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Braun KF550 Aroma Passion Filter Coffee maker | 
 enlarge | Brand: Braun
Category: Kitchen
Buy New: £34.99
New (1) Used (1) from £34.99
Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 419
Media: Kitchen & Home
Fragile: No
Batteries Included: No
Shipping Weight (lbs): 4.9
Dimensions (in): 14.4 x 13 x 7.6
MPN: KF-550
Model: KF550
EAN: 4210201315841
ASIN: B00008K64J
Release Date: January 23, 2003
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
 Love this machine January 22, 2008
Ms. C. Mcinnes (Glasgow)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I find the jug does dribble a bit when you pour and what the other people say about the gage etc are true. However, it makes great coffee and keeps it hot in the jug for 2 hours, which is the most important thing for me. I think this coffee maker is worth the money and should not leave you disappointed.
 Not quite perfect November 20, 2007
SMF (Worcs UK)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Firstly the good news. It does what it says on the box; makes good coffee, keeps it warm between cups and doesn't dribble unless you rush the pouring from the jug.
I won't repeat Jonty H Campbells review below, but suffice to say he is spot on. Additional shortcomings of the design include the fact that the water gauge is on the opposite side to the swing out of the filter holder. This means that if you want to place the long side against a wall you cannot see the water gauge (because you cannot block the filter holder access), doh! The measuring graduations on the jug don't coincide with the gauge, OK so long as you only ever use one or other as your guide. If you are ever in the US the plug in water filters are half the UK price.
I firstly bought a cheapy coffee maker from Argos, and promptly took it straight back. The Braun is 100% better than the 9.99 tat but it's not without its faults. Sadly I hadn't seen Jonty's review before purchase, only the previous 5* responses, which are a bit too glowing. I think Jonty is a bit harsh on 3* and would give it a 4* rating. If you can get a Flavorselect that would be worth the 5* rating.
 Close...but no cigar: The KF550 Series October 26, 2007
Jonty H Campbell (Manchester, England.)
9 out of 13 found this review helpful
I bought THIS Braun KF550 Aromapassion Filter Coffee machine in 2003 to replace my old Braun 'Flavorselect' model, which I "Freecycled". (and now regret) It's the famous one that appears in some Hollywood films including "One Fine Day" with Michelle Pfeiffer and George Clooney - Pfeiffer uses a black one in her apartment (though mine was white). I also saw it in The Sopranos!
Anyway(!) enough waxing lyrical, the KF550 has given solid trouble-free every other day service since 2003.
It has a removable water filter and micromesh nylon permanent washable filter cone - use your own water filter jug as the Braun slot-in replacements are dear. If your in a harder water area or even in soft water region make sure you de-scale your machine regularly - this goes for washing machines also - scale is a common factor behind early 1 year filter machine death!
The scale coats the heating element, reducing heating efficiency, it becomes slower and slower to make the coffee and eventually the coating becomes thick enough for the element to overheat and...one dead machine.
As with all filter machines it is best not to use the permanent filters as they don't have fine enough filtration for fine turkish grind coffee to remove the coffee sludge that ends up at the bottom of your cup, but to buy original famous 'Melitta' brand brown paper filters, as they have thier unique 'aroma-pores' (red and green packet).
I have no issues with the Aromapassion except perhaps these:
1. The Flavorselect [FS] had a 'flavorselect' dial to vary the strength of flavour by diverting hot water to the basket or directly atop of the grounds. The Aromapassion has not.
2. The FS had a (unique perhaps) dual-temperature hotplate/on-switch to delay the liquor spoiling from overheating, a common issue in filter machines. It merits some explanation: The FS had a medium-temp hotplate/on-switch for 0-3 cups, and a second high-temp switch for 4 cups or more, though there was nothing to stop you from leaving just the low one on as soon as the carafe was filled to extend coffee freshness - freshness of coffee declines the hotter and longer you keep it.
The nice touch was both switches were placed together one atop the other below the hotplate with the low temp switch lighting amber and the high temp switch glowing red, you could see at a glance if the correct switch/switches were on.
