Decent, just decent. (Rowenta Milano C 310)

Member Name: Grummy

Product:	Rowenta Milano C 310
Date:	14/08/09 (8 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Brews swifftly, a full pot can serve 10 decent sized mugs.

Disadvantages: Resulting coffee is nothing special and is not especially better than a good instant.

What can I say about this coffee maker really? It makes good coffee, if not great. That is it, there really is nothing more to say. Yes its small, which is nice, and yet a full pot of coffee will serve 10 decent sized mugs. It is easy to keep clean, but really, that's all there is to this, and I fail to see how it is beneficial or preferable to simple instant coffee. So let me tell you my experience of this coffee maker and why it has failed to enthuse me

Well, I personally don't like coffee very much but my family does, especially my sister who is something of a coffee fiend. I know what you're thinking 'how can a guy who doesn't like coffee rate a coffee maker?', well please stay with me and all will become clear.

I personally have come to appreciate coffee as much as someone who dislikes it can, I appreciate how different blends have subtle hints and noticeably different flavours to a trained connoisseur. Much as it is with wine which I DO like and do know how to taste a savour, time and experience can help a person learn to identify such subtle flavours etc.

So, knowing that whilst I dislike coffee, you can appreciate Im sure that at least I have an appreciation for it, and it was this that drove me to buy this coffee machine. I bought it as a trial more than anything, to see if I could get used to making and pouring good coffee before looking to upgrade to a small espresso maker and so forth.

I am actually quite envious of people who like coffee. Whilst I don't despise it, I have no reason to drink it either, much preferring to drink tea in all its varieties, but I like the nature of a coffee house as something of a social center to meet and talk with friends or to go alone and quietly read a good book whilst savouring your preferred blend and perhaps a nice piece of pie or slice of cake. It was that image that got me onto the idea of learning how to make good coffee whilst not being a fan, I have a fuzzy image in my head of having a small bar like area in my kitchen that opens onto a garden so I can have friends and family around, sort of like a coffee house, but in my own home.

Well, to bring this back on topic, this coffee machine, not great. It was perfectly serviceable for what I needed, it taught me how to use a coffee and filter, or more precisely THAT coffee filter. But that was about it. I worked in McDonalds a fair few years back, and there was little difference. Filter, coffee, brew, done.

I have it on good authority from my sister that the coffee was 'palatable if uninspired', or to put it bluntly 'I can drink it, but its crap coffee'. I probed her for more information and essentially she told me that it would never be good coffee because it only used 'regular coffee'. So I nodded sagely and went about cleaning up.

I was delighted to find that cleaning up was a simple process. Rn the water through the system once or twice to flush it out soon after use to prevent the coffee from drying up and lodging, and a simple damp cloth to wipe it down. The glass jug cleaned well from simple rinsing with hot water, allowing for swift reuse without needing to wash thoroughly with soapy water. Very pleased with how easy this was to keep clean.

The next day I invited my mother round for to try it out. Now my mother enjoys coffee, but is not quite the snob my sister is about it. So I brewed another freshly ground pot and poured her a cup. My mother was quite pleased with the result, saying that the coffee was flavourful if a little ordinary. Then she raised an interesting point. She asked me 'why buy this and make freshly ground coffee when the coffee isn't any better than instant?'.

I didn't have an answer, this machine doesn't have any extra features to speak of, save that the hot plate kept the coffee warm for a good 6 hours (I tested it). I did raise the suggestion that if I bought a better brand of coffee to brew it might be better, but my mother in her ultimate wisdom fired back with 'yes, but I can buy other types of coffee in instant form for much less and still have a nice drink'. My mother, you see, has this habit of buying somewhat more exotic coffee whenever she can so she has a variety.

Personally, I was at a loss. This coffee maker does make decent coffee, and makes it in good time too. It is compact and it's easy to clean. But it doesn't do anything else except brew a fresh pot of coffee, and the coffee, I am told, is decent whilst nothing special. So what was I to do?

Well I gave this coffee maker to my mum, and she still uses it on occasions when she knows she is going to have friends around, although she is quite content with her instant for day to day. And as for me, I upgraded to a better machine that also makes espressos and cappuccinos to continue my education, much to my sisters delight.

Summary: A decent and serviceable coffee maker nothing more. It seems they should be much more but this isn't

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