This coffeemaker was by far the best four cup maker out there 'til the five cup Bodum came out! I use it daily and those that weren't smart enough to buy one when they were available missed out! Now you'll have to spend three times as much on the smaller Bodum E-santos to get coffee this good!

coffe maker seems to be great...however...mr. mike dean seems to be into price gouging as i found the same coffee make 2 days after my purchase, in a local store in dublin, ohio for 29.95. i paid mike dean......$76.00 including tax and shipping for the same coffee maker. i would not rate mike dean very highly especially since there is a non-cancelable tag on it!!!!

but it just wouldn't! Go figure.....After reading all these reviews I took a chance on this coffe maker and I'm glad I did. It replaces my very old melitta 4 c. coffee maker and it does a great job. Before making a pot of coffee, I just ran hot water through it and tried pouring etc. No problems, maybe I got one of the 5 non-defective ones? I did have trouble finding out how to store the cord, so thanks to the reviewer who shed light on that one. And it's red, the real deciding factor for me.

but it just wouldn't! Go figure.....After reading all these reviews I took a chance on this coffe maker and I'm glad I did. It replaces my very old melitta 4 c. coffee maker and it does a great job. Before making a pot of coffee, I just ran hot water through it and tried pouring etc. No problems, maybe I got one of the 5 non-defective ones? I did have trouble finding out how to store the cord, so thanks to the reviewer who shed light on that one. And it's red, the real deciding factor for me.

I bought this little coffeemaker less than a year ago .... At first it was great, except for the difficulty in pouring from the carafe. Coffee stayed hot and tasted great. However, in less than a year the warming plate has lost its non-stick feature and the machine started leaking dirty water from the bottom. This morning all it did was leak clean water and never brewed.

I've been in touch with Kitchenaid and learned this model is no longer being manufactured. They are replacing it with a 12 cup programmable model KCM400B. I'm just concerned about the size as the 4-cup fit in a small space.

I like this coffee pot because it's sturdy and the perfect size for me. I was getting frustrated by the dribbling, like many others, but I found that if I pour it at a certain angle I USUALLY can avoid this. Despite this annoyance, I would buy it again because it is still better than any other 4 cup coffee maker I've ever had.

I want to like this coffeemaker, but after 1 year of ownership I'm looking for a new one. Not because of any mechanical failure, but the carafe design is really poor. You have to pour VERY, VERY slowly in order to avoid spilling coffee and water all over the place. Customer Service was great and they replaced the old carafe, but the new one wasn't any better. The carafe design is the most fundamental thing in a coffeemaker. The entire unit needs to be re-designed to accept a carafe that's got a longer spout and more spillproof. That's really my biggest complaint. Easy to clean and make coffee and has held up fairly well to usage. Takes about 5-7 minutes to brew, but not a big deal. After 2 years it's held up fairly well. Two things that have gone on it are the "on/off" sticker which fell off and the burner coating has started to peel from some coffee that spilled onto it. That bothers me a little as it shouldn't have done that so soon. Otherwise, it's not a bad little coffeemaker and I'd buy another one if KitchenAid fixed the dribbling problem. It amazes me that appliance makers don't want to bother designing a small coffeemaker that's decent. There is definitely a market for them and manufacturers are missing an opportunity to tap into it.

My first review of this product was glowing, but that was only after one or two times of use. Now, after owning it for several weeks, I must say I regret the purchase. Even at the low price, the dribble problem of the carafe is a real headache!

The quality of the coffee produced is excellent, so I have given two stars. The quality of the carafe however, is very shoddy. The carafe dribbles when it is used to fill the water tank, and it dribbles when pouring coffee. I have tried pouring slow, pouring fast, and it almost always DRIBBLES. I constantly find myself wiping up water or coffee off my countertop.

I have yet to try another brand of 4-cup coffeemaker, but I may very well do so. I like the coffee savings with a smaller pot, but surely there is a maker that will produce a good cup o' Joe without the mess.

Avoid this one -- save your money and try another brand!

I purchased this product because it was 1)a KitchenAid product and 2)I wanted the color.
The coffee that is produced is fine, however, be careful when pouring... if you don't hold the cover open while pouring, the coffee will flow outside of your cup.

like this coffeemaker. It's a basic, simple machine that I expect to last more than the few years that my Mr. Coffee, Melita, and Braun machines have lasted.

But it has fewer features than you might think -- probably fewer than most other 4-cup coffemakers. [I think some of the people writing reviews are not actually using the product but writing from the product literature!]

