Dimensions: 17.91 x 7.48 x 16.14 inches
Weight: 10.48 pounds
Brew settings: 10-minute express cold brew, hot or iced coffee, and hot or iced black, green, white, or herbal tea
Carafe capacity: 8 cups (40 ounces)
Brew sizes: 8, 12, or 16 ounce single serve, or full carafe
Warranty: 3 years
If you like to make a wide range of drinks at home, chances are you have a variety of appliances cluttering up your kitchen counter. You need a coffee maker for hot coffee, an electric kettle for tea, and a cold brew maker for days you need extra caffeine—but what if you could make all these drinks with just one machine?
The new Mr. Coffee Perfect Brew Coffee Maker is designed to be an all-in-one brewer for your kitchen, and it’s able to make a wide range of caffeinated beverages, including both hot and iced drinks. Whether you want hot coffee, iced tea, or cold brew, this machine can make it all (and more), and it comes in a surprisingly compact form that won’t take up too much real estate in your kitchen.
We wanted to see if this machine is as versatile as it seems, so I tested it in my home for around a month. Ultimately, the appliance excelled in some areas and fell flat in others, so be sure to read about my experience with it before you buy.
Keurig K-Brew+Chill: Price and availability
The Mr. Coffee Perfect Brew Coffee Maker is available at Amazon. Mr. Coffee has historically been a more budget-friendly appliance brand, so this price point is fairly high compared to many of its other coffee makers, which generally cost less than $100.
With a regular price of $299.99, it's similar in price to more premium brands like Technivorm Moccamaster, but we saw it go on sale for Black Friday, so you might be able to pick it up for closer to $200 if you time your purchase right.
Mr. Coffee Perfect Brew Coffee Maker: Features
The Mr. Coffee Perfect Brew Coffee Maker has a surprisingly sleek and compact design. The whole exterior is covered in shiny stainless steel, and because it’s less than 8 inches wide, it takes up minimal space on the kitchen counter and would be a good option for apartments or smaller homes. There’s just one dial on the center of the control panel, and there are buttons to start/cancel your brew, set the time, delay brewing, or clean the machine.
This coffee maker comes with a 40-ounce carafe, and I was surprised to find that it’s quite flimsy. The walls are glass but the lid is made from a fairly thin plastic that doesn’t feel like it will stand up well over time. If you’re brewing a single serving, you can also brew directly into a mug or cup. There’s also a hot plate underneath the carafe, and it keeps your beverage warm for up to two hours after brewing.
The machine comes with two filters—one for coffee and one for tea—as well as a double-sided scoop for measuring grounds. It automatically selects its brew settings based on which filter is inserted, and I like that the filters are reusable, so I didn’t need to buy disposable ones. Finally, its water reservoir is located on the back of the machine, and it has a tall, narrow design that’s easy to carry. You also don’t have to worry about filling it precisely, as the machine automatically measures the proper amount of water for the selected brew size.
Mr. Coffee Perfect Brew Coffee Maker: Performance
The Perfect Brew Coffee Maker is able to brew a variety of different drinks. If you’re in the mood for coffee, it can make hot coffee, iced coffee, or cold brew. Or, if you prefer tea, you have your choice between black, green, white, or herbal tea, brewed either hot or iced.
To see if this machine is worth its high price tag, I tested it for around a month in my kitchen, testing out all its different settings to compare its performance.
Coffee
This coffee maker operates similarly to other standard drip coffee machines that I’ve tested, and the process is very straightforward. Once you insert the coffee filter, which is color-coded orange, you’re able to select what kind of coffee you want—hot, over ice, or cold brew—as well as the brew size. The digital display will tell you how many scoops of coffee grounds to put in, and then you simply hit “brew start.” The machine will get to work and beep to let you know when it’s finished. There’s a countdown timer that lets you know how long the brewing process will take, and if you selected hot coffee, the unit’s hot plate will keep your coffee warm for up to two hours.
The coffee maker has settings for 8, 12, or 16 ounces, as well as a full carafe, and this quickly became a point of contention while using it. I live with a partner, and we each drink one cup of coffee in the morning. We quickly discovered that 16 ounces isn’t nearly enough for two average-sized cups, but a whole carafe is way too much. For a two-person household, a half-carafe (roughly 20-ounce) option would have been ideal.
Another thing I noticed while making coffee with the Perfect Brew Coffee Maker is that it uses significantly more coffee grounds than other machines. To brew a 40-ounce carafe, it uses five scoops of grounds, but the coffee side of the scoop is more than twice large as others I’ve used. During testing, I noticed that we were going through coffee grounds much more quickly than usual, and if you prefer to use nice coffee beans, the cost will likely add up quickly.
