Bought this model at Target a couple weeks ago to replace the cheapo Mr. Coffee machine we’d been using for the past 5 years. Personally, I think it’s great. The wife, however, thinks the coffee comes out too strong. I told her that she’s finally getting a taste of real coffee, not some watered down junk. You might need to play around a bit to figure out the ratio of grounds:water that suits you.

Pros:
1. Coffee is hot. No worries about lukewarm coffee here.
2. Coffee comes out tasting good. It’s on the strong side. My preference is to use a french press, but the HG is much more convenient for my morning routine.

Cons (all minor in my view):
1. Coffee might be too hot for some. I burned my tongue on the first few cups, so I usually let it sit on the counter for a few minutes before drinking.
2. It’s a 10 minute brew cycle (6 to heat the water, 4 for the drip). It’s a little long for my wife, but I have no problems with it. I usually just wind up shaving, brushing teeth, combing hair, etc. during the brew.
3. It’s LOUD. Those who are sensitive to that kind of thing might want to look at a different model.
4. It’s pretty tall. It just barely fits under our cabinets and I have to slide it out every morning in order to fill it.
5. It has an 8-cup capacity. We only drink 6 cups in the morning, so it suits our needs. We figure that we can make multiple pots on the rare occasions that we have company/family over.
6. It has a 4-cup minimum. Again, it works well for us, but I wouldn’t recommend it to my single friends that limit themselves to one mug.

I haven’t had any issues with the carafe, like others have mentioned. Then again, the Mr Coffee regularly left little puddles on the kitchen counter, so maybe I just haven’t noticed the problems. At any rate, it pours fine for me and I haven’t spilled anything yet.

It’s not a perfect machine, but I definitely think that the positives outweigh the negatives. My primary concern was getting good tasting coffee. The HG definitely delivers, so I can live with all of the minor inconveniences.

I made my 1st pot of coffee with this today, and I can say that this pot made the best coffee I have ever made. I went with this Bunn model because it was affordable, had a clock/timer, and preheats the water to the correct temperature before the brewing begins. The unit was very attractive, easy to set up, and though the directions said the water had a 6 minute heat up time and then a 3 minute brew time, my coffee was ready much quicker. I add liquid creamer to my coffee, and even though it was chilled creamer, the coffee was still piping hot. The coffee was smooth, with no bitter notes at all. I used Dunkin’ Donuts freshly ground arabica beans, and it tasted better than any coffee I ever got at their donut shop! Bunn has made a believer out of me, the water temp. really makes a huge difference.

First off, let me say I almost NEVER drank ‘drip-style’ coffee before I started using this Bunn maker. I have a french press at work, and use that every day — on the weekends, I usually don’t bother with the drip maker at home and when I do, I’m usually not crazy about the flavor. More trouble than it’s worth.

Enter this newfangled coffee maker… the technology is touted at length on the product description, so I’ll spare a re-hash, but to summarize:

- Dimensions: this fits atop my kitchen counter, beneath the cabinets, without a problem. Not sure what others on here have been complaining about (unless their cabinets are really low). It’s a little taller than my old maker, but not that much taller. Fits in the same spot as the old one.

- Aesthetic: I like the brushed steel / black aesthetic. Modern, and meshes with other devices around the kitchen/house. I’m not a stickler for interior decoration, but it’s still a plus.

- Ease of use: same as a normal maker; fill the carage, pour the water in the receptacle, place filter, scoop coffee, hit ‘Start’… in 8-10 minutes you get perfect coffee.

- Carafe: this is where this product gets 4 stars instead of 5. It’s a relatively small annoyance, but so key with coffee makers that it does mean I’m lowering my rating. The Carafe is attractive and well-made, but you have to be careful pouring water into the top receptacle, and be even more careful pouring hot coffee into your mug. Why? The pour spout is ‘modern’ looking, as in it’s mostly flat, without a clearly defined pouring channel. As a consequence, liquids tend to run to the sides of the pour spout and will trickle down the outside of the carafe and spill on your counter/table/lap.

This can be MOSTLY mitigated by pouring carefully and you have to leave the top on (helps reduce the seepage/spilling). After a few times, I got more or less accustomed to it and can avoid spilling now, but it’s still a small annoyance that, repeated with each pour, makes me miss my old coffee maker’s carafe.

