BUNN NHBX-B Contemporary 10-Cup Home Coffee Brewer, Black

Bunn Coffee Makers are very high quality coffee makers, and one typically needs to spend money to get this kind of quality. However, there are a few costs you should be aware of before you purchase a Bunn Coffee Maker. I'm not saying that it may not be worth it to you, but you may as well know all of the costs before purchasing.

They both have to do with how Bunn delivers such a fast pot - 3 minutes as opposed to 4-8 minutes of other makers. The first way they do it is to have what amounts to two sets of water tanks: one you fill, and the other is preheated. The preheated water tank is delivered to the spray head, and because it is preheated, it doesn't require any time to heat it up. The problem is that it is preheated 24/7, and that can be costly. I'm guessing they use a 100 watt heater. If it takes 15-30 cents per day in energy costs, you are looking at $50-$100 per year. You can, after you are done brewing for the day, shut off the "vacation switch" which is the switch to the tank heater, and this will save the cost and energy, but if you forget to turn it back on at least 15 minutes ahead of when you need it, you are looking at a 15 minute wait for the tank to reheat before you can brew.

Furthermore, if you are having guests, if you brew a pot of caffinated, followed by a pot of decaf, you may need to wait 15 minutes between pots. The Bunn commercial brewers keep three preheated tanks, so this isn't a problem for them. But the consumer models keep only one tank preheated.

Note that they work on gravity: the water you put in pushes the preheated water out. Some of the preheated water will evaporate, so you have to put in more water than you want out.

The second thing they do to get a fast brew is to increase the amount of water that pours in to the filter basket, far greater than other coffee makers. The amount of water would collapse other filters, but because these filters are taller and sturdier, they stand up. But that means you are stuck with their filters, which, if you don't have a supply nearby, and few stores carry them, means paying for the filters plus shipping.

Bunn builds coffee makers to last, unlike other coffee makers that will wear out after a year or two. Virtually all programmable models seem to only last a year or two. So by buying this brand, you'll save money on coffee makers, to partly make up for the extra energy and filter costs.

You'll have to decide whether the extra energy and filter costs (which can be dealt with, but might be troublesome) are worth saving the cost of buying a new machine every couple of years.

Next, the carbon footprint of a machine that consistently wastes energy is somewhat (but not all) counterbalanced by the fact that it is made in America, and does not require shipping halfway around the world like some of the better brands. Additionally, these coffee makers will easily outlast 5x other coffee makers, and that's a lot of plastic you save buy buying something only once.

Finally, the quality of coffee from a flat bottom filter is generally not as high as that you can get from a cone filter, though the differences will be subtle, and if you are used to the flavor of a flat bottom filter, then you may never care. This brand is considered the best of the flat bottom makers, so there may not be as much of a difference as there are for other brands.

As for the heated base keeping your coffee hot, it is also *ruining* the flavor from almost the very first minute. Any real coffee geek will immediately take the pot off the heater and pour it into a thermal carafe or thermos or will order a model with a thermal carafe to start with. Ideally, there is no heated base at all. So people complaining that it doesn't keep the coffee hot should invest in a thermal carafe or buy a model that comes with one.

In summary, the design of these coffee makers is suited to the standard donut shop, where they are brewing coffee around the clock and it is worth it to them to keep extra tanks of water heated so that they can shave 1-3 minutes off the brew time during their peak buying periods. Whether it is worth it for a consumer who makes one or two pots of coffee in the morning to do something like this is something only you can answer for yourself. They are very good coffee makers: well built and they make good coffee. But they cost a lot in terms of energy and filters, though partly balanced by the reduction in number of coffee makers you'll buy over the life of this product and the local nature of the product that reduces the energy required to ship them. It's one thing to have a high cost, but to have the high energy waste these coffee makers will generate for most consumers is something everyone should think about.

We purchased our unit at Thanksgiving wanting the usual Bunn benefits of a quick brew at the proper temperature. It delivered as expected until the past two weeks. At about the 60 day mark the underside of the brew chamber where the spray head is attached started coming loose and we had to snap it back in. Well today it just crumbled into pieces, seemed to be brittle from the heat. If I did not see it happen it looks like someone took a hammer to it, the power switch is just hanging loose in front of the unit. Frankly, I love the coffeemaker and the new swivel lid, it eliminates the need for the pitcher which I like. I agree with other reviews that the carafe lid is flimsy and first appears to not fit well but as it gets warm it settles in place. This does give an initial impression of cheap manufacturing. If not for the meltdown of the whole body of the unit I would have rated it a 5 star brewer.

We just bought this Bunn coffee maker to replace one that had been in use for almost fifteen years. We average two pots of coffee per day. Prorate $100 over 15 years. Not real expensive per year. Our old Bunn failed because I didn't use common sense when handling it. I picked up the unit by the upper plastic portion of the coffee maker when moving it for cleaning, etc. With the water in the reservoir there's too much weight to pick it up that way. This broke some of the internal joints and caused leaking. Be smarter than me...pick it up by the base or vertical center section when its full of water. That's the main thing I wanted to say to those owning this coffee maker.
The other reviewers have stated all the great features of Bunn coffee makers, so I won't detail them again. This is our third Bunn and I wouldn't consider anything else. Well.....to be honest, I was tempted to buy a Bunn commercial coffee maker like the VP17-1. Good luck.

