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I’m admittedly a coffee snob when it comes to brewing from freshly ground beans; there’s just nothing to beat the aroma of grinding beans and the flavor of the coffee brewed immediately after grinding. The half-pound built-in bean hopper and automatic grinder are arguably my favorite features of the Breville BDC600XL coffee maker(while this review is for my BDC600XL YouBrew, the same would be correct for the Breville BDC550XL YouBrew).
I used to go to the trouble–because I believed the result worth the work–of separately measuring and grinding beans for every pot I was about to brew, so I love the fact that my Breville BDC600XL does that work for me. I get all the benefit of the freshly-ground blend, with none of the extra work–or the extra clean-up!
The YouBrew also features an integrated burr grinder that holds up to .5 lbs. of beans. It comes with a 12-cup thermal carafe, so your coffee stays at the perfect temperature for drinking after it’s brewed, and the brewing platform has a 7.5″ clearance — the right size for most of your travel mugs.
The sleek design features a large LCD display that’s intuitive and easy to read with both symbols and text, making it perfect for those early mornings before you get your glasses on. If you’re brewing up a full carafe but don’t want to wait for the full pot to brew, the YouBrew’s brew pause feature lets you snag a cup to drink while you wait for the rest of the pot to fill. And of course, you can program your YouBrew to fix your coffee automatically so you’ll have a single cup, a travel mug or a full carafe of perfectly brewed java ready to go when you are.
The YouBrew coffee brewer has an easy-open swing-out filter compartment and comes with a gold coffee filter, but is compatible with paper coffee filters if you prefer them. In addition, the spec sheets note that the YouBrew is made with BPA-free materials.
For the environmentally conscientious and health conscious members of my household, I can assure them that the Breville BDC600XL coffee maker is made entirely without BPA in its component materials, and the gold-tone reusable coffee filter eliminates the waste of paper filters. For myself, I’m pleased with the Breville BDC600XL coffee maker’s minimal messes and easy clean-up. The carafe and reusable filter are dishwasher safe, and when I’m brewing just for myself I can skip the carafe and brew directly into my favorite coffee cup on a morning when I’m staying home, or my travel mug when I’m heading to work.
The “BrewIQ” system of adjustable controls on the Breville BDC600XL coffee maker include seven different settings for strength (measurement of ground coffee used) as well as five settings for steeping time. I confess it took me a little time to get familiar with the control panel, especially given the sub-steps comprising each of those separate settings, but it’s truly not prohibitively complicated, even for a non-techie like me.
On the colder mornings when I’m using the Breville BDC600XL coffee maker, I prefer to pre-warm the carafe with hot water; I’ve found otherwise that the carafe dissipates the coffee’s heat rather too quickly.
I do have to note that the sheer size of the Breville BDC600XL coffee maker might present difficulties in a smaller kitchen, and given my own short stature, I keep a small stepstool handy to give me enough height to pour water into the top-filling reservoir. I’d go to more trouble than that, though, for the fresh-grind this machine offers every morning. I’m also happy to be able to brew one cup at a time, either when I’m the only one in the house, or on the mornings when our houseful has demolished the carafe-full and I just want an additional cup for myself.
The single-cup brewing takes longer than you might expect, but it’s not a longer wait than I’d expect if I were brewing a whole new pot, and I’m happy not to waste coffee grounds and energy in brewing more than I need. The Breville BDC600XL coffee maker has been keeping me happy, and I’m enjoying sampling the various whole bean blends it gives me the opportunity to try.
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Dan G says
Oh crap! There goes my wish list! I was kind of praying the Youbrew live up to the hype! :(
What next? any good alternative that cost less than $200?
@Mike how is the Technivorm?
Todd B. says
Same here, Kay. I posted some days ago that I was about to buy the Breville, mainly because of their reputation, and a blind taste test I saw put the Breville, even above Technovorm. I have since bought the Breville and returned it to Williams-Sonoma. You’re correct Kay..dishwater!
I thought it was something I was doing. Unless you put the maker on 5 cups and full strength..you’ll get weak coffee…Its also too cumbersome to keep clean…I didn’t like having to wipe off that metal wheel that allows the coffee into the filter holder. I bought a Technivorm Moccamaster and am incredibly pleased with it! I just use a seperate burr grinder..
Kay says
Returning it!!!! IMy husband and I couldn’t wait to purchase the YouBrew and have a burr grinder and coffee maker all in one. Thought the strength and flavor button would be ideal as well as the one cup that we could make when in a hurry. Didn’t want waste a lot of beans playing around with it when I brought it home so I made cup after cup. DISHWATER! The problem is the grind. When I use my grinder the grinds are fine so the water drips though slowly and extracts the flavor. The You Brew’s grinds are coarse and hence the coffee drips out faster so hence the weakness. I emailed Breville and there is nothing you can do to change the grind. You cannot add more beans as it automatically measures the beans based on the cup that you have programmed. Maybe Breville should be more discriminating with the people who do their taste tests. I would give it and F.
Patty says
We just bought the YouBrew from WS at City Center in Houston TX and they said they had just gotten them in. Was wondering if Mike perhaps didn’t notice that there were 2 strength settings to brew coffee with his comment that, “any lower than strong and the coffee is tasteless”. You press the Strength button 1st time and select strength from Mild to Intense and then press the strength button a second time and you select strength flavor from lite to bold. Maybe he missed the second press of the strength button. We have to add hot water to our current carafe to pre-warm it before making the coffee so that shouldn’t be that different for us. Anyway, will comment back when we fire it up in the morning. Can’t wait to use it!
