Home > Consumer Reviews > Black & Decker AM8 Home Caf? Single Serve Coffee Brewing System, White

This coffee maker is perhaps the biggest piece of junk I have ever purchased and I returned it within 24 hours. Where O' where to begin?

The construction of this appliance is truly a joke. There isn't a piece of metal in the entire piece. You get a thin piece of aluminum that your mug sits on while it brews...thats it.

The lever that opens the pod holder is very flimsy. And after the initial brew, the unit wouldn't seal right, which means, no coffee. So you pop the lever up, open the pod, make sure the coffee is seated appropriately and try again. blah, blah, blah. Do this about 5 times and for no apparent reason, it would work again.

Do you like your coffee hot? Well, you won't get it with this device. Basically, there are 2 components to a great cup of coffee: the beans and the water. The beans have already been taken care of, so all you can control is the water source. If you are using a machine like this, how dare you put tap water in it! My filtered water sits nice and chilled in my refrigerator. Well, thats a problem for this device. The coffee comes out tepid folks. Not even luke warm! I tried it straight from the tap, and it was warmer but not hot. So if you keep filtered water in your fridge, expect tepid coffee. YUCK. I must be old fashioned, I like to blow on my coffee and see the steam rise up from the cup in morning.

The coffee I was able to drink tasted very good. But again, it just wasn't worth the hassle of messing with that stupid lever and pod configuration.

I'm off to try the Senseo and hope that it is a little better crafted.

Just bought this Home Cafe to take the place of my more expensive one cup machine (Flavia $100.00). Flavia's packets of coffee are too expensive and most of my guests didn't like the coffee. This machines uses Folgers pods which came out excellent. The coffee was hot and tasted equivalent to the expensive gourmet coffee you pay $1.25 to $1.60 a cup at the coffee houses. I read about all the dripping the machine makes and started right off with the 14 oz. pod side. I haven't had any leaks just a couple drops after the coffee is brewed just like all other coffeemakers I have owned. I feel the machine is well made but might not take a lot of physical abuse. I find all Black & Decker products are exceptionally well made. I use spring water for my water and never have to take the water refill container out of the unit (until I clean it, of course). I chose it over the Melitta and Senseco machines because of the larger water reservoir which yields about three large cups of coffee. One of the biggest selling points for me was you can chose between 7 oz., 9 oz. and 14 oz. cup size. So far I love this Home Cafe and am glad I purchased it.

Rob
Columbus, Ohio

I purchased the Home Cafe at our local Walmart. It made really good coffee for nine cups. While brewing the tenth cup, it stopped mid-brew, spit at me, and then emmited a fatal gasp of acrid black smoke. The kitchen smelled of burning bakelite for the next several hours. I calmly packed up the unit and returned it to my friendly Wallyworld. I opted to replace the unit, rather than get my money back as my wife and I really liked the coffee. Grabbing another pack of coffee pods (optimistic me) we transported our new machine home. Again, following the directions by properly initiating the machine with a coffee-pod free whiz, we brewed another couple cups of delicious coffee. All went well. Then, on cup twelve a few days later (easy to keep track with the amount of pods left), again, mid-cup, another fatal gasp and spray of coffee, and silence as smoke curled up from the unit. Again, the rancid odor along with the bleak knowledge that no more delicious coffee would spew forth from this obviously poorly built unit. Head down with sadness and dejection I decided this time to call the 800 number provided in the instruction manual. After 30 minutes on hold I was finally connected to a friendly customer service rep who offered her condolences on the demise of my coffee maker. She took down the information on the deceased pot and said she was going to transfer me to another department where they would formally de-brief me in an attempt to correct the problem. 15 minutes later she came back on the phone and explained that all the "engineers" were busy, but someone would contact me within 24 hours. Three days later I received a phone call stating that no one at Black and Decker had heard of this problem Yeah, right. They were going to send me a brand new one at no expense. They only requested that I return the old one to them, and they would pay the shipping. Eagerly agreeing to these terms, we waited with great anticipation for the Big Brown Truck to pull up to our door. Approximately two weeks later it arrived on our doorstep!! Rushing to the kitchen, the appliance was carefully removed from its box. This time, it was different. What is this? The first two units were black. This one is white!!! Virginal White! Certainly a good sign. Again, the machine was ititiated with its plain water ritual, and then, with great anticipation and celebration, a Columbian Pod, yes, Columbian, was placed in the machine. Shortly thereafter another delicious cup of coffee was enjoyed. Never mind the gentle splatter of coffee on the counter. A mere minor annoyance given the rewards of the brew. As a matter of fact, eight, count them, eight more cups of delicious coffee were enjoyed with minimal splatter. Then, cup number ten was not meant to be. A sputter mid-cup. Arcing sounds from the front of the unit. Thin plumes of black smoke spiraling towards the ceiling. Gag reflex kicking in from the rancid odor. A tear forming in the corner of my eye knowing it was never meant to be. (Actually, the tear was from the smoke). I notified the woman at the other end of the toll-free number. I told her about all three coffee makers. No, I did not want another unit. It is just too much trouble to make ten cups of coffee, call in about the defective unit, wait for a replacement, make ten cups of coffee, call, wait, repeat--------. I guess I'll try the Senseo. Maybe it will work.

Right after unpacking it and after performing the initial "dry" brew, I made my first cup. It came out OK although I would have liked it hotter, since after a few zips my coffee was cold.

While opening the lid to replace the used pod to make a second cup, I noticed that one of the pegs from the latch broke, preventing it from making a good seal, thus leaking water from all over.

I'll have to say that this thing is really flimsy; the latch mechanism is all plastic and it really feels like it. It does not have the sturdy feel that comparable espresso machines have (these single serve coffee makers apparently have a similiar system as the the small pump expresso machines). But in all fairness, these expresso machines are much more expensive ($100-$300) than these new single serve coffee brewers that are in the $60-$70 range.

I went to the store to get a replacement, this time I inspected the competing units from other brands and paid special attention to the latching mechanism. I went with the Philips Senseo because it has a much simpler latching system and looked less prone to breaking. I took it home.

This one brewed hotter coffee, maybe because it has a preheating time of 90 seconds (vs the Home Café which does not).

The Home Café is very convenient (thus my 2 star rating), but I believe there are better options out there.

Okay, I read all the reviews but still decided to go ahead and try it. With some trepidation, I prepped the unit as instructed and then made my first cup of coffee. Eureka! Great coffee without messing with a carafe and filters, or measuring grounds. I was very careful about reading and following the instruction manual. You have to be sure the pod holder is correctly in place and the lid handle is locked. Also, like another reviewer here, I used the 14ounce side of the pod holder instead of the more shallow 7ounce side, even if I was only using one pod--it probably helps to stop any leakage. There is some splashing if the cup you are using is short, but that is a minor issue---just use a taller one. All in all, a nifty little machine for making one (or more) cups of coffee. My only quibble right now is the the lack of availability of pods in my neighborhood stores. Until they become more commonplace you can order them online.