Our review of the Oxo Brew 8-Cup Coffee Maker.

Many thanks to the folks at Oxo Coffee for sending us this brewer to review.

And yes, we tried it out first. We always get hands-on with the coffee gear we review.

In this case we used the Oxo Brew 8-Cup Coffee Maker as our morning brewer for a full week.

Before we get into our experience making coffee with this brewer, let me share some first impressions.

The Oxo Brew coffee maker has great build quality.

I’m a bit of snob when it comes to design, and a stickler for build quality.

Let’s take these in turn.

The design of this coffee maker is super-simple. It reminds me a little of our Bonavita brewer in that regard.

Simple lines, nothing fancy. As you’ll see, the functionality of the brewer is pretty simple too.

The build quality is good as well. Brushed steel and black plastic.

With many brewers the plastic is thin and cheap. You see this in particular on the baskets, lids and hinges. Everything feels like it’s one knock away from breaking.

Not so with this brewer. Everything feels solid. I like that.

The Oxo Brew 8-Cup Coffee Maker is certified by the Specialty Coffee Association.

This is a big deal. In many cases this certification is awarded to brewers in a much higher price bracket.

What the certification means is that the brewer can make gourmet quality coffee.

In practical terms this means it heats the water to the exact right temperature, and gets the brew time right, so the hot water is in contact with the ground coffee for the correct amount of time.

Sounds simple. But a lot of brewers fail that simple test… temperature, timing, and immersion.

The Oxo Brew offers a single-cup brewing option too.

As I mentioned, this is a simple brewer without fancy functions. It just makes good gourmet coffee.

As an example of keeping things simple, it brews the full amount of water you pour into the reservoir. If you want a full carafe of coffee, you pour in a full carafe of cold water.

On the other hand, if you want to brew just one cup or mug of coffee, you can do that too. And you start by filling your cup or mug with water and pouring it into the reservoir.

But here’s the thing.

While a full-size, flat-bottomed filter basket is great for brewing a carafe of coffee, it’s not so good for making one cup at a time.

How come? Because when you add just one or two scoops of coffee to the filter, it makes for a very thin layer of coffee. The water flows through too quickly and you get poor extraction of the flavors.

This is why the OXO Brew comes with a second basket that nests within the first one. The second basket is more cone shaped and takes a smaller filter paper.

Because it’s smaller and cone-shaped, those one or two scoops of coffee make for a deeper layer of coffee, and the timing and extraction of the brew are as they should be.

In addition, the brewer has one brew button for the carafe, an a second for single cup brewing.

Final thoughts…

We really liked this brewer and have no problem recommending it.

It’s an excellent choice for a household of one or two coffee drinkers for whom 8 cups hits the spot.

And, of course, you can use the single cup brew option if you wants an extra cup later in the day.

If you can’t find one locally, you can get the Oxo Brew 8-Cup Coffee Maker on Amazon.