I love the look of this coffee maker. Takes up less room on my counter than my old Mr. Coffee which finally stopped working after a number of years. Just a nice, clean, slim look. Does take a little more effort to put together than a French press or drip coffee maker, I'm getting more efficient at that. But I can't get the flavor of my favorite coffee that I was getting with the Mr. Coffee. There is a taste I do not care for and do not know what is causing it. Instead of a smooth cup of coffee, this produces more of a harsh, not quite metallic taste. I have tried a number of different combinations: using a different brand filter, folding the filter over the outer edge of the basket rather than over the coffee, adjusting the number of tablespoons of ground coffee, using very cold water right out of the refrigerator, or putting water in the maker the night before as I always did with my Mr. Coffee so it is at room temperature. But that taste is always there no matter how strong or how weak the coffee is. I have made coffee at the same time in a French press, or put the basket from my Mr. Coffee over the Mr. Coffee pot and slowly poured hot water over the grounds. These two approaches do not end up with that taste that I get from the percolator. The flavor I love is just not there. Maybe the water is too hot? Another reviewer mentioned that a course grind coffee works best. Unfortunately, my current favorite coffee only comes in one grind which works great for drip coffee makers or a French press. I will see if I can find a coffee I like that is available in a coarse grind to see if that takes care of the problem. At any rate, I do like that this does not have an automatic shut off, which was something I did not care for on my Mr. Coffee. So, on days I drink tea or make an instant cappuccino (I always have more than one cup of either), I won't have to reheat the water in my stove-top kettle. The water will stay hot until I unplug the percolator. Very nice. --------------------------- OK, tried another coffee favorite, in a drip grind, this is a flavored coffee. I didn't use a paper filter this time, as recommended by one poster. The first cup was very good, the last cup was mud - a courser grind is needed to use without a filter. Next pot I used a Mr. Coffee filter, cut a small hole to fit snuggly around the stem and pressed firmly in the basket folding over the top edge of the basket. Made a very nice cup of coffee. However, it does keep cooking the coffee (the Mr. Coffee does not). By the last cup maybe 1-1/2 hrs later I had to add hot water to dilute and the taste had changed. I still like the pot but unless I make 2 cups at a time instead of 6 I will use it to keep water hot during the day to make tea, instant cappuccinos, and coffee in my French Press. Wanted to buy another Mr. Coffee but from reviews, they don't appear to be made as well as the one I had for years. ============================ Update: the Presto died about 1 month after the 1-yr warranty expired. Warranty says "designed and built to provide many years of satisfactory performance under normal household use". I only used it to heat water after using it for a short time to make coffee, did not care for how coffee tasted when percolated. So, heated water and used a French press. Now back to using my stovetop tea kettle. I have not had luck with any electric coffee product since the Mr. Coffee I had for many years died. They just no longer manufacture products to last.
