Russell Hobbs 14899 Platinum Grind and Brew Coffeemaker

-- Long Term Test Update (22-Dec-2012)
I've been using this coffeemaker 1-3 times almost every day for over 18 months now and I wanted to take the time to offer some thoughts on my longer term experience.

I have had no issues at all with the machine. It does require quite frequent descaling but we live in a very hard water region and the descaling process is straight forward and returns the machine to perfect performance (it gets a little slow as it scales up). I have not bothered to change the activated carbon filter and not seen any issues. I no longer use an additional filter paper due to laziness (although my original comments stand) and I've grown completely used to the three "design flaws" I highlighted, I no longer notice them.

Most importantly, the bean grinder has continued to perform flawlessly - this is a great piece of kit and I commend it to any serious coffee lover.

-- Original Review
This is a relatively large (24cm wide, 23cm deep and 39cm high) coffee maker which, in summary, brews a great cup of coffee but loses a five star rating due to three design issues which I will return to at the end of this review.

The machine can brew the seeming home standard of up to 10 proper cups of coffee at a time (NOT the tiny 125ml capacity which was stated in the manufacturer's product description on the Amazon product page at the time when I received my review order).

It will do so from ground coffee which can be inserted directly into the built-in washable filter, revealed at the press of a button in a panel which swings out from above the carafe (you may wish to invest in some filter papers none-the-less to make cleaning the machine after use a simpler process of removing the used grounds and paper and composting, although the built-in filter is quite easy to remove, empty and clean). In this scenario, you add the ground coffee, add water, press a button several times to indicate how many cups of water you have used and off it goes. This quickly (about ten minutes for ten cups) produces an excellent carafe of coffee.

However, it is unlikely that you are considering this machine for such a simple scenario and it adds two additional features to justify its premium branding and pricing.

Firstly, it has a hopper on its lid which accepts unground coffee beans. You can select a coarseness of grind from one of five options (although I have left this on the default central setting on the assumption that the manufacturers know which coarseness works best in their machine - they certainly have a view of what sort of ground coffee you should use so I find this option a little odd). In addition, if you are brewing 2-4 cups you can select from three strengths of coffee. If you are brewing a larger volume of coffee then you do not have the option to specify a strength (although the machine does grind more beans for a larger amount of coffee). Then, you specify how many cups of water you have added (at this point in my experimentation I started to wonder why Russell Hobbs could not provide a sensor which worked out how much water you had added to the reservoir automatically - maybe for the next version). Pressing a second button to indicate you are using beans rather than pre-ground coffee now grinds a portion of beans for you, adds them to the filter and brews the coffee. The process remains fast and again produces a delicious cup of coffee.

Secondly, the machine includes a built-in clock and the ability to set a time within the next 24 hours when you would like the machine to start brewing (using any combination of the settings already mentioned). This works exactly as specified and I woke up to the smell of a pot of fresh coffee this morning made from beans ground just before the brewing process began - lovely.

Given how good this machine is at making coffee it almost seems a shame to have to come back to those three design flaws :-

1 - for such a premium model the door you open to add pre-ground coffee or to clean the filter seems very flimsy and thin - it is nowhere near as solid as it seems in the pictures or is implied by the branding.
2 - opening this door catches on the top of the carafe if it is on the hot plate which seems unforgiveable to me. Obviously, you can jiggle it around to get it open and once it is shut it is not a problem to remove the carafe but it amazes me that the designers could have missed this one in their testing. Maybe they assume that you never open this door with the carafe in place but I noticed it almost immediately.
3 - the control interface on the front panel of the device, a set of buttons with cryptic hieroglyphics, is complex and counter-intuitive. You would struggle to work out how to get all the features of the machine working withough turning to the manual. Even then the manual is written in a rather odd mix of dry bullet points and jaunty prose. This means that, although it gives you the information you need to decipher the workings, it also irritates with lines such as "press the button to brew the coffee. Leave it alone - you might upset it". Setting the timer is another example of over complication and poor design, if you take more than ten seconds to muddle through the complex series of button presses required the manual dutifully informs you the system will reset and you will have to start again. This was a fate which did indeed befall me the first time I was flipping between manual and machine to try the timer out.

