Do you need to brew a large pot of coffee for your family? Do you need single cups of coffee at other times? Do you also like to be able to use Keurig K-pods? Keep reading this Hamilton Beach FlexBrew review to find out if it is right coffee maker to buy
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Hamilton Beach FlexBrew Review: Who it is for?
Hamilton Beach Flexbrew (model 49976) is a coffee maker with single serve option. It is a great option if you need to brew coffee for a large family in the morning and single cup of coffee for yourself at other time.
If you love Keurig K-pods, you would love that this coffee machine comes with that option too on its single serve side.
11 Reasons Why I Bought Hamilton Beach FlexBrew 49976
- Dual Coffee Maker
I am the sole coffee drinker in your home. However, there are times whereby my friends come by and I need to make over 10 cups of coffee. This is where Hamilton Beach FlexBrew comes to the rescue. It is both a single cup and pot coffee maker.
With the carafe side, I can fill up to 12 cups of water to make a full pot of coffee. The single serve side allows me to make up to 14 ounces of coffee to ensure that there’s no wastage of coffee when I am making just for my own consumption
- Two Separate Water Reservoirs for Easy Refill
One thing you might realize is that it has two separate water reservoirs (with two water level windows). One of them is the carafe side and the other side is to be used for a single cup of coffee.
Having both water reservoir separate makes it easy not to pour too much water for the amount of coffee you intend to make. If we pour too much, you could decide to keep it there.
But freshness of water affects the coffee taste. So if you are a picky coffee drinker, you would want fresh water everytime you make your coffee.
Well, if there’s the case, you can always throws the excess away ( we assume the excess will be little as we are pretty accurate in determining how much 10 ounces of water is ). However, it is still wasting precious water no matter how little!
So having the reservoir separate avoid water wastage and it definitely make the task of pouring in water efficient, without much effort.
- Able to program it to start brewing up to 24 hours in advance
Remember all those times when you had to wake up early so you can prepare a nice cup of coffee for the day? Or maybe you woke up early to wait in line at Starbucks to get your fuel. You wouldn’t need to do any of that if you owned a coffee maker that could just have your coffee ready for you as soon as you are up.
If you could just smell it as you go towards your kitchen, wouldn’t that motivate you for the day? Well, good thing the carafe side can be pre-programmed for whatever time of the day you want your coffee at. You can just add the coffee and the water before bed and set the timer and your coffee will be ready for you to get you ready for the day ahead.
- Keep Coffee Warm Feature
It can also make up to 12 cups of coffee cover you and your company. But what if you want a cup now and another one hour down the line? Well, Hamilton Beach has you covered on that front as well because you can keep your coffee nice and hot for up to two hours with the carafe side. After the time has passed the machine will turn off automatically so you don’t need to worry about that either.
- Single Serve Coffee Maker with both K-cup and ground coffee option
Now let’s take a look at the single-serve side. Here you have two options. You can either use the pod holder your coffee maker comes with and make a K-Cup coffee of your choice which will require ten ounces of water, or you can use the brew basket (again, included) and use coffee grounds which will allow you to add up to fourteen ounces of water. Now with the single-serve side, you will need to add only as much water as you need, so take a look at that water window to see where you’re at!
- Cup Rest with Storage Space
So where do you keep the pod holder and the brew basket? Inside the cup rest of course! The cup rest opens up so you can keep them inside and out of sight. That way you can make sure your coffee maker is not occupying unnecessary space in your counter. Even if you have a huge counter, you probably won’t appreciate the mess if you could just avoid it. And now you can!
- Able to hold Tall Travel Mugs
You can also remove the cup rest to fit a travel mug in there instead of a cup. They did not forget about those of us who need to brew their coffee first thing in the morning and go to work. It’s all been thought of. It will save you time compared to a Chemex coffee maker while still giving you that amazing taste we all love.
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- Option to make Bold Coffee
One other cool feature is that you can choose the strength of your coffee with this product, either go for a regular coffee or a bold cup when you really need to get going. And this option works for both the carafe side and the single-serve side.
Which is just a neat little touch for people who like their coffee a little stronger than what is considered “regular”. There might be some who might not care for this too much but when your coffee addict aunt comes to visit she will like you more for it!
- Ideal Coffee Brew Temperature
Your coffee will be poured at 160 degrees (Fahrenheit) so you don’t need to wait at all for it to cool down before drinking, but beware, if you add milk or cream it might be a little on the colder side. Since this is a personal preference issue, reactions may vary. I believe a cup of black coffee is just perfect if done right, so it is perfect for me.
- Dishwasher Safe Removable Parts
Probably one of the best things about this coffee maker is all the removable parts are top-rack dishwasher safe. A clean tool is always appreciated but sometimes it can be annoying to just bring yourself to clean out pretty much anything. That’s the whole reason dishwashers exist! So it’s definitely nice to be able to just add it with your other dishes!
- Pause and Serve Feature For Carafe Side
To top it all out, the carafe side come with a pause and serve feature. This allows you to pause the brewing and pour a cup of coffee.
Potential Shortcomings of Hamilton Beach Flexbrew 49976
Not too small
This guy stands at 11.42 x 12.24 x 13.66 inches, so it’s going to take some space in your kitchen. It might not be the best choice if you are worried about your counter size. But if you have enough room for it then you should definitely look a little further.
see also: Hamilton Beach Brewstation Review
Video of Hamilton Beach Flexbrew 49976 in action
Specification of Hamilton Beach Flexbrew Coffee Maker
- Dimensions 13.9 height x 10.24 width x 10.63 depth
- Brew 10 ounces with Keurig K-Cups or 14 ounces with ground coffee
- 12-cup carafe side with programmable auto-start timer
- 2-hour auto power off
- Keep warm
- 37 pounds
- 1050 Watts
- BPA free
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Should I buy Hamilton Beach Flexbrew Coffee Maker?
Overall, this coffee maker gets a pass for sure! It is easy to use, looks nice and easy to clean! We can give it some words of criticism about its size but that’s only a problem if you are living in a place with a small kitchen.
There might be more professional models in the market but you will be looking at a whole different price level for those guys. I wouldn’t recommend this model for a cafe or a restaurant that’s supposed to serve hundreds of cups every single hour but it can be great for an individual or a family of four or five (up to twelve actually).
That is pretty much all there is to this machine, so make your own decision! If you are okay with spending $500 more for a coffee maker then you can definitely find something better but if all you want is a nice cup of coffee and you are not in the mood for giving away hundreds of hard-earned dollars for a coffee maker then you won’t regret choosing this coffee maker.
Hopefully, this Hamilton Beach FlexBrew Review has helped you make your decision!