The Kitchenaid literature says the coffeemaker has concealed cord storage in back of the machine but I was hard pressed to see how that worked. For most coffeemakers you can either wind the cord around some prongs located on the back or bottom of the machine, or stuff the cord into a hollow section of the coffeemaker. On this machine you stuff the cord, but because a very heavy duty grounded (3-wire) cord is used, which is very stiff and difficult to bend, you can only perform the "disappearing act" one way slightly unintuitive way. Quoting Kitchenaid's reply to my query on this point:
"You will need to sit your coffee maker on a flat surface with the back hanging slightly off the edge, letting the cord dangle over the edge. You will want to grab the cord about an inch or two at a time and push upward on the cord. The cord will feed into the bottom of the coffee maker.
If you do not have the cord positioned correctly while trying to feed the cord up, it will not go." It works, but only that way -- and there is nothing about this in the instructions that come with the coffeemaker.

This coffeemaker does not have any control device to determine the right temperature at which to let the water over the grounds. It works just like most of the others -- it boils water in a heated tube (which is actually the bottom part of the heating plate), the boiling bubbles cause the water to rise several inches through a tube that lets out over the coffee basket. The only "control" is the fact that water boils at about 212 degrees Fahrenheit and how much the water cools while it travels the several inches up the riser tube and is let out over the grounds. The warmer plate, however, does keep the coffee at a slightly lower temperature than other coffeemakers I have used -- while the others were close to 200 degrees F, the Kitchenaid is closer to 185 degrees F. This means you can pour a cup and its cool enough to sip (carefully). It also means that the coffee in the pot, sitting on the warmer plate, won't burn (or turn bitter) as quickly as on other machines. Still, you don't want to leave coffee on heat for more than about 15 minutes unless you don't mind the pot beginning to turn bitter.

There is no sprinkler setup for sprinkling the water over the grounds. It comes out of a hole and that's it. If the water is coming too fast, some comes out an overflow hole -- but this is not the five, six, or seven hole design some coffeemakers have used in the past.

The water level gauge is a mark inside the water holding tank. Others, such as Braun, also have a clear tube external to the tank that shows the water level at a glance without the need to lean over and peering into the tank. Seeing the water level gives you an idea how far along the coffee making process is. So this is less convenient on the Kitchenaid.

I have two carafes, from two 4-cup Ultra Coffeemakers. Both do not dribble under normal use. That's not true for all coffee pots I have used. However, you can make the pot dribble if the pot is very full and you pour so quickly that the coffee pushes up against the lid. That's true for every pot I have ever used.

The heating plate is non-stick coated -- try to find a coffeemaker without that feature! Non-stick coatings are a kind of paint, and it begins to peal and flake after repeated heating and cooling. I don't expect the coating here to be any different, but while it lasts it's easier to clean, and when it peels it won't get into any food.

The pause/drip-stop valve (that let's you remove the pot mid-cycle) works as well as any. If anything, even a single ground) gets into the valve (say your grounds float over the edge of the filter) then the valve won't work. Otherwise, it works well and only a few drops will hit the heating plate before you return the pot under the basket. I have tried many coffeemakers, and in this regard they all seem the same. None works perfectly all the time. Most work well most of the time. They work better when they are new than when older.

The coffee basket is V-shaped to hold a #2 filter and it is held in place by a non-detachable, swing-out holder. On other coffee makers, the swing-out portion and the coffee basket are one integral piece that can be removed from the coffee maker. ON the Kitchenaid, only the V-shaped basket can be removed -- who cares? Well, if you're used to carrying the basket from the coffeemaker, over to a counter to set it down and fill it with grounds, you can't do that. It's V-shape means it can only be set down upside-down or on its side. You have to put the grounds in the basket WHILE IT'S ON THE COFFEEMAKER.

This unit draws a maximum of 6.25 amps. So on a normal 110-120 Volt house circuit, it consumes electricity at a rate of 680-750 watts. That amount of energy use determines the speed at which it boils 22 ounces of water. Other, higher wattage coffeemakers will brew more quickly, and lower wattage ones more slowly. This one is well timed for extracting flavor from the beans without bitterness.

It comes in sterile white plus those pure "crayola" type basic red, blue, and green colors that were so popular about 40 years ago and have come back in fashion again. The white will show coffee stain discoloration over time -- how fast depends on how strong you make your coffee. On the other colors, the staining will be less noticeable. Note that staining is not unique to the Kitchenaid. Occasional bleaching can help reduce the staining; but I think the staining is unavoidable -- after all, this is coffee we're dealing with. ;-)

This is my 2nd Kitchen Aid 4 cup coffee maker. It makes great coffee and just the right amount for two people. We like our coffee fresh so we make 2 pots in the morning, one when we first get up and one for the road. I also experienced the dribbling problem with my last pot but quickly figured out that if you lift the lid when pouring it doesn't dribble. This is easy to accomplish because the lid is attached to the pot. My husband still has not figured this out, however, he is willing to put up with a little dribbling because it makes great tasting coffee. I would buy another one.

