Seeing a kitchen appliance gussied up as if for a formal dinner too easily suggests the old adage "All style, no substance." But the Cuisinart Crystal SCC-1000 Limited Edition Perfec Temp, one of five coffeemakers we've just tested, is a performance champ as well.
The Cuisinart stands out for a few reasons. It looks like other carafe models we've tested of that brand, yet its front face is adorned with Swarovski elements for a jeweled look. Of conventional machines, it's the only one that can brew a full 14 cups—a "cup" being about five ounces in industry parlance. And at $200, it's one of the priciest drip coffeemakers in our Ratings.
While the Cuisinart joins our picks for that category of coffeemaker, other models didn't fare as well. The $100 Calplalon Quick Brew 1838804, another drip model, has a stainless finish and a thermal carafe. It claims "up to 25-percent faster coffee." But for meeting an industry standard of maintaining a 195- to 205-degree (F) temperature for five or six minutes, speed was perhaps not the best aim. Another model, the $120 KitchenAid Architect KCM0402ACS, is a "to-go" model that dispenses into a travel mug. Its brew performance was top-notch but in a category that tends not to perform as well overall as standard carafe models.
The last two, from Bunn and Hamilton Beach, are single-serve machines that are most notable for accepting K-Cups, Senseo and other soft pods, and loose grounds. Both were convenient to use but fell short mostly in the speed of delivering the first cup.
Before you spring for a coffeemaker, see our buying advice and then the latest Ratings.
