Drew Barrymore. Think E.T. Think Charlie’s Angels. Think Ever After. Think 50 First Dates. Think coffee maker!?!
That’s right. There is such a thing as the Drew Barrymore coffee maker. Officially it is called The Perfect Grind™ Single Serve Coffee Maker and is part of the appliance line from Drew’s company Beautiful.
So our favorite early 00s actress was no doubt minimally involved in the construction of this coffee maker. But hey, it’s still kind of cool that she was involved at all.
The question for us, however, has less to do with Drew’s involvement or acting career, but more to do with the objective merits of this coffee maker. Is the Drew Barrymore coffee maker more than just a celebrity name? How does it compare to other comparably priced coffee makers? Does it make nice coffee?
Specifications
- Cost: $99
- Brew Sizes available: 16 oz, 14 oz, 12 oz, 10 oz, 8 oz or 6 oz
- Strengths Available: Regular, Bold, Over Ice
- Touch Screen: yes
- Inbuilt Grinder: Yes
- Warranty: 2 years
- Dimensions: 12.08 x 4.99 x 14.44 Inches
- Water Reservoir Size: 64 oz
- Hopper Size: 180g
- Available Colours: White Icing, Black Sesame, Sage, Cornflower Blue
Features of the Drew Barrymore Coffee Maker
Bean to Cup
Perhaps the biggest appeal of the Drew Barrymore Coffee Maker is that it is a bean-to-cup coffee maker for a remarkably cheap $99. By Bean-to-Cup we mean that it effectively combines both a grinder and a coffee maker. You put the beans in and it does everything to get the coffee out.
This is a strong appeal, especially for those on a budget. Put simply, grinders are expensive. So an all-in-one for this price is impressive so long as it actually does what it is supposed to.
Different Cups Sizes and Brew Strengths
A further strength of this coffee maker is the option to significantly customize the coffee brewing itself. This coffee maker has an impressive range of different brew sizes available; from a small cup to a full 16oz tumbler. The cup size chosen modifies both the amount of beans fed into the grinder and the amount of water poured over the beans in the extraction process.
In addition to this, you can also choose between the rather self-explanatory ‘Regular’ ‘Bold’ and ‘Over Ice.’ As you may know the difference between regular and bold in these sorts of coffee machines is somewhat deceptive as it simply comes down to how much coffee is used. The brewing process is identical. And so for the 8 oz cup size, Regular uses 11.6g of coffee while Bold uses 16.7g.
There is also the option for ‘Over Ice.’ In this case, the brewing process is the same but it only uses half as much water to compensate for the ice in the cup/tumbler.
The actual process of brewing coffee with the Drew Barrymore coffee maker is rather simple. Beans are placed in the hopper. Beans are then fed through the grinder and spat out through the grind chute into the brewing chamber. This doesn’t require a paper filter but instead utilizes a metal mesh filter. Once the grinds are in the chamber the machine will pour hot water over the grinds thus extracting the coffee so that it drips down into the given cup or mug.
Touch Screen and Additional Features
The Drew Barrymore coffee maker is controlled via a touch screen on the front of the coffee maker. The touch screen has six buttons as well as a digital clock. From the touch screen, you can do everything from change the brew size, change the brew strength, turn off the grinder if using pre-ground beans, set the clock, and preset the machine to brew you a coffee for 6:23 am tomorrow morning. The option to pre-set a brew for the next day is a particularly useful feature that is lacking on far too many coffee machines.
For $99 there is no denying that this coffee maker comes with an impressive array of features. The touch screen is intuitive to use and the buttons are responsive to touch. Also while you are brewing a status bar shows up on the screen to let you know where you are in the process. The only complaint raised has been that some have found the buttons hard to read under bright lights.
Design and Maintenance
It is worth noting up front that this is a beautiful-looking coffee maker. It is sleek, elegant, and the four colour options are well chosen to fit with any kitchen decor. While it doesn’t in any way impact the flavor of the coffee brewed, there is something to be said for a nice-looking coffee maker. While some coffee snobs may roll their eyes at the talk of aesthetics, the truth is that as customers we want a coffee maker that brings us pleasure. I would rather be proud of my coffee maker than cringe every time I look at it.
In terms of maintenance, regular cleaning is required. The grinds container needs to be rinsed after every brew and both the grinder chute and behind the grinds container get very messy and need regular cleaning.
Evaluation of the Drew Barrymore Coffee Maker
So up to this point, my review has been exclusively descriptive. But the biggest question is not what it claims to do but simply can it make good coffee?
And the answer is that the Drew Barrymore coffee maker can make average/okay coffee but not great coffee.
The reason for this somewhat negative evaluation largely comes down to the inbuilt grinder. On the Beautiful Kitchenware website, one of the features of this coffee maker is ‘Integrated burr grinder auto-grinds the precise amount of coffee for any cup size or brew strength selected.’
So far so good. It is a burr grinder, not a blade grinder which is always a good thing. However, if you are in the know you may realize that there are really three types of burr grinders; conical burr (good), flat burr (good), and faux burr (bad). The Drew Barrymore coffee maker comes equipped with faux burrs which are really pieces of junk that do a terrible job of grinding consistently. They are not even really burrs and tend to produce very uneven-sized coffee particles leading to poor extraction.
In addition, the process of moving the ground coffee from the grinder to the brewing chamber is very poorly designed and thus further hinders good extraction.
So don’t get me wrong, the coffee maker can still make okay coffee if you are using nice beans (just about any coffee machine can if push comes to shove). But it will never make great coffee, or coffee that compares with superior machines.
And I mean it is only $99 for the grinder and coffee maker so we shouldn’t be too critical. If you are looking for a cheap all-in-one coffee maker that makes passable coffee then it isn’t a terrible choice.
But if you want good/great coffee then this machine isn’t for you. It simply doesn’t have the capabilities to brew superior coffee. You would be better off saving a little more and buying a stand-alone burr grinder like the Baratza Encore and a drip coffee maker.
Pros:
- Cheap for a grinder and coffee maker
- Elegant look and feel
- Lots of features for the price point
- Drew Barrymore
Cons:
- Grinder uses faux burrs
- Tends to make average-tasting coffee
Drew Barrymore Coffee Maker Takeaway
The Drew Barrymore Perfect Grind Single Serve Coffee Maker is an admirable attempt to provide an all-in-one coffee maker for an affordable price. It is affordable, looks nice, does everything from bean to cup, and comes with the Drew Barrymore name.
However, when it comes to the coffee brewing itself it really is average. It will brew coffee consistently but it won’t brew great coffee.
