OXO
Brew 9-Cup Coffee Maker
About the product
We tested the OXO 9-Cup Brew Coffee Maker. Here’s what we found
OXO is a well-respected brand that makes a broad variety of products that are mainly used in cooking. Among its better items is the OXO Brew 9-Cup Coffee Maker. It packs in some excellent high-end features, such as a rainmaker showerhead that better distributes the water over the beans for improved flavor.
Besides the overall value of its features, the OXO Brew 9-Cup makes excellent coffee. And that was surprisingly hard to find in the BestReviews Testing Lab, where we tested 14 coffee machines. Even better, it does so at a lower price than similar drip coffee makers. It’s still a sizable investment, but we think it’s worth it.
What is the OXO Brew 9-Cup Coffee Maker?
Product Specifications
Dimensions: 15” W x 8.3” D x 17.2” H | Brewing Size Options: 2 (2 to 4 servings or 5 to 9 servings) | Pod Compatibility: No | Water Reservoir Capacity: 45 oz | Brew Time: 8:15 for a full carafe
The OXO Brew 9-Cup Coffee Maker is a high-end drip maker with a mid-range price. It can brew up to nine cups in eight minutes and 15 seconds at a temperature of 185 degrees once brewing completes. Our test coffee always resulted in strong flavor and aroma, a testament to this appliance’s features that are designed to improve the brew quality, such as the showerhead water-dispersal mechanism.
The carafe is comfortable to use, and it maintains temperature reasonably well. It dropped to only 175 degrees one hour after brewing. Its internal mixing tube ensures that every cup is delicious, rather than fresher coffee always sitting on top. The carafe’s opening is too small to clean easily, though.
A defining feature of this coffee maker is its single-knob control. Everything is controlled by one knob, from setting the clock’s time to displaying low-water and descaling warnings. We needed a little time to learn what twists and presses did what, but we loved the simplicity once we got it down.
Pros
- It includes many excellent features, such as automatic brewing and a rainmaker showerhead water-dispersal system.
- It makes some of the best coffee we tried in all our tests.
- The beautiful design makes it a lovely addition to the kitchen.
Cons
- The carafe opening is so small that you need a brush to clean it.
- The knob control takes some getting used to, but we think the simplicity is worth it.
- It includes more pieces than most drip coffee makers, so there’s more to clean.
Who is it for?
We think the OXO Brew 9-Cup is at its best when making coffee for a group of people. This could be for an office break room or larger household with several coffee drinkers. It’s still plenty effective for individuals who like to have several cups throughout the day, though that would make it a bit more of an investment. It is not the best coffee maker for someone who only drinks a cup or two a day or drinks coffee infrequently.
How we tested
We focused on three aspects in our tests.
- Brewing quality: This category included several subcategories that covered aspects like brewing time, temperature and general flavor and aroma. To test them, we brewed several carafes of coffee in both half and full sizes, tasting along the way.
- Carafe quality: This category included how comfortable the carafe is to use plus how long it stays hot. To test it, we measured the temperature when brewing stopped and again one hour later.
- Design and usability: This category was a combination of how easy it was to use right out of the box and through a day’s worth of testing. We also considered its looks and the quality of the materials.
We also compared its cleaning and maintenance requirements against other coffee machines we’ve tested or used in our daily lives.
Price and where to buy
The OXO Brew 9-Cup Coffee Maker retails for $229.99. You can find it on Amazon, Best Buy and OXO.
How to use the OXO Brew 9-Cup Coffee Maker
Using the OXO is a snap once you get used to the controls.
- Add enough water and beans to make your desired quantity of coffee.
- Press the knob to show the control menu.
- Twist the dial to your desired setting. For example, to brew immediately, twist the knob until the display says “2-4” or “5-9,” depending on how many cups you want.
- Press the button again to start brewing.
A closer look at its features
The OXO Brew 9-Cup is packed with excellent features.
BetterBrew precision brewing
This helps the OXO adjust the brewing time and temperature to improve your coffee. We loved the coffee quality, so it clearly works.
Rainmaker showerhead
Instead of dumping water in the center of the beans the way inexpensive drip coffee makers do, the OXO has a showerhead-like dispersal mechanism. This increases the amount of coffee that comes in contact with the water, leading to a richer, more flavorful cup. In our tests, the difference was clear and impressive.
Two brewing quantity ranges
You don’t always have to brew a big pot of coffee. Instead, you can brew a carafe of two to four cups or five to nine cups. In our tests, it took five minutes and 45 seconds to brew four cups and eight minutes and 15 seconds to brew nine cups.
Carafe
The double-walled stainless steel carafe helps maintain the coffee’s temperature while you drink it throughout the day. In our testing, that meant a temperature drop from 185 degrees to 175 degrees after one hour. The handle is positioned at a slight angle to make it a little easier to pour.
Internal mixing tube
Most drip coffee makers, at least the inexpensive ones, dispense the coffee into the top of the carafe. This means the coffee at the bottom of the pot is always a little worse than that at the top. The OXO’s carafe has an internal mixing tube to correct this. It works by forcing the fresh coffee into the middle of the carafe, which means every cup is the same quality, top to bottom.
Pause and Pour
This feature stops the brewing coffee from dripping into the carafe if you pull out the carafe mid-brew. This way, you don’t have to wait eight or so minutes to enjoy your coffee if you brew a full pot. You can pour your first serving in about two minutes. We found it dripped a little, but it was otherwise effective.
Freshness timer
Once the brewing has finished, a one-hour timer starts counting up from zero. This tells you exactly how much time has elapsed since the coffee was brewed. OXO recommends you make a fresh pot after an hour for the best experience.
Automatic brewing
A relatively standard feature on drip coffee makers, this lets you prepare the coffee maker and then pick the time you want it to start brewing. That way, you can wake up to a fresh pot in the morning. We found it triggered the brewing process reliably.
One-knob controls
Everything you can do with the OXO is handled by twisting and pressing a single knob. It takes a little practice, and some studying of the manual, to memorize everything. Once you do, though, you can rapidly get the coffee maker to do what you want.
Display
The display is bright and large enough to read. It uses easily recognized symbols for the various functions, such as an alarm clock for automatic brewing or a steaming cup of coffee when the freshness timer is counting up. This makes it easy to tell at a glance what’s going on.
How does it compare to other coffee machines we tested?
The OXO Brew 9-Cup Coffee Maker separates itself in many ways from the pack of machines we tested. The most important is that it makes some of the best drip coffee of all. It’s also easy to use once you memorize the different presses and turns of the knob. Of less importance in the grand scheme of things is its excellent design, but we can’t say enough about how much we love its looks.
Should you get one?
If you love drinking several cups of delicious coffee during the day, you can’t go wrong with the OXO Brew 9-Cup Coffee Maker. We also think it’s a superb drip coffee maker for an office break room. If you only occasionally drink coffee or you don’t usually drink more than a cup or two, you’d be better served by a single-serve pod coffee maker, such as the Nespresso VertuoPlus, or a budget drip maker, such as the Mr. Coffee Mini Brew.