- Coffee Flavor: the bubbling/steaming sound as the water heats up sets your mouth to watering. When the coffee brews, the smell instantly fills the room and house. The coffee from this machine is much bolder than normal drip-style makers, yet, true to the manufacturer’s promise, is not bitter at all — I’d say even bolder (and still less bitter) than the coffee I make with my french press. I really believe the technology and the super-hot water make superior coffee.

- Capacity: the 8-’cup’ capacity is fine for me. Makes 3-4 good mugs of coffee, and for those who want more, it’d be easy to refill the maker and re-start it… by the time you’re done with your cup(s), another batch will be ready.

BOTTOM LINE: I really wish i could give this maker 5 stars. It is a great coffee maker. It looks cool, it sounds cool, makes the house smell good, the coffee tastes great, and it’s well-made. One small design flaw — a quirky and sometimes spillage-prone carafe pour spout — presents a relatively minor annoyance, but as it’s repeated each time you make coffee, it makes you wonder why the engineering team at Bunn didn’t make a slight design tweak to mitigate the pouring problem. Oh well – it’s otherwise an outstanding coffee maker.

We don’t tend to drink coffee often at all. I have had coffee from all sorts of coffee makers over the years and I just was not impressed by them. Coffee always seems to have that bitter edge that does not thrill me at all. My husband and son have had it on occasion but don’t make a regular habit of drinking it.

…then we got the Bunn HG Phase Brew 8-cup Home Brewer.

I have never had a cup of coffee like that in my life!

WHAT IS THE BUNN HG PHASE BREW 8-CUP HOME BREWER LIKE?

We have made coffee so much since receiving this coffee maker, and I have to say that this is one of the most fabulous experiences I have had in a long while. The coffee maker has a 2-8 cup capacity- but this is only 5 oz cups so if you tend to have larger cups of coffee, this only has a small capacity for a few cups tops.

The water is poured in the top and a flap pushed over the opening, and immediately the water begins to boil. Six minutes later the water is at a consistent temperature of 200 degrees and the liquid is sprayed in the filter over the coffee where it takes 4 minutes to brew. The coffee pot sits on the warming plate and stays warm up two hours before automatically shutting off. The package comes with about 20 coffee filters to start you off.

There is a timer that allows you to preset coffee for the following morning if desired.

WHAT DO I THINK OF THIS COFFEE MAKER?

I have to say that this coffee maker makes unbelievable coffee. Bitterness is at a minimum, and the coffee is smooth and luscious- for coffee, anyway.

NOT JUST FOR COFFEE…

I was wondering what a non-coffee fan like me would find to do with this amazing machine when I decided to take the plunge and make a cup of green tea the same way that I brewed the coffee. The results were AMAZING!!!

We have tested this unit out with herbal, fruit, green and white teas, all with fantastic results. Tea is strong and full but no bitterness. This is such a delight, I can not tell you how excited I am about this. We all are- whenever making tea or coffee with this thing, we all line up in front of it and try to divide up the spoils to satisfy everyone.

The pot that comes with this machine is a bit tricky to work with and does dribble when you pour it sometimes, but it is not that bad to work with. I just make sure that I wipe it quickly before placing on the warmer. My husband is more irritated with this than I am.

FINAL COMMENTS

So, whether it is tea of coffee, the Bunn HG Phase Brew 8-cup Home Brewer is a delightful machine. The pot has a flap on top which has to be held in place with the thumb so it does not flip open when pouring, but it is not a big deal. So far, the pot also pours well, with just a few occasions of dripping, but it is not too bad.

As long as you remember to turn off the machine and not put an empty pot on the warming plate, this machine works great so far. We use it constantly and can not wait to experiment even more with it.

One last thing- you HAVE to use the filters designed for this coffee maker to get the best results- and they are not bleached with chemicals so there is not a twisting of flavor like some bleached filters do.

When making tea from bags, we do not use a filter, but instead line the metal cup with the bags evenly distributed across the bottom, but when making loose tea, we do use a filter, allowing for one spoonful per cup of tea wanted. We find that a full 8 cup pot of tea serves our four medium sized mugs perfectly.

