Our Honest Review of the OXO Brew 12-Cup Coffeemaker with Podless Single-Serve Function
We put this multitasking coffee pot to the test.
Beth Lipton
There are about a zillion different ways to enjoy coffee nowadays–and brewing at home offers nearly as many choices. Do you regularly brew a full pot, often enough to justify a regular coffee maker? Or does your daily dose involve just one or two cups, where a single-serve machine or a pour-over maker makes more sense? On the other hand, maybe it varies, and you need both? If questions like these plague you, OXO has come up with a solution: A new 12-cup coffeemaker that includes a podless single-serve function.
On its face, this seems like a great idea: You don’t have to choose between a big-batch coffeemaker and the convenience of single serve. Plus, coffee pods have a reputation for being harmful to the environment (though recent research calls that into question), so an option for the convenience of single serve without the pods is welcome.
We brewed multiple batches of coffee to test out this new addition to OXO’s beverage line.
How We Tested
Following the detailed instructions in the included manual, we set up the coffeemaker and cleaned all the parts. Then we brewed a full pot, following the coffee-to-water ratio suggested in the manual. We tasted the coffee, then tested how long the coffee stayed hot in the carafe off the warming plate (spoiler alert: A loooong time). Then we tested the single-serve function by brewing the minimum amount the pot can handle (2 5-ounce cups), then the largest amount the single-serve option can brew (4 5-ounce cups). After that, we repeated the 2-cup test.
The Pros
As a regular automatic drip coffeemaker, brewing 12 5-ounce cups, it worked beautifully. Measuring 12 inches long by 8 inches wide and 14 inches tall, it takes up some space on the counter, but it’s an attractive machine, made from stainless steel, with black accents and an exposed water reservoir in the back. The controls are easy to understand and use and there’s a function that allows you to set the machine to brew later.
Plus, the double-wall stainless steel carafe is stellar for keeping coffee hot. We brewed a full pot at 11:45 am and used a thermometer to see how hot the coffee was: 177ºF. After pouring a cup, we screwed the top back on the carafe and left it on the counter, off the warming plate, to see how long it would remain over 100ºF. We tested it several times during the day, and then, we finally had to pour out the coffee at 10 pm to go to bed–and it was still hot at 144ºF.
The Cons
Though we appreciate the pod-free single-serve option, and it would be fine for occasional use, it didn’t work as well as we wanted.
We found brewing 2 cups inconsistent. The first time, we used the 10 ounces of water recommended and got 8 ounces of coffee; the second time, we got 9 ounces. (When we brewed 4 cups and 12 cups, we got 4 cups and 12 cups of coffee, respectively.) Plus, since we’re talking about 5 ounces per cup, “2 cups” is actually 1 (by comparison, a Starbucks tall has 12 ounces, and a Dunkin Donuts small has 10 ounces). It feels like a lot of machine to brew what amounts to 1 cup of coffee, especially since it didn’t work as well as with larger amounts. It seems like more hassle than it’s worth, especially since Oxo sells a perfectly good pour-over coffeemaker that brews up to 12 ounces.
Additionally, this machine requires more involved cleaning than a pour-over maker. The instruction manual states that you have to descale the machine after every 90 uses (i.e., remove mineral buildup), and the 2-year warranty is null if you don’t do so. To descale, you need descaling solution, which is not included. That’s fine if you’re brewing larger amounts and you need the big pot–but if you mostly make a smaller amount of coffee, this is another layer of work that you could avoid with a pour-over maker.
Note: The coffee maker comes with two different-sized brew baskets. The smaller one is for 2 to 4 5-ounce cups; the larger is for 5 to 12 5-ounce cups. You need large filters for the bigger one and #2 filters for the smaller one.
Beth Lipton
Who Is It Best For?
Whether or not this machine makes sense for you depends on your personal coffee-making habits. If you tend to make more than 4 5-ounce cups at a time on a regular basis, and you want to occasionally make a smaller amount, this is a good option. If you generally make 1 or 2 cups at a time and only once in a while brew a full pot, this machine is likely more than you need. If you're looking for a single-serve coffeemaker, we recommend one of the models in our test. For a drip coffeemaker, we've tested some we really love that come with plenty of functions and customizations if smaller cups are what you're looking for.
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