Hamilton Beach 49974 FlexBrew Single-Serve Coffee Maker Compatible with Pod Packs and Grounds, 14.0 ounces, Black

I have been searching for a coffee maker that could brew ground coffee AND/OR coffee from the pods. I MUCH prefer ground coffee over the pods but occasionally I'll receive coffee pods as a gift and would like to use them so I wanted a unit that could brew both but wasn't so insanely over priced. I came across this one and thought I'd give it a shot. I've had the unit for a few months now and I have to say that I am incredibly happy that I made this purchase. It performs just as I wanted it to. It takes up very little space on the countertop and brews perfectly, both grounds AND from the pods. I wanted to wait until I made sure to try the pod function before I left a review and I am VERY happy to say that this is an AWESOME unit. VERY reasonably priced and does the job perfectly. I have always preferred to brew my coffee as I need it so the single brew is what I wanted but if you like an entire pot of coffee at each brew then this is not the unit for you. The ONLY drawback I have run into is the the unit does not have room for taller travel mugs but that is a very minor issue and one that I worked around quickly by taking off the adjustable stand below and, TADA! it fits taller mugs!. It is VERY easy and quick to clean the unit and I LOVE that I no longer need to fuss with coffee filters thanks to the reusable supplied one which I have pictures of attached. The plate that the cup sits on is not a hot plate but again, that's not an issue for me because I brew the coffee when I want to drink it so I have no need for it to sit on a hot/warming plate waiting for me to pick it up. I brew it, grab it and drink it. Overall I would give this unit a 9.5/10 the only minor loss was that it isn't a warming plate that the mug sits on but again that is not a problem for myself. LOVE THIS UNIT!!!

I purchased this when my trusty old Keurig finally bit the dust. I’m particular about my coffee, usually using freshly ground beans with a pour-over filter and pitcher. But I occasionally used a Keurig pod when I just wanted a just a bit and didn’t feel like making a big production out of it. I bought the Hamilton Beach unit as a replacement, because it was about $20 less expensive than the basic Keurig model. It worked fine with Keurig pods, although I noticed that after every second or third cup it is necessary to clean out the outflow orifice at the bottom of the pod holder and the hole in the steel pod-puncturing unit to prevent the coffeemaker from stopping up and turning off. It takes less that 30 seconds to accomplish this using a partly straightened paper clip. Then I tried using the Flexbrew feature with freshly ground coffee. You simply re;lace the pod holder with the included filter basket. It takes about three heaping teaspoons of coffee, just enough to cover the fine-screen filter in the bottom of the basket, to make a 16oz mug of medium-strength coffee. The hot water comes through the same steel tip that punctures pods, but in this instance a rubber ring seals the filter basket when the top is closed, and the coffee is made under pressure, much in the manner of an espresso machine. The coffee quality is superb, and it is so quick and easy I hardly use my pour-over method at all any more. One more hint — I recommend rinsing the grounds out of the filter basked immediately after each cup is made, as it becomes brick-like when cold and dry. I bought this little gem of a machine thinking I would be using it only for the occasional cup of pod coffee, but it has become my number one way of making coffee all day and every day. Kudos to Hamilton Beach for coming up with a simple, versatile and inexpensive way to make coffee!

We bought this to take to a convention that is held in an overpriced hotel with very expensive food and beverage service. I didn't want to spend a lot of money on a K-brand. I also didn't want to deal with their DRM that locks out pods from companies that did not pay them royalties. This Hamilton Beach unit seemed like a good alternative, and so far it has been. It works well, and the coffee is as good as you can hope for from a pod brewer. Some other reviewers have grumbled about it being slow, but I don't see much difmy Dad's K-brand. It's super easy to clean...if you use pods. The "funnel" thing (that the coffee goes through en route from the K-cup or grounds basket to the cup) pops right out for washing. The supplied filterless basket for ground coffee works well and makes decent coffee, but it's a real pain in the neck to clean. I guess that's probably true of other brands, too; I don't know. Bottom line is, this is a good value. I don't see much difference between this and a Keurig, other than cost.

Hubby and I took recent trip away which we do each year. We are early risers and love that first cup of coffee before we head out for breakfast In the years we have always lugged our Keurig machine with us but wanted something more portable this time- plus my husband HAS to have his coffee Steaming HOT; (99% of our restaurant visits he asks the waiter to microwave the coffee before bringing it for him) me not so much so it didn’t matter to me- anyway we looked in stores and finally gave up mostly coz I didn’t wanna pay out the nose for something we would only use on vacations so we reluctantly Decided to forego the early coffee this time and just deal with it - honestly I knew that wouldnt fly; so with only a week before we left I went online to amazon and when I read the reviews on this machine and especially how everyone praised the fact it brews a super hot cup each time, I mentioned it to my husband - PLUS another big factor was the price $$$ Well, before I knew it he had already gone online read the reviews and in just a matter of minutes I saw the amazon notification come thru that it was ordered!, haha I got a chuckle out of that ! Well It was literally 3 days before we left on vacation that it arrived in the mail and Let me tell you we were both very impressed with this machine. it is very light and easy to pack away- we used our k-cups and it very simple to use it brewed in just a few minutes and honestly I had to let mine sit for a while coz it was super hot for sure (needless to say it was perfect for hubby) so if you love your coffee steaming hot and do not want to have to pay a big price for it I definitely recommend this machine ; we were not disappointed at all !