UPDATE
Since the writing of this review, we have made 25 types of tea and 8 types of coffee including organic. In every single case whether it be white, green, black, or herbal tea and whether it be caffeinated or de-caf coffee, the results have been superior to any other method we have used in making these same varieties of tea or coffee. We have never been so impressed by a coffee or tea making machine or method as we have this Bunn Phase Brew coffeemaker. I do not exaggerate when I say that everyone in my family raves EVERY SINGLE TIME we drink a beverage brewed in this machine. It is fantastic!

My disclaimer: I received this coffee maker for free as part of the Amazon Vine program. I review everything I receive from Vine as if I had actually paid for them.

If you’re just looking for a coffee maker that makes a good cup of coffee, this one will work. When comparing the brew from this maker and my old Mr Coffee, for the most part (see convenience store brew mentioned below), to me, the coffee tastes the same. So if you just want a good cup of coffee and aren’t a coffee snob, then perhaps a Mr Coffee is right for you as well and save yourself some money.

Pros:

Fast brew time- 10 minutes.
Hot coffee
Tastes good
Clear display
Easy to program

Cons:

Pretty tall. Works for me as my kitchen cabinets are tall; yours may not be

Short power cord. As others have stated, kind of annoying

Price. If all you’re looking for is a cup of coffee, buy something cheaper

Loud. Brewing the water all at once gives you some rumblings I haven’t really heard from the standard style makers. If you sleep while your coffee brews normally, even while it is in the kitchen and you’re in the bedroom, I assume you might be woken up or perhaps startled by the amount of noise this thing gives off during the boiling of the water.

Unless you’re a coffee snob, this may be more than you really need to pay for. If you have simple tastes and just want a hot cup of coffee, the finer points of this machine may be lost on you as they are, mostly, on me.

One thing I am happy and pleased with is that if I leave coffee on the warmer, when I go to pour the last bit of the brew into my cup, the flavor seems to be the same as it was when it was first dispensed. With several of the coffee makers I’ve used, this hasn’t been the case. If you want burnt flavor on those models, just wait two hours after brewing and you’ll have a pretty nasty cup of coffee. Not so on this one, which is awesome.

I enjoy a regional convenience store’s hazelnut coffee. In previous coffee makers the taste is similar, but not perfect, when brewing a bag of this convenience store’s hazelnut offering. This brewer pretty much duplicates the flavor and aroma of the convenience store, with the now added convenience of brewing a stellar example of this coffee at home. Bonus for that, as it means I’ll spend less on the over priced convenience store brew! For my daily Folgers/Maxwell House type brew, flavor between this brewer and my Mr Coffee? Essentially the same flavor; again, for those looking for simple coffee, the price of this brewer may be way more than you need to spend.

Also, reading through other reviews prior to arrival, I was aware of the potential for spilled coffee from the carafe and changed my pouring behavior. I pour slower and more deliberately and this seems to keep the spillage to a minimum or not occur at all. SO=o spillage, for me, isn’t really an issue but could be if I’m in a hurry.

One thing that put me off a little is a lack of “do this first” in the manual. Because I don’t know the conditions under which the brewer was manufactured, I wanted to do a dry run of just water in the brewer. I looked through the manual if there was a recommendation on what to do prior to your first use, but there didn’t seem to be any mention. I just used common sense and put water in, a filter without coffee and brewed essentially boiling water to burn off any nastiness. Common sense, but from a company whose manual sites safety as a reason for such a short power cord, I would have thought some disclaimer about proper first use procedures would be mentioned.

So why give a machine that gives me what I already have, good coffee, with barely more pros than cons, 4 stars? Simple. It does a great job at making coffee, it’s easy to use and it works well. I don’t think it does anything better than other machines I’ve used but the warmer that doesn’t infuse a burnt nastiness into the coffee is greatly appreciated. I also appreciate the same flavor from my hazelnut blend that I get from the convenience store, something that is difficult or impossible to accomplish in the cheap brewers I’ve owned and used. Maybe that’s a difference between a Mr Coffee and a higher end (but not high end) brewer? No burnt flavor and closer representation of flavor?

