Michael Graves Design Automatic Drip Coffee Maker

If you landed on this page, you almost certainly fall into one of three groups: you own a Michael Graves Design coffee maker and want to know whether it is worth keeping, you remember the line and are trying to find one to buy, or you are looking up specs and troubleshooting for a unit you inherited. The original version of this page was a 2007 product description written when the machines were still on Target shelves. Over the years, eight readers asked the same questions in the comments: where can I buy one (Bob Swanson in Ontario, verna hall in Indiana, Vernell Reich, maria fabian looking for white), what temperature does it brew at (Laurie Hyatt, diana arsenault), and why does the water reservoir steam (Debbie). The rewrite below tries to answer all of those directly, because the original article never did.

What happened to the Michael Graves Coffee Maker

Michael Graves was the American postmodern architect and designer who created the iconic Whistling Bird Kettle for Alessi in 1985. Starting in 1999, he became Target’s signature designer through a long-running collaboration called Michael Graves Design, producing affordable, well-designed housewares including coffee makers, toasters, kitchen tools, alarm clocks, and bathroom hardware. The line ran for fourteen years.

Target ended the Michael Graves collaboration in 2013, after which the design line shifted to JCPenney for a few years before Michael Graves Design as a Target/JCPenney product portfolio wound down. Michael Graves himself passed away in March 2015. The coffee makers in the line were manufactured under contract by Black & Decker / Applica (and possibly other OEMs across the run), and production stopped when Target ended the partnership. There is no current Michael Graves Design coffee maker being made in 2026.

What is genuinely lost is the aesthetic: a $50 mass-market drip coffee maker with deliberate design intelligence, in a teakettle-inspired silhouette with hourglass curves and either matte black or white finishes. There is nothing currently in production at the same price point with the same design sensibility. Cuisinart, Krups, Mr. Coffee, and Black+Decker all make functional drip machines at $30-$100, but none of them have the visual identity the MG coffee maker had.

Where to actually buy a Michael Graves coffee maker today

• eBay is the largest source. Search “Michael Graves coffee maker” with the auction filter. Working used units in either color typically run $40 to $80 with shipping; new-in-box units (rare) command $120 and up. Avoid units listed as “for parts” unless you have a specific reason to want one.
• Mercari and Facebook Marketplace often have local listings at lower prices because there is no shipping cost. Worth checking weekly if you are patient.
• Goodwill and estate sale auctions occasionally surface them; the Michael Graves line was prevalent in middle-class American kitchens for a decade, and units are turning up as those owners downsize.
• Online vintage and design boutique resellers sometimes carry them at marked-up prices ($150+) when they have the right inventory.

One note from the comment thread: reader Bob Swanson in London, Ontario, Canada (2010) asked where to buy one. Cross-border availability is harder; eBay sellers ship to Canada but the customs and shipping bring the total over $100 quickly. If you are in Canada, the realistic option is buying secondhand within the country (Kijiji, Marketplace).

Brew temperature and what to expect

Reader Laurie Hyatt (2009) and diana arsenault (2009) asked what temperature the Michael Graves coffee maker brews at. The answer: the MG drip uses the same general heating element and water-pump architecture as most mass-market drip machines in its price tier, and brews at approximately 165-175 F (74-79 C). This is below the SCAA Golden Cup standard of 195-205 F (90-96 C) that specialty-coffee drinkers target. It is consistent with other mass-market drip machines from the era and from today.

What this means practically: the MG drip will produce drinkable, consistent coffee from medium-roast supermarket beans. It will not produce the brighter, more aromatic cup that a SCAA-certified brewer like a Technivorm Moccamaster or an OXO Brew 9-Cup pulls from the same beans. Reader Shirley Bates (2010) said it was the best coffee pot she had ever used; she was telling the truth about her experience because her reference point was the previous generation of similar machines, and the MG was solidly competent at its tier.

Common owner issues and fixes

Excessive steam from the water reservoir

Reader Debbie (2009) described this exactly: “As the water container is almost empty, the container starts steaming excessively at the top. I have to pull it out from underneath my cabinets because it is going to totally rot the wood.” This is the most common owner complaint about the MG drip and it is a design issue, not a malfunction. The brew head sits below the upper-cabinet line in most kitchens, and the residual steam from the late-brew cycle vents upward into anything above.

The practical fix is exactly what Debbie did: pull the machine forward to the front edge of the counter for brewing, then push it back after. If your cabinets are showing condensation damage already, a $5 silicone heat-shield mat under the upper cabinet directly above the machine will prevent further damage. If you brew daily, factor this in to where you place the unit.