In summary, if you like the idea of a machine with an integrated grinder for fresh coffee beans and the ability to provide your morning cup of coffee when you wake then this may be the machine for you but I would suggest you take note of the three issues I highlight before you buy so you are not disapointed by one of the surprising niggles which come with your new coffeemaker.

Being an admirer of Russell Hobbs products, I was confident that the Platinum 14899 Grind & Brew Coffee Maker would be a useful addition to our kitchen range. Having never previously used a coffee maker I was a little unsure what to expect and how I would get on with it, but I'm happy to report that it is very easy to use, stylish to look at, and most importantly makes great coffee!

Dimensions are approx. 40cm height, 25cm width and 23cm depth, so it's of the right size to slot alongside our other kitchen appliances. It offers the option of using coffee beans (which you put through the coffee mill), but initially we opted to use ready-ground coffee (Russell Hobbs recommend medium-ground filter coffee for the best results). We also purchased a pack of filter papers - this is not absolutely necessary as there is a permanent built-in filter, but buying a pack means that after use you can just dispose of that and the coffee grounds in the compost and have a much less dirty machine filter to clean.

The instruction booklet is very informative and easy to follow. We initially had to fill the reservoir to the 10 mark (10 cups is the maximum that this coffee maker allows) and run the coffee maker without coffee. After cooling and discarding the water, we were then directed to insert a carbon filter (provided in the box) which removes or reduces the amount of chemicals in the water that can affect the flavour of your coffee. This was easy to do and is said to last for 70 brewing cycles. If you leave the coffee maker plugged in, it will actually count these for you and show a symbol in the display when it needs replacing.

Next we added the ground coffee into the filter - recommendation is two rounded teaspoons per cup. After closing the drawer and placing the carafe on the hotplate (we had used this to fill the reservoir up to the desired level) we were ready for our first brew!

We selected our desired coffee strength, set the number of cups and in no time at all the brewed coffee was dripping into the carafe! It tasted superb and we appreciated that there were no dregs - these were all stored in the filter. One excellent feature is that you can keep the carafe on the hotplate and it will keep the coffee warm for some time.

The coffee maker is also easy to clean. After use we disposed of the coffee grounds and then cleaned the carafe, filter and filter holder in warm soapy water.

Our first impressions of the coffee maker are that it is an excellent product. We haven't yet tried the coffee beans option (settings for grinding range from fine to coarse) so I am unable to comment on that. Also worth mentioning is the digital auto programmable control which enables you to set your coffee to be brewed at any time of day!

First impressions weren't that great: The user guide is a bit hopeless. We still haven't figured out what the smiley face button (serious!) is for. Initially, it was a bit of a disaster: It was either too strong or too weak. The timer was very hit and miss when setting up. However, we persevered and tried different settings with different amounts of water and slowly settled down to what is now a great cup of coffee every time. We have now also conquered the fussy timer and wake up to the wonderful aroma of freshly brewed coffee every morning.

Some have mentioned that the grinder is rather noisy. However, compared to our Krupps standalone grinder, it is actually a touch quieter. Mind you, if you are a light sleeper, you WILL jump out of bed when it goes off on timer in the morning. No bad thing in my case.

Others have complained about the filter door catching on the lid of the carafe when you open it with the carafe in. As an engineer myself, I decided to take a good look to see if a better design would have prevented it. So far, I am afraid to say, I haven't come up with a better design without over-engineering the door. The operation of the filter tray demands that the valve at the bottom of the filter presses against the lid of the carafe in order for the coffee to flow into the carafe. As the door opens horizontally, the valve will, by necessity remain pressed against the lid all the way. The only engineering solution I have seen to solve similar problems like this would be to have the door rise up slightly as it opens. This needs a hinge with a rising cam. As these types of hinges are subjected to more stresses, it will need a much bigger and stronger hinge to survive daily use, hence over-engineering.

Would we buy another one? A definite yes! However, we will take a star away for the inadequate manual...