Mike says
Youbrew, a great disappointment. Ran a half pound of beans through it last night and exchanged it for a Technivorm tonight. The big problem I couldn’t get past was the thermal pot just didn’t keep the coffee hot long enough. I preheated it as instructed too. The coffee is hot immediately after brewing, wait 10 minutes though and it almost needs reheating. I suppose if you want to fill the pot with boiling water to heat it up first it might be acceptable and maintain heat longer, I’m not about to mess with that. Coffee tasted good, I left it on strong, any lower than that and it was just tasteless, overall not the best coffee but far better than most home brewers I’ve tried. But again I just can’t get past the carafe, and the design for pouring is interesting, it this huge thick ‘surround’ on top of the pot which requires you to have to tilt it slightly upside down to pour. It brings great features to the table for those who want to brew into travel mugs — such people will likely rate it higher but that’s not me, I’d give it no better than a 6 or 7 out of 10 overall. Grinder does a good job, I really didn’t find it offensively loud, and grounds are well saturated. Whole brew basket pulls out and there’s a hinged cover built on to the basket which gets covered with grounds as they are injected into the basket. The basket then requires a pretty intense clean up and the two rubber seals on the basket looked to be relatively delicate. I wouldn’t expect more than a year or two of use before those start to break down and show wear and tear. Anyway, reviews generally can drive a person mad after awhile, I don’t want to talk people out of it, maybe I just got a bad one.
Gregg says
Lucky you! So, does the Youbrew live up to the hype? would you recommend this coffee maker after trying it out for a day? :)
Mike says
Woo! Got one this afternoon. As expected they didn’t call me either, I had to call on my lunch hour. Persistence paid off. Stay tuned, I will report back this weekend with my thoughts on it.
Mike says
Dan, I’ve gotten such a runaround from WS lately I’m at the point where I’m almost looking for an excuse not to buy it… unfortunately WS has an exclusive deal to sell it right now which makes me question if Breville has any clue, let’s face it if you want to sell product it’s Amazon right? Anyway I called WS today to check status because that’s what I was instructed to do by the sales rep. The woman who answered today said it’s on backorder, I said yes ok I was in-store yesterday and was told two were in transit. She put me on short hold then comes back with oh those two are ‘spoken for’. I’m like, ahem, I was told yesterday when I wanted to buy one and have it held those two were going to be sold on a first come first serve basis. She then asked for my name and number, said she’ll call me when it comes in. I frankly don’t believe that for a moment, she won’t call. Also they told me the other day that a WS store approx an hour away from me DID have it in stock but when I called the other store today, they said they’re still waiting for it too. So this is really some poorly executed launch IMHO, only one online retailer, only two units in transit to a high-end store which there are few and far between and we’re also just two weeks until Thanksgiving dinner when I need to brew some good stuff for guests.
Dan G says
The breville bdc600xl youbrew is going to the top of my Christmas list this year but I guess I’ll have to wait for it to start selling on Amazon before I buy.
I thought this was supposed to start selling in October.
@Mike, were you able to get one of the youbrew from sonoma? :)
Mike says
Todd, any particular reason why you’re looking to replace the Technivorm? I’m not so sure about the blind taste test, if it’s the same test I saw recalling now they didn’t use the Breville’s own grinder, which let’s face it if that’s a poor design or isn’t ‘calibrated’ so well the unit suddenly looses much of its appeal for me. Do you have any thoughts on the Bunn A10? I know it doesn’t grind however my local coffee shop uses commercial grade Bunn and I would think they could afford to use anything they chose to. Doesn’t look slick but I’m also in it for the taste.
Todd B says
I have a Technivorm..and plan to replace with the Breville.
Saw a blind taste test comparing the two machines and, amazingly, the Breville won out! I plan to buy the Breville this weekend..if in stock :)
Mike says
Thanks Todd. I stopped into WS today to check status, they said they have 2 that are in-transit and a lot of people asking. I’m like, can’t I buy it now and then you call me when it’s in, she said no, it’ll be whoever gets there first at 9:30 AM. Well I have to be to work at 8:30-9, I can’t show up when the doors open. I can get there during lunch by my guess is they’ll be gone by then. Associate said they probably won’t even use one of these as a display model just because there are only two on the way. While I was there they had a fresh pot brewed on the Technivorm… good stuff. If the Youbrew tastes average I will not hesitate to return it for the ‘vorm’ though I would still need a grinder in that case.
Todd B. says
Just tried to place an order with Williams Sonoma…says on backorder until tomorrow (nov. 9th) Just fyo
Mike says
I’m counting the days too. Right now Nov2 the only place to buy it is Willams Sonoma online, I think they want $279. I have a WS within 10 miles of me but it isn’t in-store yet. Salesman told me he’s waiting too, said they will likely have it within 7 days in-store and they’ll brew sample pots. The Technivorm is the other brewer I’m thinking about. As for the Breville, despite being made in China I have to say the build quality on most of Breville’s products looks pretty solid. I saw the smart grinder on display @ WS, by no means does it look like junk. If the weight of the Youbrew means anything this brewer must be built like a tank, 17lbs! That’s heavier than even brewers like the Bunn A10 at 14. Of course taste is the important thing, if the brew in the store tastes good I’m all over this.
Dan says
The Breville BDC600XL YouBrew is currently #1 on my “to buy” list. I’ve been looking for a replacment for my current coffee maker (Cuisinart DGB-900BC).
The only drawback right now is the listed price of $250.