The non-removable filter basket holder

The original article noted the only real design complaint: the filter basket holder is fixed in place and can only be wiped clean, not removed. This is still true. The practical workaround is a damp microfiber cloth and a bottle brush once a week; the basket itself comes out for thorough cleaning and that catches most of the coffee oil residue.

Descaling

Standard white-vinegar descaling works. Fill the reservoir with 50/50 white vinegar and water, run a brew cycle without coffee, then run two reservoirs of plain water to rinse. Do this every two to three months in soft-water areas, every month in hard-water areas. Most reports of weak or slow brewing from older MG units are descaling-related, not actual machine failures.

When the unit is truly done

If the heating element has failed (no warming, no brewing) or the water pump no longer pushes water through the brew cycle, the unit is generally not worth repairing. Replacement parts have not been available from Black & Decker / Applica for several years. At that point, the realistic move is to recycle the unit and choose a current alternative.

What to buy if you want the same experience

There is no current coffee maker that is a direct stylistic descendant of the Michael Graves design. For the use case (mass-market drip, $30-$100, reliable enough to last several years), two current picks cover the territory:

• Cuisinart DCC-3200 PerfecTemp ($100) is the closest spiritual successor in build quality and brewing capability. 14-cup capacity, programmable, temperature-stable brewing within the mass-market tier (slightly hotter than the MG was), and parts availability is good. The styling is more conventional than the MG was but the daily-use experience is similar.
• Black+Decker DCM2160B ($30) is the budget pick. Same general performance tier as the MG was, similar manufacturer (Black & Decker was the OEM that made the original MG coffee maker), simpler design.

If you want a real step up in cup quality and you are willing to spend more, see our drip coffee primer, which covers SCAA-certified machines like the Technivorm Moccamaster and OXO Brew 9-Cup. Those are a different tier of cup, not a like-for-like replacement.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Michael Graves coffee maker still being made?

No. Production ended when Target wound down the Michael Graves Design home collection around 2013. No current manufacturer is producing a Michael Graves-branded coffee maker. The brand assets and design IP are with Michael Graves Architecture & Design (the architecture firm Graves founded), but no consumer-product partner has revived the coffee maker line.

Who actually manufactured the Michael Graves coffee makers?

Black & Decker / Applica was the OEM for most of the run. The product engineering and tooling were standard Black & Decker drip-coffee components; the styling and finish were the Michael Graves Design contribution. This is why a modern Black+Decker DCM2160B is the closest functional equivalent to the original MG drip – it is essentially the same internal architecture in a different housing.

Is a used Michael Graves coffee maker worth buying?

If you specifically want the aesthetic and you find a working unit for $40-$60, yes. If you just want a reliable drip coffee maker for daily use, a current $30 Black+Decker DCM2160B will give you the same daily performance with a warranty and current parts availability. The MG drip is a design-collector item that happens to work, not a functional upgrade over current options.

Are replacement parts still available?

For consumables (paper filters, carafe, basket inserts): yes, generic equivalents fit. Standard 8-12 cup paper basket filters fit the basket. Replacement glass carafes are harder to find specifically for the MG; generic 12-cup drip carafes with similar dimensions sometimes work but verify the diameter and the lid fit before ordering. Internal components (heating element, water pump, control board) are not available; if those fail, the unit is end-of-life.

Does any warranty still apply?

No. The original Black & Decker / Applica warranty was one year from purchase, and even the most recently sold units are well past that window. Any used unit you buy is sold as-is.

What colors did it come in?

Two: matte black and white. Reader maria fabian (2008) was specifically looking for the white version, which tended to sell out faster during the run because it complemented more kitchens. On the used market, white units still command a small premium over black today.

Why this article changed

The original version of this article was a 2007 product description written when the Michael Graves Design coffee maker was still on Target shelves. Eighteen years and eight reader questions later, the questions readers were arriving with had shifted: where can I buy one (verna hall, Bob Swanson, Vernell Reich, maria fabian), what temperature does it brew at (Laurie Hyatt, diana arsenault), how do I deal with the steam issue (Debbie), and what should I buy as a replacement. The original article answered none of these. This rewrite answers all of them. The comment thread is still open. If you have a Michael Graves unit, a tip, or a replacement-part source you want to share, please leave a comment.

Related reading

• How to make perfect drip coffee
• Cuisinart coffee makers guide
• Black + Decker coffee makers
• Best budget coffee equipment