A great coffee maker doesn’t need to have overly complex features and settings. The Bonavita Connoisseur has a simple design with its one-touch button system and also brews a great cup of coffee. Below, we’re sharing every detail about this machine in our Bonavita Connoisseur review.
The Bonavita coffee maker focuses on an even and balanced coffee brewing experience using a showerhead water dispensing design and flat bottomed brew basket. Freshly roasted ground coffee works best with its optimal brewing temperature to produce fresh coffee in its stainless steel carafe that uses thermal insulation to keep your coffee hot for hours.
Bonavita Connoisseur Review
What’s in the Box:
- Bonavita Connoisseur 8-Cup One-Touch Coffee Maker
Specs:
- Product Dimensions: 12.4 x 6.8 x 12.2 inches
- Item Weight: 6.13 pounds
- Color: Chrome
Design
The Bonavita is an excellent mid-range coffee brewer. It focuses on the simplicity of use and consistency over anything too stylish.
The design is sleek and easy to use, with a one-touch system to make things as simple as possible. With no extra displays, timers, or anything extra, it focuses on efficiency. This makes the focus of the Bonavita brewing an excellent cup of coffee without any unnecessary features.
They’ve considered every step of the brewing process with this machine. It uses an enhanced heating system to quickly reach and maintain the optimal brewing temperature for a standard brewing cycle. It’s also speedy, as it can brew an 8-cup carafe in about 6 minutes. The brew basket sits directly above the lid of the stainless steel thermal carafe, allowing the coffee to pour directly in. The one-touch coffee maker makes it easy to get started making fantastic coffee with little effort.
Above all, the main design strength is the coffee brewing system itself. The showerhead water distributor provides an even layer of water over the coffee grounds, which helps create a balanced flavor profile. This works together with the flat-bottomed filter basket to achieve the best water distribution possible.
The Bonavita coffee brewer produces a more rich roast with a more balanced flavor compared with other coffee makers. The bitterness comes from the even water distribution across the roasted coffee beans, brewing the grounds nearly the same amount of time.
You can also use the pre-infusion mode to imitate an artisanal pour-over, increasing the coffee’s flavor. The Specialty Coffee Association has certified Bonavita’s brewed coffee to achieve the optimal measurements for its Golden Cup Standard. This is one of the highest standards of coffee brewing quality that a machine can achieve. We agree with their assessment.
Features
- 1500-water thermal heater quickly reaches and maintains ideal brewing temperatures of between 195-205 degrees Fahrenheit
- Able to brew 8 cups of coffee into its stainless steel carafe in about 6 minutes
- One-touch brewing makes it easier to use than other coffee makers
- Automatic shut-off after a few minutes once completed its cycle
- Flat bottom basket for even water and grounds distribution, generating the best possible taste for the grounds
- Showerhead design for even saturation with water which works together with the flat-bottomed brew basket
- The optional pre-infusion mode acts like a pour-over creating more extraordinary bloom and an overall bolder taste
Pros
- Brews an excellent coffee
- Very easy to use with a one-touch button
- Thermal stainless steel carafe keeps coffee hot for hours
- Specialty Coffee Association approved
- Dishwasher-safe
- Brews 8 cups within 6 minutes
- Optional artisanal pour-over feature
Cons
- No auto-brew feature
- No extra features
- Temperature controls have only one setting
How do you use Bonavita 8-cup coffee maker?
The Bonavita has kept the complexity to a minimum with their 8-cup coffee maker.
To operate, open the water reservoir’s lid and pour water directly into it. The reservoir has a 40 ounce, or 8-cup, capacity.
Then you’ll want to place a filter into the wide-bottomed brew basket and your coffee grounds into the filter. Make sure the filter is pressed evenly up against the walls of the basket. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but the more even the filter and the pile of coffee grounds, the better the result will be.
Once you have set up the brew basket, replace it back into the machine.
To turn the coffee brewer on, use its simple one-touch button system. The button feels a lot like a switch, which is nice and solid and stays in place once on. Press the button, and the machine will brew the coffee until the entire water reservoir is drained. It will then give off an auditory signal when the coffee is ready and auto-shut-off a few moments later.
Overall, it’s conveniently made for simplicity and focuses on a well-brewed coffee cup instead of extra features or complications. The beep and auto shut-off features are especially appreciated.
They’ve designed the carafe itself with a nice pour spout that is very easy to use. The thermal construction helps keep the coffee hot for hours, although you lose the ability to see the coffee contents like a glass carafe.
Cleaning and Maintenance
How do you descale a Bonavita coffee maker?
Bonavita recommends that you descale the Connoisseur at least once every 100 uses and even more often if you have hard water. It is best to use a coffee machine descaler rather than vinegar due to the aftertaste that can be hard to clean out. You can find quality descalers that are inexpensive, biodegradable, and phosphate-free.
Descaling removes mineral build-up in your coffee maker. However, if you find that it is steaming a lot or seems to be running slowly, this could be your problem.
Make sure to unplug your brewer before descaling. Then, it can be helpful to go through the cleaning process beforehand, which you can find out about below. Once that step is completed, you can move on to making the descaling liquid.
If you have a descaling powder, pour that into about 32 ounces of water and stir. Then, pour the dissolved mixture into the water reservoir and turn on the brewer for a complete cycle, just as though you were brewing coffee.
After this is completed, pour out the solution, pour in 32 ounces of clean, cold water, and run another cycle to rinse the machine. Thorough cleaning requires two or three rinses.
