Just ordered a new auto drip coffeemaker!
For the last 9 years or so, I've used the BUNN Velocity Brew. Good brewer for medium and dark roasts, but over the last few years, and, especially, over the last few months, I've developed a real affinity for light roasts, and the sweet, fruity, and tangy notes that come through when coffee is roasted lightly.
Of course, the pourover brew method, with all the variables that can be tweaked and controlled, is ideal for bringing out flavor in light roasts. I really enjoy pourovers, and it's my go-to brew method on the weekends these days (V60 primarily, also have a Chemex for larger amounts).
However, there's not always time to do a proper pourover on early work mornings when I'm leaving the house at 0430 or before, and I just want to make a pot of autodrip.
Recently when trying some lightly-roasted specialty coffee through the BUNN, I noticed that the taste was flat and under extracted, and, having learned recently that lighter-roasted beans need a higher brew temp for proper extraction (due to their density), I suspected that the BUNN was just not cutting it for these light roasts.
I measured the temp of the brew water directly out of the sprayhead pipe, and it was only 185 degrees F, confirming my suspicion. And the temperature drop will be even worse - probably at least 5 degrees F lower - once it hits the coffee slurry.
See attached video:
So, I decided it was time to start looking for a new brewer.
I started watching video reviews of some of my favorite YouTube reviewers, including James Hoffman, who has a good video where he reviews some of the top SCA (Specialty Coffee Association)-certified auto drip brewers.
Which was where I learned about the Behmor Brazen Plus 3.0. (The 3.0 signifies that the brewer is in its 3rd iteration; it's been around for about 10 years, and it's been updated 3 times).
I'd orginally been just about sold on the Breville Precision Brewer, which @BeerCan has previously mentioned here in this forum. And the glass-carafe model had been on sale for $229 on Amazon ($50 off), which was a good deal. But in the last day or two, the sale ended and the price went back up to $279, which made me start looking again at other options.
One reason that I really gravitated towards the BUNN 9 years ago was the (fairly) uniform brew temperature, due to the nature of how it operates (water is constantly kept at brew temperature in a heated reservoir in the back of the machine). It's just that it loses too much heat as it flows up through the (fairly long) pipe that takes it up to the spray head.
Well, the Behmor solves that problem with its design. The water reservoir is at the top. Water is poured in, where it's heated to whatever brew temperature is set by the user (selectable, anywhere from 190-210 degrees F, in ONE-DEGREE INCREMENTS!). It even pauses a few degrees below the set temperature to prevent the set temp from being overshot (it creeps slowly up to the set temp). There's a valve at the bottom, which opens to allow the brew water to flow through the sprayhead and into the filter basket, but only after the water has reached the selected temp. And, because of the design, the water has a very short path to travel before it hits the spray head, minimizing heat loss.
Additionally, the computer controller in the machine prevents heat loss in the brew water by "pulsing" power to the heater, preventing deviation from the pre-set brew temperature, either up or down. Water is "pulsed" at 15-second intervals, a little at a time, creating turbulence, which improves extraction. There is also a pre-infusion mode in order to "bloom" the coffee (CO2 release from freshly-roasted coffee), the length of which is also able to be set.
Another design feature I was impressed with, which also influenced my decision, was the spray head itself.
One of the biggest complaints with the TechniVorm MoccaMaster, which is perhaps the most well-known auto drip coffeemaker amongst those who enjoy specialty coffee, is the inadequate spray head, which is too narrow, resulting in less-than-ideal distribution of brew water, and un-uniform soaking of the coffee grounds.
The Brazen's sprayhead, on the other hand, is the most substantial spray head I've ever seen on a coffee maker. In fact, it more resembles a shower head. It's very wide, and the flow is reminiscent of that produced by pourover drip-assist devices such as the Hario V60 Drip Assist which ensures very wide dispersion of brew water over the grounds.
Another cool thing that the Behmor offers is the ability to use it with other brew implements such as the Chemex, V60, Kalita Wave, etc. All you have to do is remove the Brazen's brew funnel and place the pourover dripper of your choice underneath. The Behmor has a mode for this - You can manually control the flow/pulses of water to your liking.
Perhaps not something I'll use much, as I enjoy manual pourovers using my kettle, but it's something fun to play around with, and the wide dispersion showerhead on the Brazen will certainly produce a different flavor profile than manual pourover with a kettle.
Another feature I may not use much, but is still nice to have, is the ability to set the brewer up and have it brew a pot of coffee at a set time. I like to grind my beans immediately before brewing, because I've long believed that it makes a positive difference in the flavor of the coffee. But hey, sometimes you might be willing to sacrifice a few percentage points of flavor to have coffee waiting for you the next morning, especially when you're short on time!
Something else that might be of interest to BITOG coffee fans who live at higher elevations - the Behmor has altitude settings to compensate for the lower boiling point of water at higher elevations. This only needs to be done once, when the machine is set up. You just enter the elevation where you live, add water to the calibration mark in the reservoir, and the machine does the rest!
Anyway, I've sort of rambled on here, but I can't wait to get the new coffeemaker and try it out! I'm looking forward to playing around with this brewer, trying different temp settings, etc.
Anybody else had one of these?
Incidentally, this isn't the only brewer on the market that functions in this way. A couple of years ago, BUNN came out with a copycat model of its own, which is called the Heat 'N Brew. It works in the same basic manner, though it does not have user-selectable brew water temperature, and the shower head is not as wide. It is cheaper, however. Might be an option for some. But I really wanted the selectable brew temperature.
