A "New" Toy

Before Megan and I moved in together at the start of the fall semester, we started to make lists of things we'd need for our new apartment, way ahead of time. One of the most important things was a coffee maker. Being obsessed with KitchenAid, I wanted HAD to have one of their coffee makers. Unfortunately, when I started to research them, they were quite pricey. We're talking $100+. Luckily, I was able to find a discontinued model on KitchenAid's website, and bought it brand new for $50. 

This was a great buy. The coffee maker had a 14-cup glass carafe, an automatic brew setting, a special setting that is optimized for 1-4 cup brews, 30 minute intervals to show how long the coffee has been sitting since it's been brewed, and a filter inside the section you add water to. And not to mention, aesthetically pleasing (it's KitchenAid after all). This coffee maker was working wonderfully, we would set the coffee to start brewing at 6:15am every morning so we woke up to the smell of fresh coffee. However, last week we woke up to discover the pot was empty; the coffee did not brew. There was an error message displaying on the screen. Megan researched the error and found out it was indicating a failure in the electronics of the system. So we did a reset and the problem persisted. I contacted KitchenAid and told them about the problem, and in no time they staff member said they will send me a replacement for free. All I had to do was pack my old coffee maker into the box the new one came in and send it out with a prepaid shipping label. I was thrilled, it was so easy to get a replacement (I partially think this is because I purchased it directly from KitchenAid). After the staff member looked up my order, she delivered some good news. She said that they don't make the model coffee maker I have anymore. So instead they're shipping me their newest model, which currently retails for $130. I was even more thrilled!

Today it arrived.

I requested the same color, onyx black, so that it matches our blender. This new coffee maker has all the same great features I mentioned above, but has a few new updated tweaks. First off, the display screen is 10x better, and it much more interactive than the previous model. Also, the display has blue colored LED's and is easier to look at than the red from before. Also, this model also shows how long it has been since the coffee has brewed, but instead of telling me it's been 30, 60, 90, or 120 minutes, it tells me the EXACT time. Also, instead of a flip top to put the coffee filter/coffee, the front stainless steel panel where it says KitchenAid opens and you pull out the insert to put in the filter and coffee. And finally, a BIG improvement which I'm stoked about, is a de-attachable water container (with filter as before). This makes it SO easier to add water to the system so you don't have to fill the carafe then pour it in the container spilling it all over the counter.

So here it is all unpacked.

I'm really thrilled about this. I paid $50 for an EXCELLENT coffee maker, and it worked wonders for over 3 months. Now I received a $130 coffee maker for FREE, and am very excited about it. Not to mention this coffee maker comes with a one year warranty as the other coffee maker, but the warranty starts today! How do you like your coffee prepared?