How do you clean a Bonavita coffee maker?
First, you’ll have to disassemble your coffee maker. Next, pull off the Bonavita’s lid and twist out the showerhead. These are dishwasher safe and can be washed along with other dishes. Once these are clean, you should first snap the showerhead back into place before snapping the lid into place over top of it.
To clean the carafe, first, you must twist off the lid and then disassemble its two parts by twisting off the disc part on the top. These two pieces are dishwasher safe and can be cleaned easily. Then, to reassemble, snap the disc back onto the lid by lining up the grooves and twisting it back on.
Wash the carafe pot with mild detergent. If it is beginning to get stained, you can use Bonivate cleaning solution, which needs to be mixed into 32 ounces of water and pour it into the carafe. Leave for 15 minutes, then rinse out at least twice with clean, cold water.
Overall Bonavita Connoisseur Review
The best aspect of the Bonavita Connoisseur is its showerhead water distribution and flat-bottomed filter. Together, they make for a better cup of coffee than one gets from a standard drip coffee maker. The focus of the entire machine is on making an exceptional cup of coffee quickly and easily, and it succeeds at that well.
The drip coffee machine is fast, brewing an 8-cup carafe in 6 minutes with a beeping audio signal alerting you it’s done. It also has a convenient auto shut-off feature for it’s done brewing so that you can leave it alone afterward.
This works well with its thermal carafe, which will keep your coffee hot for a couple of hours afterward. I prefer a good thermal carafe over a glass carafe due to this feature, as I often forget to pour my coffee right away, or would like to save some for a second cup later. Also, it saves me from having to microwave it, which is always nice. This coffee maker made it onto our best coffee makers under $200 list, showing it’s true capabilities.
Simple yet effective
The Bonavita Connoisseur drip coffee maker focuses on simplicity and a great cup of coffee above all else, with a simple to use one-touch button system. You wouldn’t be able to purchase a decent specialty coffee maker for its price, but it is nearing the cost of a higher end of standard coffee brewers. That means that the coffee has to be exceptional to be worth it.
And the coffee it brews is exceptional, if that’s what you are looking for, the Bonavita drip coffee maker is a great choice. Its main benefit is that it reduces your coffee’s bitterness, allowing you to use less milk or cream and focus on coffee’s flavor.
It is also an overall compact-sized coffee maker for having an 8-cup carafe and not very high. This is great for fitting it into tighter spots and under cabinets. You might have to pull it out while operating, though, because of the steam.
Its overall design is simple without leaning too artisanal or too inexpensive-looking.
Extra features
The thermal carafe is a great feature, keeping the coffee exceptionally hot even an hour later. Although it’s not a miracle worker, it is surprising how fresh it can taste even left alone for a while.
In terms of extra features, you might find it frustrating that it doesn’t have an auto-brew. This is because some people like to get up and have a coffee absolute first thing, and this will take you a good 10 minutes all-included before you can grab that coffee.
This has never been a deal-breaker for me because I tend to wake up at varying times, but this may be very important for some who have a strict morning routThere’sere’s also the optional pour-over feature, which works great. However, the one-touch button means you can’t get complete control over it, and it will just do its thing. So if you are looking for a drip coffee maker you can have complete control over, this is not the one for you.
Overall, this is a great coffee maker in terms of making great coffee. However, for different specific features, you might have to look elsewhere. Don’t underestimate the strength of a good coffee maker, though. It can genuinely enhance your coffee drinking experience. It received a respectable 4.1 out of 5 stars out of over 2,500 reviews on Amazon.
Bonavita Connoisseur Review FAQ
Who owns Bonavita coffee?
Bonavita coffee is owned by the Seattle-based company Espresso Supply, Inc. They are a newer company based in Germany that manufactures their coffee machines in China.
Where are Bonavita coffee makers manufactured?
Bonavita coffee makers are manufactured in China but designed in Germany.
Does Bonavita make 12 cup coffee maker?
Bonavita is new to the coffee maker scene and does not make a 12-cup coffee maker yet. However, the 8 cup size does allow for an 8 to 12 cup filter, but not a larger carafe.
Does Bonavita make a programmable coffee maker?
Yes, Bonavita sells an 8-Cup Programmable Thermal Carafe Coffee Brewer, similar to the Connoisseur but with a programmable feature.
Is Bonavita carafe dishwasher safe?
No. The stainless steel carafe should not be placed in the dishwasher. Instead, you can hand wash it with a mild detergent after useYou’llll’llll want to use a cleaning solution every few months to keep stains from building up, explained in the cleaning section above.
What is the difference between Bonavita 1900TS and 1901TS?
The 1901TS is the model we are reviewing here. It has a hanging filter basket instead of one placed on top and a different pour spout. Otherwise, the models are almost identical.
How much coffee do I need for 8 cups of Bonavita?
72 grams of coffee grounds is the recommended amount of 8 cups of water. You can adjust this proportion to suit your needs.
Where are Bonavita products made?
Bonavita products are designed in Germany and made in China.
Is Bonavita a good coffee maker?
Yes, the Bonavita is a solid coffee maker that can brew coffee exceptionally wit’s it’s simple, easy-to-use, and produces excellent coffee in its stainless steel carafe that holds the temperature well.
Check out these other drip coffee makers:
- Technivorm Moccamaster Review
- Cuisinart DCC 3200 Coffee Maker Review
- Hamilton Beach Flexbrew Review
- Bunn Speed Brew Review
- Smeg Coffee Maker Review