Coffee, as with tea to a lesser extent, is a delicate liquor that starts to deteriorate as soon as it is made and remains fresh tasting for perhaps only 15 mins, kept hot any longer and the oils start to 'cook' and the coffee undergoes chemical and molecular changes making it taste tarry, bitter and practically undrinkable.
3. The FS had an "aroma-trapping" 'conical jug'. The KF550 has not.
Now what this means is the carafe started off broad at the base to exert maximum surface area to the hotplate, then narrowed in circumference as it got to the brim. So it was kind of pyramid shaped, except round, if you get the idea...in other words, a Cone.
"So what?..." you might think.
Well, the clever folk at Braun designed it this way so any steam and vapours from the coffee would remain trapped at the bottom of the jug and not escape (the flavour and aroma oils 'boil-off' as the coffee is kept hot for too long).
4. Finally, the FS had a unique (I think) feature on the jug's lid:
An auto-close spout! The Aromapassion hasn't got this neat gadget.
A pouring action would slightly peep open an articulated L-shaped flap on the the lid where it met the lip on the front of the glass jug via an integral counterweight. Returning the jug to a horozontal position closed the flap. It was a lid within a lid, if you will.
This effectively sealed in, while the conical carafe recirculated and condensed any vapours, flavour and steam from the coffee. Simple but ingenious! All parts of the lid and cone were able to be quickly and easily dis-assembled, put in the dishwasher or sink to be washed (or re-assembled again) within 30 seconds. The lid also was removable and the carafe was made of really thick sturdy borosilicate glass - no fragility here!
While I'm at it I'll mention another failing of the KF550 series in comparison to the Flavorselect:
The lid is somewhat convex, *not* fully concave.
"Now he's just being ridiculous, what on earth is he talking about?",
some may think.
Well now, remember how you were taught how to make a survival water collecting still in the Scouts/Army/Girl Guides/et cetera?
A hole in the ground with a mess tin in the middle, cover the hole with a poncho and a stone in the centre to make it concave?
Water vapour condenses on the sheet, runs down to the centre and drips into the tin...clean water!
The exact same principle with the concave 'bowed' FS lid, except it recondenses steam.
So overall then the KF550 is a nice machine, but Braun were mad not to keep the clever features of the Flavorselect and even more so to have a 2 HOUR cut off for the hotplate? 2 HOURS to drink coffee??... Half an hour is MORE than enough! As I said coffee begins to spoil after 15 mins.
If you can *find* a 2nd hand Flavorselect (Good luck, as folk hold onto them - for good reason - except me :( (duh)) buy *that* in preference to the KF550.
Don't fret though, the K550 is a good workhorse of a machine and worth shortlisting, it's just that compared to older Flavorselect series, it's a step backwards in innovation and clever design that stops it from being truly great. Hence the average rating.
While shopping for a machine, a great tip (and this counts for Irons too) is to look on the base for its wattage, better machines *generally* have higher wattage - this means the coffee is brewed quicker and offer better hotplate thermostatic regulation.
Excellent coffee maker October 2, 2007
M. Howard (West Sussex, UK)
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
I have bought numerous filter coffee makers in the past, from the very cheap to very expensive, and the jug on the vast majority is always a disaster. You always seem to need to mop up the worktop as well as the cup because they always drip, no matter how carefully and slowly you pour the coffee, but the Braun KF550 Aroma Passion Filter Coffee maker is superb. It pours perfectly on every occasion and keeps the remaining coffee very hot. Highly recommended.
Wow, zow, oh. July 4, 2007
T. James (London, England)
9 out of 11 found this review helpful
I love Braun. Their products are great, yet there's a star missing here. It's for the plonker who decided to put in an auto cut-out at only TWO hours!!! (Obviously not a serious coffee drinker.) Apart from that error, there is nothing bad to say about the product ~ just use filter bags for a great tasting cuppa. The design and colouring is great and I love the way the height of the machine allows for easier filling of water.
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