After brewing my first pot of coffee with this Bunn HG 8-Cup Home Brewer, dumping the used filter and rinsing out the accessories, here’s my review.

First, the power cord is laughably and unacceptably short. The instruction manual for the coffee maker describes the cord as “The short power-supply cord supplied reduces the risk of becoming entangled in or tripping over a longer cord.” My translation: The power cord is unacceptably short. Please stop treating consumers like slow-witted morons.

The coffee maker was too large to fit underneath our kitchen cabinets, and with a very small kitchen and limited counter space, finding a place to stash this coffee maker might quickly become an annoyance. It would definitely be in the way while it was brewing and you were trying to make breakfast, fighting with the Bunn for the limited counter space. If you have a nice kitchen with an island in the middle, this probably won’t be a problem for you.

The instruction manual is laid out very nicely. The page size is adequate and printed on nice glossy paper with a font size easy to read. If you’re nineteen years old, you have no idea what I’m talking about. If you’re over the age of forty, you will understand and appreciate this small but important detail.

Making coffee: The entire process takes about ten minutes from start to finish. I found the temperature of the brewed coffee to be just right. There is a starter package of coffee filters included in the box – I’ve already put in an Amazon order for my next batch of Bunn coffee filters. Other online reviews explain that you cannot use off-brand or generic coffee filters in Bunn products because of the company’s unique product design. Currently a package of 100 Bunn-brand filters is available on Amazon for around $5.00.

The noise: Other people in my house complained the coffee maker was unacceptably noisy during the 10-minute brewing process – I’m hearing-impaired and couldn’t hear a thing.

The clock was easy to set and the LCD screen is easy to read.

The coffee I brewed with this coffee maker didn’t taste any different from any other home-brewed coffee I’ve tasted before. I’ve never owned a coffeemaker so I don’t know if this is unique to Bunn or not, but the coffee smelled absolutely wonderful during and after the brewing process. You could smell the coffee aroma in every room of the house – which I think would be a nice thing to wake up to every morning.

The coffee maker has a timer, which I didn’t attempt to use. The instruction manual states the coffee maker will shut off automatically two hours after brewing.

Clean-up: Very easy. The funnel thingy and the glass carafe both rinsed out easily.

Physical aspects: The coffee maker and all of the components felt solid in my hands, not cheap and flimsy. The burnished steel design of the metal components is attractive and should fit in nicely with any kind of a kitchen design.

So my four-star review instead of five is because of the too-short power cord. Everything else about the product is worth recommending.

I purchased the Bunn 8 cup Phase Brew on an impulse to replace a broken coffeemaker in the office. Being familiar with traditional Bunn coffeemakers for years, I assumed it would be hard to go wrong with a mid-priced coffeemaker by a very reputable manufacturer. What a surprise when I tasted the first cup of coffee, brewed to the proper tempature, great taste, I assume enhanced by the heat and release technology and as a bonus an attractive unit. Having searched and tried many coffeemakers to find one which brewed a nice hot cup of good tasting coffee, the Bunn Phase Brew has come home to trade places with my Technivorm Moccamaster costing three times as much. If you are looking for a new quality coffeemaker, you need look no further, the Bunn Phase Brew fills the order. 5 Starzzzzz!

I purchased this model to replace my previous Bunn model. I have owned it for about two months. My last model only lasted three years before leaking all over the counter. Bunn will send you replacement parts for this issue, but I am not comfortable with attempting to repair it myself. I was hesitant to buy another Bunn for this reason and the fact it had to be on 24/7 to keep a reserve pot of water hot. In the end, a good cup of coffee won out. I saw this new model and liked the fact it didn’t require a reserve pot of water. The profile is much smaller than my previous model, and in my opinion much more attractive. It makes a good hot cup of coffee. It can be a little noisy, but this reminds me that the coffee is almost ready. The only real drawback is the carafe. It leaks. It doesn’t matter if I pour slow or fast. It leaks. It also has a plastic border/lip that prevents you from being able to completely empty it without using a paper towel to sop up what won’t pour out. This is very inconvenient for cleaning it. The carafe is the only thing stopping me from giving it a 5 star review.

I purchased this item through Amazon but from an external merchant. Delivery was quick and it was well packaged.