I bought this adorable coffee maker to match my red Kitchenaid mixer. They look great together!
I read the reviews first..so I was aware that you have to lift the lid up before pouring the coffee. This is not a problem for me as I do that out of habit anyhow. I did try pouring with the lid down to see what would happen for myself..and you have to do it very slowly or it will in fact spill. But that is a very small complaint for such a cute and otherwise very well made item!
Okay I confess..I have one other small complaint. I don't want to make this sound like a bad review because I am very happy with the product! But I too could not find the supposed cord storage. I would have given it a 5 star rating if I could figure out where to put the darn cord!
Other than that, it is a very well made coffee maker that I think will last. I got the small one because I am the only coffee drinker in the house, and I make coffee one cup at a time. This coffee maker makes wonderful coffee, and it is the perfect temperature. If you have guests, it isn't that much trouble to brew a couple of pots..it makes coffee very quickly!
I was so tired of buying cheaper coffee makers and having them break on me after a few months (this has happened to me twice in the last six months!) But the Kitchen Aid coffee maker has proven to be as durable as it is cute.
I recommend it highly!
But, if anyone knows where the cord storage is, please post it! I will be writing Kitchen Aid to see what thier answer is..just haven't gotten to it yet. If I get a good answer I will follow up on this post later and let you know :)

I've been using this coffeemaker for several weeks now, and have had no dribble problem at all. In fact, it dribbles a lot less than the expensive Krups model it's replacing.
This little coffeemaker is sturdy, attractive and--most important of all--it makes a good, hot cup of coffee. And the heating plate keeps it that way.
I do agree with other comments about the lack of cord storage. Also, this coffeemaker requires a three-prong electrical outlet (or an adapter).
I do wish it came with a permanent gold filter, but Kitchen Aid sells one through its website.
For those who need a small-size coffee maker, this will do quite nicely.

This coffee maker is great for the price. I like the availability of colors and it brews good coffee. I only wish it had an auto shut-off switch because I always forget to turn it off. I've left it on for two days and the thing still works fine. The only drawback is that it is impossible to pour coffee without dripping everywhere. I thought it was me at first, but even my girlfriend can't pour coffe without dripping all over the counter top.

i bought the coffeemaker because of kevin sinnott the writer of "great coffee". he mentions it as a coffemaker that brews at the right temperature (at least 195 degrees). only 4 coffeemakers that i know of reach this temperature and they all cost more than double the price of the kitchenaid.
anyway kevin sinott goes on to mention that the coffeemaker also brews at the proper length of time (6 minutes), and all the coffee grounds are evenly extracted.
my personal experience is that yes this coffeemaker does brew an excellent cup of coffee. i would further suggest that for the ultimate experience in good tasting coffee one use freshly roasted beans from a micro roaster or roast your own beans with one of the home roasters now on the market. also use the proper proportion of coffee to water which is 2 tbs of coffee grinds per 6 ounces of water.
as for the carafe dribbling the water mentioned elsewhere in the reviews on this site the simple s olution is to lift the lid when pouring the coffee. this prevents the dribbling.

I spent a little more on a coffee maker this time around because I expected better coffee and better quality all around. Well, this one has disappointed me to some degree. Aside from the fact that the coffee quality is no better than with my old Mr. Coffee, there is one biggish problem: The pot ("carafe") drips all over the place when you pour. What a mess. So while it's not that this machine SUCKS, it's just that I could've likely been just as happy (or MORE happy) with a cheaper one.

Other reviews commenting on the fact that the carafe dribbles whenever you pour coffee are correct. We constantly have coffee puddles now on our counter and floor. This is shame too, as I like the coffee from this maker better than that from my old Mr. Coffee machine. What peeves me just a bit is that I'm sure the manufacturer was aware of this problem, and chose to ship the product anyway because they figured consumers wouldn't discover it until after purchasing, unpacking, and using the product. In retrospect, I should have returned it right away.

There aren't many options if you want a 4 cup coffee maker. This one matches my kitchen and looks really cool, so I went with it. I've been using it for a little over 3 months. It does make good coffee and it's easy to use. But, as an other reviwer mentioned, it frequently hisses and spits at random interval until it's turned off. This doesn't bother me too much (at least I'm in no danger of forgetting to turn it off). But don't even think about pouring a cup before it's done brewing...or 5 minutes after. The basket keeps on pouring coffee onto the hotplate. Even after the 5 minutes, it still drips. It's a mess! Yeah it looks cool, but unless you NEED the great colors, you'll get more for your money with another model.

I'm not a big coffee drinker, so I just wanted a maker that would be quick and convenient. This is it. Great looking and compact. Makes the hottest coffee I ever tasted for a maker such as this. Only problem is the carafe. The coffee does not pour evenly, but it does the job. Still trying to figure out the cord storage. It lives up to the Kitchen Aid line of products.

