The DGB-900BC is a programmable coffee brewer and burr grinder in one. It is a quality machine that can make from two to a dozen cups of coffee and one of the more rare units which actually brews at temperatures sufficiently high to extract maximum flavour from your grinds. Just add your favourite beans; the grinder will automatically adjust quantity of beans needed for the number of cups you select to brew. Next just punch in the desired coffee strength and you are all set for the next morning!
Brew Quality
Considering that coffee is more than 95% water, it is a given that poor quality water will produce an equally bad tasting cup of Joe. The Cuisinart-900BC comes equipped with a charcoal filter which removes everything that leads to a bad tasting cup of coffee.
A second factor that hugely impacts the taste of the coffee is the beans. Good quality beans that are freshly ground lead to a drink that tastes like the one from the coffee bar. This is why the built-in burr grinder in the Cuisinart gives an added value to the coffee make. Experts recommend that once the coffee beans are purchased, their interaction with air, light and moisture be kept at a minimum to maintain quality. Just maintain sufficient beans in the sealed hopper to last the day and add more as needed. The unit will automatically grind the correct quantity each time you desire a drink. If you choose use pre-ground coffee, just push the Grind Off button prior to turning the machine on.
The size of grinds is another major player when it comes to putting together a great tasting cup of coffee. To remove any additional, unnecessary burden on your part, coupled with the fact that medium grind produces optimal flavour for this type of brewing, the people at Cuisinart have pre-set the machine to grind at this setting.
Making Your Brew with the 900BC
Brewing coffee in the Cuisinart is a simple process:
Fill the water reservoir up to the water level indicator in the window.
Press the recess knobs on the sides of the bean hopper lid and open the lid. The beans can be added while the hopper is in place. It is preferable to maintain the hopper half full at all times so there are sufficient beans available whenever desired. The hopper may also be removed for filling by using the unlocking knob and replaced by locking in position. The safety system in the Cuisinart-900BC will prevent grinding if the hopper is out of place and all parts are not locked in position.
Remove the filter basket by pressing the release button. Replace the basket cover with either a number 4 filter paper or the Cuisinart permanent filter. Once again if the filter assembly is out of place the machine will not work and continue to give a beeping sound until the issue is resolved.
Turn the Grind Control to choose how many cups you require so the unit can automatically grind the appropriate amount of beans. Next use the Control setting to select Mild, Medium or Strong strength and press the on button for brewing to begin.
Features
If you can’t wait for your delicious brew simply use the Pause Brew function to grab a cup in mid-brew and then let the process continue at its own pace. Just remember if the carafe is not back in place in twenty seconds the brewing will begin automatically and it will start spilling in the basket.
Even though Cuisinart offers the pause brew function, it should be remembered that the coffee taken from mid-brew will have significantly different profile and taste compared to the cup taken once the process is completed. The desired coffee strength that you selected will only be reached once the whole brewing process is completed. Additionally, removing some coffee from mid-process will significantly influence the flavour of the finished product as well.
The grinder on the DGB-900BC comes with an airtight storage section keeping the beans safe from the elements fresh until you are ready to grind. The half-pound storage capacity is sufficient to last the day so you don’t have to keep refilling it.
The 900BC brewer comes with a thermal vacuum flask. This means that your coffee stays hotter, longer; and reheating, which tends to destroy flavor, will be unnecessary. So if you can make some extra coffee you can enjoy one cup now and another one a couple of hours later, with the same great taste.
Conclusion
The Cuisinart 900BC has a lot going in its favor. It is an easy to use drip coffee maker that has all the possible conveniences that a bean to cup brewer can offer. The heater works great, bringing the water temperature just below boiling point, which is perfect for extraction yet high enough that the coffee comes out hot not warm like in a lot of machines of comparable quality. The appealing design means it looks good in the kitchen.
Despite all the good points there are a few issues. The first and foremost issue being that the unit has to be pulled out from under the cabinet to fill the water tank. The carafe has to be hand washed as it is not dishwasher proof. While the thermal carafe is good, coffee starts to cool down after about an hour.
