Single serve coffee makers have a set of distinct qualities: the coffee is quick, but the quality is questionable, even on the most premium machines. Finally, Cuisinart has changed the latter, making hasty, tasty, effortless coffee.
Their latest, the Cuisinart Grind and Brew machine, marries freshly ground filter coffee with speedy, reusable capsules, so now you can enjoy speciality coffee without compromise.
As a trained barista, I have high coffee standards. I’ve tested and enjoyed plenty of single serve machines, but none quite like this one. The coffee is flavorful and bold; the machine looks beautiful; and our team of experts have adopted it into our test kitchen as a staple appliance. If that doesn’t say it all, I don’t know what will. It's one of the best coffee makers on the market. And if that doesn't have you convinced, I've just found the Cuisinart Grind and Brew DGB-2 on Amazon with $30 off right now.
This is the best price we've seen the Grind + Brew DGB-2 model from all the retailers we've looked at.
Cuisinart Grind and Brew: Key Info
- Dimensions: 11 x 7.3 x 12.7 inches
- Burr type: Conical
- Weight: 11.3 lbs
- Water tank capacity: 48 oz
- Bean hopper capacity: 3.5 oz
- Beverage sizes: 4, 8, 10, 12 oz
Cuisinart Grind and Brew: first impressions
Sitting on the countertop, this is a subtle and stylish appliance. It’s bigger than some single-serve coffee makers, but that’s because it’s grinding coffee as well as brewing it.
Rather than disguise the grinder in the sleek black body, Cuisinart has designed the bean hopper to sit at the front of the machine, on full display. If you like coffee, this gives the machine a café vibe, but it still looks chic and domestic.
A word of caution: I wouldn’t recommend storing your beans in this hopper for more than a week. You would probably get through them quicker than this anyway, but if you don't use them, exposure to the sunlight will degrade the coffee oils, making your drink taste bitter.
Considering the size, this is still relatively lightweight at 10.8 lbs. It's easy to move around, so you could easily slide it across the countertop to a less prominent position when it's not in use. However, if you’re thinking this will pack into a cupboard, think again. It takes up a fair amount of space.
Making coffee in the Cuisinart Grind and Brew
Thankfully, looks don’t deceive with this Cuisinart: it’s simply excellent to use and the coffee tastes even better. It all starts with grinding. You won't need to invest in a good coffee grinder separately, as it's built into the machine. Once the bean hopper is filled with coffee beans (I recommend Union), you can place one of the filters underneath and the will grind directly into your pod at the touch of a button. There are two places to store your pods – in the side and top of the machine – so if you can't find yours, check these storage spaces.
The conical burrs made some really consistent sized coffee grounds, promising smooth coffee flavors. The whole grinding process was no louder than 65 dBA, which is remarkable when you consider that the grinders are crushing what are effectively stones. If you’ll be using this early in the morning, rest assured, you won’t wake up the whole house.
After the machine had automatically ground coffee into my pod, I closed the lid on the pod with a satisfying click and inserted it into the top of the machine. This offers four different cup sizes – 4, 8, 10, 12 oz – and I tested them all.
Again, brewing starts at the touch of a button. There’s about a fifteen second delay before you'll see any coffee in your cup: for those who are coffee deprived, the delay can feel quite lengthy. It's especially pertinent if you live in a large household, because this only makes one coffee at a time. I can already imagine the morning queue for coffee.
However, it’s worth giving credence to lots of time-saving functions on the machine. These balance out the delay. The machine is a tidy grinder and close to effortless to clean. Fifteen seconds is also enough time to find a mug and place it underneath if you’ve accidentally picked up someone else’s mug.
I started with the smallest setting, which is 4 oz. This is too big for an espresso, it’s more like a lungo or a short black. The coffee came out at 201°F, which is almost too hot to drink. The brewing itself took under 20 seconds too, so I was worried the coffee would taste weak, bitter, and burnt. Miraculously, it was the opposite. From just one sip, I could taste that the bold and flavorful notes of coffee and hazelnut.
All of our experts were struck by just how strong this was too – it's perfect if you need a quick caffeine boost in the morning. The machine reached a maximum of 50 dBA when brewing, so it’s a really quiet and convenient machine to use: you wouldn’t need to raise your voice to be heard above it.
I went for a low cup to start with and experienced a little bit of coffee splashing into the back of the machine. It doesn’t drip between coffees, but if you have quite wide and low cups, keep a microfiber cloth (like this one from Walmart) close by.
It’s the same story with all the other sizes. Regardless of how long your coffee is, the Cuisinart uses the same amount of ground coffee, which I measured at 0.55 oz. As you might expect, this meant that the longer 12 oz coffees tasted a little weaker than the 4 oz. However in comparison to standard filter or single-serve coffees, these were exceptionally strong and packed with flavor.
I’ve never experienced quality like this from a single-serve machine. The authentic, artisanal flavors would rival espresso machines, so it’s a real treat for filter or pod coffee drinkers.
Should you buy the Cuisinart Grind and Brew
All good things come in threes, so I’ll say this for the third time, I’ve never made single-serve coffee that tastes better than this. Regardless of the size of my cup of coffee, the flavors were all bright, bold, and utterly delicious. If you enjoy single serve coffee, but want a bit more quality, this is perfect. It’s also better for the environment, because the pods are all re-usable. Similarly, if you drink filter coffee, but only need to make one cup at a time, this is an innovative take on standard filter jugs.
We care about coffee which is why we take every coffee maker we recommend to our test kitchen. There we put them through their paces alongside other coffee makers and compare them, so we know where they sit in the market.
Laura, a former barista, tested this alongside market-leading espresso machines. She made notes on the whole process from unboxing and cleaning up to the all-important flavors.