When we received this machine we were astonished at how good the coffee tasted. It is ten times better than our Mr. Coffee four cup model makes. I even went back to the Mr. Coffee and made a pot just to double check, and it still tasted like crud (using same brand of coffee). Maybe it is the cone filter design the KitchenAid uses, I don't know. I always thought making coffee was simply a matter of running hot water through the coffee grounds. Wrong.

If I had to say something negative, it would be about the decanter which has a permanently attached lid which swings up and out of the way when you push the tab down with your thumb. If you forget to push the tab, the coffee has a tendency to drip and run down the side making a mess. But with the high quality coffee, I can live with that.

I purchased two of these coffeemakers based on the advertisement. The coffee it produces is only "okay." Far worse is the the decanter that drips and spills no matter how carefully you pour. Upon calling Kitchen Aid, they informed me that they had a new improved decanter that I could purchase... Foolish me, I bought two of them, one for each coffee pot. They are worse than the original. I have packed up both coffee pots and sent them back to Kitchen Aid.

I ordered this coffeemaker initially for two reasons: #1, it's red and so is my kitchen, and #2, the Kitchen Aid name and quality.

This is a terrific little coffemaker. The coffee basket swings out for quick and easy loading, and has a removable plastic insert that can be removed for easy cleaning. Once you've loaded the ground beans in, you swing it back shut and it snaps closed.

The carafe has an attached lid that flips open for water filling at the touch of your thumb. The carafe lid and handle are the same color as the coffeemaker. I found it very easy and quick to use.

It brews quickly and makes very hot coffee. The burner plate keeps the coffee at the right temperature. It says it's a 4-cup coffee maker, which refers to the measurement of water. My mugs hold about two-and-a-half mugfuls of coffee, more than adequate.

This is a great coffeemaker for your desk, or for the single person or a couple. I recommend it highly!

I got this thing for work. It worked - that is, it didn't drip, overflow, or leak - for about a month. It did, however, make lots of noise and 'pshsssssshhh'-type sounds for up to 90 minutes after it was done brewing. After about a month of use (about a pot every weekday) it started producing mysterious leaks. Somehow there was always a puddle under the machine, sometimes of coffee and sometimes of water. Eventually the steal-a-cup spring loaded thing quit, so unless I held the pot up against the filter basket during brewing it would overflow and make a righteous mess all over the place. I found that out the hard way, and in a fit of rage destroyed the durn thing with a scissors and a tape dispenser.

I guess KitchenAid should have stuck to mixers. Next time I'm going to buy a Krupps.

This is a big disappointment for a Kitchen Aid product. The first time I used it my hand got burned and I had a big mess to clean up. When the water in the reservoir heats up and begins to boil, the top of the reservoir pops open and water flies everywhere. It has to be weighted down before starting, and takes a very long time for a small pot to brew. I thought the quality of this product was very poor.

I have been using my Kitchen Aid 4 cupper for about two weeks now and it is not a bad little machine. I was using one of those free coffee machines you get when you subscribe to the coffee delivery service.....this one had the basket as part of the urn and when the coffee was done you had to twist off this basket full of steaming hot coffee grounds. Coffee would drip on the counter (which made my wife mad) and I would burn my fingers OUCH! This Kitchen Aid has none of that. It has the pour stop feature which is great, comes in nice colors (mine cobalt blue) it is a cone type and the coffee grounds stay in the top part of the machine until they cool off. Once in a while when I am pouring coffee the caraffe will drip pretty bad, haven't figured out what I do different........and they say it has cord storage but I have yet to figure out how the cord goes inside the machine and it does not explain how in the manual. An auto shut off would have been a feature I would have paid extra for. Overall I am very satisfied.

we just love our little coffee maker, and it matches our kitchen decor. But when we have company, I have to get out my old coffee maker to have enough. Could you please make this in a 10 to12 cup size. Thank you, Sandy

i'll start by saying that i *love* the color of this coffeemaker. the small size is great, too- i use it at work to make a cup or two for myself. my one complaint is that it takes paper filters, which can be expensive in the long run & is not good for the environment (all the other coffeemakers that i've ever had used reusable metal filters). other than that, it's a very functional & bright little coffeemaker.

The small capacity of this coffee maker is great for one or two people. It brews quickly and quietly. Nothing to special about over all but it gets the job done.

The Kitchenaid coffeemaker is head and shoulders above the rest because of the superior heating element that keeps you from having cold coffee even quite awhile after brewing. It is also fashion forward and looks great in every kitchen due to the wide range of color choices. The other unique thing about this product is that its 4 cup capacity makes it easy to make a small amount of coffee without having to guess on the scoop measurements as it is geared to make 1-4 cups as opposed to 10 cups. I would highly recommend this product for it's accuracy and the fact it doesn't drip, and also it is a good way for a consumer to begin building a KitchenAid kitchen.