For the last 9 years or so, I've used the BUNN Velocity Brew. Good brewer for medium and dark roasts, but over the last few years, and, especially, over the last few months, I've developed a real affinity for light roasts, and the sweet, fruity, and tangy notes that come through when coffee is roasted lightly.
Of course, the pourover brew method, with all the variables that can be tweaked and controlled, is ideal for bringing out flavor in light roasts. I really enjoy pourovers, and it's my go-to brew method on the weekends these days (V60 primarily, also have a Chemex for larger amounts).
However, there's not always time to do a proper pourover on early work mornings when I'm leaving the house at 0430 or before, and I just want to make a pot of autodrip.
Recently when trying some lightly-roasted specialty coffee through the BUNN, I noticed that the taste was flat and under extracted, and, having learned recently that lighter-roasted beans need a higher brew temp for proper extraction (due to their density), I suspected that the BUNN was just not cutting it for these light roasts.
I measured the temp of the brew water directly out of the sprayhead pipe, and it was only 185 degrees F, confirming my suspicion. And the temperature drop will be even worse - probably at least 5 degrees F lower - once it hits the coffee slurry.
See attached video:
So, I decided it was time to start looking for a new brewer.
I started watching video reviews of some of my favorite YouTube reviewers, including James Hoffman, who has a good video where he reviews some of the top SCA (Specialty Coffee Association)-certified auto drip brewers.
Which was where I learned about the Behmor Brazen Plus 3.0. (The 3.0 signifies that the brewer is in its 3rd iteration; it's been around for about 10 years, and it's been updated 3 times).
I'd orginally been just about sold on the Breville Precision Brewer, which @BeerCan has previously mentioned here in this forum. And the glass-carafe model had been on sale for $229 on Amazon ($50 off), which was a good deal. But in the last day or two, the sale ended and the price went back up to $279, which made me start looking again at other options.
One reason that I really gravitated towards the BUNN 9 years ago was the (fairly) uniform brew temperature, due to the nature of how it operates (water is constantly kept at brew temperature in a heated reservoir in the back of the machine). It's just that it loses too much heat as it flows up through the (fairly long) pipe that takes it up to the spray head.
Well, the Behmor solves that problem with its design. The water reservoir is at the top. Water is poured in, where it's heated to whatever brew temperature is set by the user (selectable, anywhere from 190-210 degrees F, in ONE-DEGREE INCREMENTS!). It even pauses a few degrees below the set temperature to prevent the set temp from being overshot (it creeps slowly up to the set temp). There's a valve at the bottom, which opens to allow the brew water to flow through the sprayhead and into the filter basket, but only after the water has reached the selected temp. And, because of the design, the water has a very short path to travel before it hits the spray head, minimizing heat loss.
Additionally, the computer controller in the machine prevents heat loss in the brew water by "pulsing" power to the heater, preventing deviation from the pre-set brew temperature, either up or down. Water is "pulsed" at 15-second intervals, a little at a time, creating turbulence, which improves extraction. There is also a pre-infusion mode in order to "bloom" the coffee (CO2 release from freshly-roasted coffee), the length of which is also able to be set.
Another design feature I was impressed with, which also influenced my decision, was the spray head itself.
One of the biggest complaints with the TechniVorm MoccaMaster, which is perhaps the most well-known auto drip coffeemaker amongst those who enjoy specialty coffee, is the inadequate spray head, which is too narrow, resulting in less-than-ideal distribution of brew water, and un-uniform soaking of the coffee grounds.
The Brazen's sprayhead, on the other hand, is the most substantial spray head I've ever seen on a coffee maker. In fact, it more resembles a shower head. It's very wide, and the flow is reminiscent of that produced by pourover drip-assist devices such as the Hario V60 Drip Assist which ensures very wide dispersion of brew water over the grounds.
Another cool thing that the Behmor offers is the ability to use it with other brew implements such as the Chemex, V60, Kalita Wave, etc. All you have to do is remove the Brazen's brew funnel and place the pourover dripper of your choice underneath. The Behmor has a mode for this - You can manually control the flow/pulses of water to your liking.
Perhaps not something I'll use much, as I enjoy manual pourovers using my kettle, but it's something fun to play around with, and the wide dispersion showerhead on the Brazen will certainly produce a different flavor profile than manual pourover with a kettle.
Another feature I may not use much, but is still nice to have, is the ability to set the brewer up and have it brew a pot of coffee at a set time. I like to grind my beans immediately before brewing, because I've long believed that it makes a positive difference in the flavor of the coffee. But hey, sometimes you might be willing to sacrifice a few percentage points of flavor to have coffee waiting for you the next morning, especially when you're short on time!
Something else that might be of interest to BITOG coffee fans who live at higher elevations - the Behmor has altitude settings to compensate for the lower boiling point of water at higher elevations. This only needs to be done once, when the machine is set up. You just enter the elevation where you live, add water to the calibration mark in the reservoir, and the machine does the rest!
Anyway, I've sort of rambled on here, but I can't wait to get the new coffeemaker and try it out! I'm looking forward to playing around with this brewer, trying different temp settings, etc.
Anybody else had one of these?
Incidentally, this isn't the only brewer on the market that functions in this way. A couple of years ago, BUNN came out with a copycat model of its own, which is called the Heat 'N Brew. It works in the same basic manner, though it does not have user-selectable brew water temperature, and the shower head is not as wide. It is cheaper, however. Might be an option for some. But I really wanted the selectable brew temperature.
