As any coffee connoisseur will tell you that using pre-ground beans will only produce a substandard cup of coffee, regardless of how sophisticated your brewer is. A truly fantastic cup of coffee begins with fresh ground beans. Unfortunately, not too many people can be bothered with the grinding drill every morning. This is where the Cuisinart DGB-700BC steps in to take charge of brewing an absolutely exceptional cup of coffee.
Features:
Hopper & Grinder: Making use of a conical burr grinder, the DGB-700 from Cuisinart churns out uniform sized grinds in three sizes. You have the option of selecting from “mild,” “medium,” or “bold” settings. The grinder is not by any means superior and if it were a standalone piece, it would most probably fall in the low end category as far as burr grinders go. However, it is proficient at doing its job effectively. What makes it great is the fact that you get freshly ground beans that are deposited directly into the filter. The net result is a fantastic tasting cup of coffee without the bother of first having to grind the beans, then measuring the correct quantity and finally adding it to the filter.
The hefty eight ounce hopper is sealed to keep moisture at bay and maintain the freshness of your precious beans for a number of weeks. The quantity of beans is sufficient to last for 3-4 full pots of coffee.
Brew Quality: A large number of manufacturers make tall claims about the variety of strength features their machines have to offer. However, a large majority only modify the speed of water flowing through the filter to alter strengths. In reality what this does is either under-extract or over extract the coffee and is not really an actual change in the strength of the drink. Alternatively, the Cuisinart Grind and Brew automatically manages the grind size and quantity to attain a true difference in strengths.
Convenience & Safety: The concept of programming is as old as the hills. Typically the programmable units require that you position the filter, fill it and then punch in the necessary preferences so coffee can be prepared. The Cuisinart DGB-700 does all the work automatically. All you need to do is punch in the time you want the coffee to be brewed, the machine will take care of the rest. It will automatically turn itself on, carry out the grinding process, add the appropriate amount of grinds into the filter and begin brewing all on its own!
The machine’s interface is very simple to use. You select the grind amount using the control knob (ranging from two to twelve cups,) choose the strength from the button on the right while the top row of buttons program the auto brew. If you need to use pre-ground coffee, simply turn the grinding function with the push of a button before turning the unit on.
The automatic shut-off is a good safety measure, especially for the more forgetful among us. It can be adjusted for up to four hours. Additionally the pause brew function is great if you can wait for the machine to complete its brewing cycle. However, do remember that the machine does not stop the brewing process; it only prevents the flow of water into the carafe. So if the carafe is removed for more than twenty seconds from its position, the basket will overflow.
Quality & Aesthetics: The Grind & Brew is definitely not going to win any awards for good looks anytime soon. It seems that the manufacturers just clumped the various parts together haphazardly without much consideration to whether they blended gracefully or not. The front panel is a rectangular shaped intrusion with curved edges. While there is plenty of space on the front, the squeezing of buttons within this specified parameter makes it unnecessarily congested.
There is no denying that the Cuisinart coffee brewer has a solid construction. The bulky stainless frame has the ability to withstand wear and tear. If a weak link is to be picked in the system, then it has to be the grinder. Having said that, do keep in mind that grinders generally require extra maintenance. Each component, including the chutes must be meticulously cleaned and dried. The slightest bit of moisture and if you routinely grind oily beans, the grinds will clump up and collect in the chute. Over time the chute may get clogged which can potentially lead to motor overheating and failing.
Final Word:
The Cuisinart DGB-700BC is a complex machine, more so than most machines in its league. As such it has a lot of moving parts this means greater chances of things going wrong. It requires a lot of cleaning, but if you were to use a stand-alone grinder, so would it. Hence, cleaning is just the sacrifice you have to make if you want to enjoy a good cup of coffee. Other minor issues include the lack of back light on the display screen, permanent filter gets stained and finally it is noisy.
However, these are fairly minor issues when considering the fact that you get a solid machine that makes a good cup of coffee consistently.