I have had the name brand single serve coffee makers in the past, but ended up not using it (then) and gave it away. Working from home has afforded me another opportunity get one to save some time and get consistent results with less work than a regular coffee maker. I know, I know; yes, I can make my own coffee, but having had a single serve coffee maker at work, I had a stash of coffee cups here that I needed to use. I did not want to spend the High price for a coffee maker, I just wanted a machine that could brew my coffee without any additional bells and whistles. This machine works great. It is easy to understand, use, and brews coffee with consistent results; meaning, same heat consistency, taste and time (about 4:20 to brew a 14 oz cup). I read the reviews prior to buying this machine, and still owning several Hamilton Beach products, I knew I could trust this brand. No issues in my two weeks of owning it it is very easy to clean and use, plus it comes with it's own brew-your-own coffee basket, making the overall value a well-worth investment in my book. I would gladly recommend this brewer to anyone that is looking for single serve coffee maker that is affordable, that works, offers consistent results and does not need additional add-ons that you need to buy separately.

This is the second one I bought there was nothing wrong with the first one I gave it to the Goodwill because I bought another model that had a reservoir that holds water do not buy one of these that has a water reservoir it gets slimy inside the container this one here is the one you want to buy you can pour up to 16 oz of water in this and it will get it all hot and not leave any in the container to get slimy or you can Brew however many ounces you want up to 16 this is a fantastic coffee pot and I will tell you why some units just heat the water and then it boils into the coffee grounds this unit gets the entire 16 oz of water boiling hot then a pump releases it through the grounds I have had other coffee pots like this one but they don't get the water hot enough a certain name brand one I will not mention but this is the one it is my second one absolutely fantastic I had the first one two years but I gave it away so I was so happy to get this I guarantee you'll be very happy with this again my personal opinion but stay away from the model that has a water reservoir it doesn't use all the water much of it stays in the reservoir and it gets slimy this is the model you want to buy be sure to read all the customer reviews sometimes you will find one for a few dollars last money but it doesn't get the water hot enough this will give you a boiling hot cup of coffee I am very pleased with this Hamilton Beach FlexBrew this one also does not take up the whole counter as one of the bigger ones with the water reservoir does this coffee pot you can put the pods in it or it has an adapter where you can just use the grounds on a scale of 1 to 10 I give this one a 10 trust me on this I am a coffee connoisseur

I bought this to be more efficient making coffee as I drink it rather than having a pot sitting on a burner for hours. I was also pouring a lot of over-cooked coffee down the sink. The typical Keurig machines seem more complicated than a brewer needs to be. I wanted one a single serve maker that I just pour the right amount of water using my coffee mug and push one button to brew. The Hamilton Beach FlexBrew says 14 cups max, but I routinely brew my 16 cup travel mug full of coffee with no problem. I use a Perfect Pod EX-Cup reusable pod for several reasons. The standard K-cup pods make a bunch of trash. They are more expensive and generally don't taste as good. I prefer paper filters over any of the permanent metal filters. The paper filters brew a better cup of coffee. The Perfect Pod allows me to use my favorite ground coffee and I can even buy Kona direct from the farm in Hawaii for special occasions. Clean-up using the Perfect Pod couldn't be easier. Remove the pod, peel the top, and the filter pulls right out with all the grounds nicely wrapped. The Hamilton Beach FlexBrew makes a hotter cup of coffee than my old 12 cup brewer, so people who use a lot of cream should like that. I like my coffee black, so it has to cool a bit before I can take a big swig. I now own two of these, one for the house, the other is out in my shop. The newer one is an upgraded version 49979 with an extra "bold brew" button and shiny chrome rather than grey finish. Both versions work great. I highly recommend either of them if you are looking for a single-brew, keurig-type maker. Pay a few bucks more for the 49979 if you want chrome or the "bold brew" feature.

TL;DR Get this if you like convenience and also not knowing when you'll start getting half cups of coffee instead of full ones! -- This is a great concept, especially if you don't want to be beholden to k-cups. You can pop in a k-cup or fill the provided basket with your own coffee and brew a cup of coffee quickly and easily. Fantastic. I bought my original one years ago. Still working to this day, so when I moved to an apartment, I left the old one with my sister and bought a new one. It died about 6 months after I purchased it--the hose probably sprung a hole or something, which meant the water didn't make it through the grounds, and I got progressively smaller cups of coffee. So I called customer support (they are responsive, I'll give them that) and they sent out a new one. Surprise! It was a different model! Smaller footprint, which was cool. The harder-to-clean pedestal that holds smaller cups isn't great, but I can sort of deal w/ it if I don't think about it too hard. A few weeks ago, it started acting up. I got it in May; it's the beginning of Feb. now. A few resets prolonged the pain, but I should've known it was a terminal issue. I contacted HB customer service again, hoping against hope that they'd see that an appliance that doesn't even last a year is an issue. They apparently don't, because I got a "sorry, your item is out of warranty, but here's a 15% coupon to take another gamble on our clearly badly designed product" response. No thanks. Onward to the next coffee machine.

Compré esta cafetera para regalo a mi esposo, cada mañana el toma su taza de café y resultaba impráctico utilizar una cafetería tradicional para una sola taza, era además, un desperdicio de café y tiempo en lavar la jarra y los filtros. Esta cafetera con doble opción de uso (k cups o grano molido de tu café favorito) ha sido la cafetera ideal. Es practica en cuanto a uso y limpieza, la mejor opción pisan duda para ésa taza de café matutino.

Ya llevo un par de meses con la cafetera y me funciona de maravilla, estaría mejor si se pudiesen conseguir los cestos para el café como repuestos, pero no los he podido conseguir.

Excelente cafetera con su tamaño casi no ocupa espacio y versatil al poder utilizar cafe molido o k-cups asi tenemos la facilidad de tener variedad de cafe o continuar con lo tradicional