In terms of brew quality, the coffee is actually quite good. The brand says that the machine is Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) certified and follows strict requirements for temperature, brew time, and water-to-coffee ratios. During testing, both my partner and I thought the coffee was flavorful and a nice temperature. I did measure the temperature of one cup when it came out of the brewer, and it was around 155 degrees Farenheit. This is a bit lower than the SCA’s recommended brewing temperature of 194 to 205 degrees, but it makes the coffee comfortable to drink without buring your tongue.
If you want to brew iced coffee, the process is virtually identical, but you simply fill up the carafe (or your cup) with ice before brewing. I was a bit disappointed to find that the coffee doesn’t brew any differently: It still brews in the same amount of time and comes out hot, and the ice just cools it down. This means that the coffee ends up quite diluted, as around half of the ice melts in the process. It still tastes OK, but I did find it was a little watery.
Tea
I also used the Perfect Brew Coffee Maker to brew a batch of iced green tea to drink as an afternoon pick-me-up throughout the week. The process is similar to brewing coffee, but you use the machine’s designated tea filter, which is color-coded green. After selecting how you want to brew your tea—hot or over ice—you also select what type of tea you’re making. The brewer adjusts its brewing temperature based on the type of tea, as certain varieties are more deliciate and can become bitter if the water is too hot. The steeping time also varies depending on what type of tea you choose.
This brand suggests using loose leaf tea for brewing, but the manual does note that you can simply put tea bags inside the filter, instead. Just be sure to check the directions to see how many to use. I opted to just use loose leaf, and the tea side of the scoop is smaller than the coffee side. It needed six scoops to brew a carafe, and for green tea, it steeped for around three minutes before it started dispensing into my cup. The whole process from start to finish took around six minutes, though, so it’s not the quickest process ever.
Similar to coffee, the tea is brewed hot and then cooled down by ice in the carafe. About half the ice ended up melting, and while the tea had a decent flavor, it was definitely a bit watery. The tea I used was peach mango, and the fruity flavors barely came through at all. Still, I liked that there was plenty of tea that I could simply put in the fridge to drink later.
Cold brew
Finally, the machine has an express cold brew setting, which takes around 10 minutes. It brews coffee at a lower temperature, and the serving size options are 12, 16 or 40 ounces—you can’t make just an 8-ounce cup. I’m not generally a cold brew drinker, but I took the setting for a spin just to see how it worked.
To make cold brew, the directions say to fill your cup ⅓ of the way with ice. There’s also a dedicated cold brew line on the carafe that shows you how much ice to put in. I opted to make a 16-ounce serving, and it used two scoops of coffee grounds, which is the same as a hot coffee. It took a little over seven minutes to brew, and it dispensed the cold brew in two rounds—half after around three minutes, and the other half toward the end of the brew.
The cold brew came out of the machine colder than regular coffee, so it didn’t melt the ice quite as much. If you like cold brew to be rich and flavorful, you'll like this feature. I found that it was almost too strong for me, and ended up diluting my drink a bit. But again, I found that it extracted the flavor of my coffee very nicely, and it's a nice feature to have on colder days, or for when you want a punchy iced brew.
How Does The Mr. Coffee Perfect Brew Coffee Maker Compare?
The Mr. Coffee Perfect Brew Coffee Maker isn’t the first gadget to combine tea and coffee brewing into one machine. The Ninja Hot & Iced XL Coffee Maker offers much of the same functionality, brewing both coffee and tea. This appliance can brew drinks hot or over ice, and it also has a cold brew setting, as well as a “rich” setting for stronger coffee. It also has six different serving sizes, including a half-carafe option, and it’s less expensive, retailing for $199.
If you just want a machine that brews coffee and tea over ice, there’s also the popular Brentwood Iced Tea and Coffee Maker, which is especially budget-friendly. It costs just $40, and it’s able to brew up to 64 ounces of coffee or tea over ice. However, it has a much simpler design with fewer customization settings.
Mr. Coffee Perfect Brew Coffee Maker: Verdict
The Mr. Coffee Perfect Brew Coffee Maker does some things well. Namely, it brews pretty good hot coffee and tea, and the appliance has a sleek design with a compact footprint that won’t take up much space in your kitchen. It’s easy to operate, and it comes with separate filters for tea and coffee to keep flavors from leaching over.
That said, there are a few areas where this machine struggles. It can only make single-serve drinks or a full carafe—no options in between—and it uses more coffee grounds than a standard coffee maker. Its iced beverages tend to have a watered-down flavor, and it’s also expensive for the overall construction of the machine. Other models are more versatile for a lower price, but I have to admit, its SCA-certification shines through. This coffee maker does make a tasty brew, and if that's your most important consideration, you should think about making the investment.
