don’t use the high end stuff much.

      Believe it or not, we use regular Dunkin brand coffee more than anything else. And it tastes great in it.