Our Braun coffee maker served us well for over six years. Thousands of coffee potfuls later, it failed to work one morning and we knew it was time to shop for a new one. As we strolled the aisles of our local BJ's we realized that Braun was not a brand that they carried. Nevertheless our attention was drawn to a unique looking product, the Hamilton Beach Brew Station 12 Cup Coffee Maker, and we soon carried it off and brought it home.

What is so special about this particular product? No carafe! Yes, coffee brews within the main unit and then is released into your cup by pressing on a dispenser, much like the type you find at some coffee stores. The advantage is obvious: you can get coffee with one hand while not worrying that you will break the carafe. An excellent idea!

This particular model holds standard sized coffee filters and has an internal warming tray to keep the coffee warm. Indeed, we felt that the unit kept coffee hotter longer than most units we had owned in the past. For several days we enjoyed hot, fresh brewed coffee and we believed that we made a wise

Our interest in the product was short-lived, however. One of the oddest features about the unit was the double push of the on/brew button to get the unit started. Much like the double click of your computer's mouse to open a file, users must do the same thing to the round push button located on the front of the machine. No toggling on/off switch to deal with here! Unfortunately, one recent morning the switch did not work. Sure, the light came on, but coffee was not dispensed. My wife and I redid the process at least a dozen times before we realized that the machine was not going to work. The water was in the unit, the coffee was seated properly in the filter, and the light switch came on. Still, no coffee was brewing.

In summation, the Hamilton Beach Brew Station 12 Cup Coffee Maker is an excellent idea, but the button is a bad idea. It would be better to replace the switch with something that works the first time and everytime thereafter. Fortunately for us we were able to return the item to BJ's where we received a full cash refund. Hamilton Beach has a great idea, but their engineering leaves something to be desired.
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