Kitchen Gourmet 4-Cup Coffee Maker (#XQ-673H)

by Wendy
(Champaign, illinois)

As poor college students we were hoping to save some cash by getting a coffee machine so we won't have to buy from the stores. We found this cheap machine from Walgreens (the only one left) for 10 dollars. The machine comes with everything you need and the reusable mesh filter is especially convenient so we won't be running out of filters.

However, I would advice not to get this model unless you really cannot afford a better one. I have been using it for about 3 months now, it worked just as it had the day we bought it. BUT the coffee just isn't good enough, and we are not picky either. First of all, the lid opens up for adding water but the angle is so awkward that it’s hard not to spill it. The coffee brewed is missing that great aroma and the color is very light. If you leave the coffee on for a while it will start to taste quite bitter and burnt.

The trick is to turn it off right when it stops dripping and finish coffee right away. We have also been pouring the coffee back into the grind/filter, stir with a spoon and then replace the carafe and let it drip back down. Repeating this will get you thicker coffee but doing too many times will taste bitter.

This is probably the most basic automatic coffee maker you can get. The material is not exactly long lasting as part of the lid to the carafe has already chipped off. We are looking to get another coffee maker, probably a French press or a percolator. We won’t be trying another automatic drip coffee since we cannot afford the really good models.