I bought this coffee maker for 2 reasons, 1) would make a pot in 3 minutes, and 2) claimed to brew at the proper temperature of 200 degrees. The 3 minute claim is extremely misleading if not false. This coffee maker operates differently than others in that it has a tank that you keep filled with water and you keep hot by leaving it on all of the time. That means that the coffee maker is on 24/7 365 days a year. The way it works is when you pour in water to make coffee the "new" water displaces the already hot "old" water that has been sitting in there for however long it has been since you last used it. It recommends that you turn it off if you aren't going to use it for more than 2 days. Well we only make coffee at home on weekends, and to reheat the entire tank takes over 15 minutes. So the 3 minute claim is more like 20 minutes to make a pot of coffee. Funny they don't exactly state that anywhere on the box and it is borderline revealed in the instructions. Needless to say it got returned immediately. Might make a good cup of coffee in the end but I'll never know.

The design uses hydrostatic pressure to move the water through the chambers. From time to time, you will get vapor-lock in the small transfer tube. A bubble will form, preventing the water from transferring. If you wash the carafee in the dish washer every single use, you'll have enough residual Jetdry to overcome the surface tension and let water flow.

If it had a greater pressure differential (adding another 4 inches of height to the unit), it would be able to overcome the surface tension of the water without the "assumption" that most customers use automatic dish washers with surfactant aid, and they wash the carafe after every use (I rinse it daily, wash it weekly).

The storage tanks are meant to be left on constantly, with a thermal switch to turn them off when the water is heated to its rated temperature. This results in a maker that is best suited to heavy use, such as in a restaurant, where the transfer tubes are always wet. The "hotplate" has it's own switch, but can only be used when the main switch is on for the tanks. The brewed coffee is a little "cleaner", without as much oil residue on the surface. This is partly due to the lower temperature of the water in comparison to normal machines.



A good idea, just a very poor design. Rated 1-star because it is not a reliable design for anything other than constant use, such as in a restaurant, even though it's labeled as a residental-use model. A French-press, or standard vapor-driven brewer is more reliable.

This is our second Bunn coffee maker and like the first, we have come to depend on it. The "Contemporary" description of its design is somewhat of a stretch, but it is an improvement over our previous "Base" model.

Unlike the former, this one doesn't include a water pitcher, relying instead on a valve system that prevents the cold water from draining into the system with the swivel lid open while you pour in cold water from the glass carafe. It's okay I guess, but I wonder about it's long term reliability.

A concern I have about this model that I didn't experience with the Base model before it - I notice that up to a cup and a half of water "disappears" from the hot water reservoir in 24 hrs. I have to pour in 10 - 11 cups of water to get out 8 1/2 - 10 cups of water. We'd better not forget to shut it off when leaving for a trip or I'm afraid it could go dry and start a fire.

My only other complaint is with the glass carafe used both to fill the unit and to collect the brewed coffee. The pouring spout is a weak design point, making spills a near certainty when the carafe is completely filled with water or coffee.

I love the convenience of the Bunn, but in the future will likely return to the base model. It's cheaper and easier to use w/out spilling on the countertop.

Good coffee very fast unit is not as well built as older model

It was that time again; time to search for our next coffee maker. Being tired of replacing the coffee maker every 6 months we set out to look closer at build quality and read more reviews this time. We purchased three other coffee makers by a company that's been around forever, Mr. Something. Nice looking, fancy green LED dial display with a timer, 12 cups, programmable, 2 hour auto shut off etc. for around $40-$50. Those machines only lasted around 6-7 months.

I always wanted a Bunn but was hesitant spending $100+ for a coffee maker again. Actually, I don't recall seeing a BUNN for around $100 the last time I shopped. It's not that spending $100+ was something new for me; I purchased other machines over $100 before but was also disappointed.

This coffee maker purchasing was beginning to be a regular thing for us so the line of thought was purchase a cheap one and replace it. So that is what we did but its costly doing that too. Buy a new machine in Jan. then June then again around Christmas time, that's $150 right there! I remember thinking the last time; we should buy two so when it breaks we have a backup.

So anyway, we have the BUNN NHBX. The experience setting this machine up was unlike any other coffee machine in the past. I actually had to follow directions, 5 simple steps but IMPORTANT STEPS. It's not like you just plug this machine in and go, 3 minutes later - drink coffee. It does require some initial setup, approximately 20-30 minutes from opening the box. Bunn includes a quick setup guide in addition to a nice manual and a deliming tool. Adding 3 pots of water to the machine seemed odd at first not fully understanding the hot water reservoir design.

This machine makes the best tasting pot of coffee of all the machines I owned in the past. It's also the hottest pot! The warmer plate seems unnecessary. This machine made coffee as quick as 2 min 35 secs up to 3 mins.

I like it but it takes a bit of getting used to. I also do not leave it on all day as I brew only one two pots at breakfast and then nothing until the next day. I was disappointed in the quality of the plastic filter basket and carafe top. Just not up to the quality of the rest of the machine. I also use the regular "Mr Coffee" basket filters and they work just as well or better than the Bunn filters. I would have given it 5 stars but for the plastic quality. The coffee is excellent and brews remarkably fast.

I have had a Black and Decker for several years now that was under the counter. We decided, after starting to roast our own coffee that we "needed" a better maker. One that brewed at 190 deg+. After this purchase I also purchased a I Roast 2 to do my own beans and I have to tell you it is the best coffee I have ever made. This coffee maker is all it says it is. Makes a pot in under 3 mins. Highly recommend