De’Longhi TrueBrew Drip Coffee Maker: The Joe Is Just So-So
Sam noted that it would be extremely difficult to determine the weight of the beans used by TrueBrew, the original amount of water, or the temperature in the brewing chamber. Therefore, it is a kind of black box when it comes to finding out what happens during coffee preparation.
However, it could measure Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), the amount of coffee grounds that actually dissolves in your coffee and give an idea of the strength of the drink. At 3.99 TDS, it was like a semi-strong espresso.
From there, we made two back-to-back 12-ounce cups, each holding just under 10 ounces, which Sam found acceptable.
“Room for cream,” he explained cheerfully.
(Note: some online sources have noted that the TrueBrew’s spout sizes vary in consistency. We haven’t had this problem, but keep an eye on user reviews as more people buy the machine.)
The TDS for both cups was around 1.40, which Sam called “kind of ideal,” but it didn’t taste right.
“Big Truck has a lot of acid. This is weak and bitter. I want it out of my mouth,” Sam said. “It could be any coffee. Do you know that coffee at work that nobody likes? It is like it is.”
Ouch!
We switched from the golden to the bold brew setting and things got a little better, but it still didn’t taste right. Looking for a culprit, Sam’s mind turned back to the machine’s disorder.
“I wonder if there are signs of over- or under-extraction. “It’s dirty in there, so you basically end up with a bit of coffee grounds that goes through the brew cycle twice or more, which can make it over-extracted and taste bitter,” he surmised. Then he went on. “Maybe it’s not pumping enough either, which could be related to the grind size, the water, the temperature, and the amount of time the water is in contact with the ground.”
It felt like we were getting the worst of both worlds so we switched to Olympia’s for coffee William Rojas Pink Bourbon Micro Lot from Columbia to see if we could learn more. We did, but it wasn’t good news.
“That took a really good coffee and brewed a mediocre cup,” Sam said. “It brews what it brews and I’m confused. This is essentially a one-touch device, but it doesn’t default to the good features. You kind of stick with what you can do. This coffee should be exciting, but it isn’t.”
We had tried espresso style, regular coffee style, light, gold and bold and even switched coffees ourselves with little success. We didn’t have the opportunity to get used to a good trophy.
A little less than two weeks later I pulled out the tea infuser to see how it looked. A jellybean-sized pile of wet coffee grounds had accumulated behind the arm that sweeps spent coffee beads from the brewing unit into the grounds container, along with a scatter all over the grounds. That was enough unexciting coffee for me. I packed the TrueBrew and sent it back.
Freshly ground and not encapsulated? Yes. Comfortable? Secure! Perfect? sorry brad It should be more exciting, but it isn’t.
