This review is for the 50 cup model. Capacity, or ACTUAL capacity: It's advertised to hold about 285 oz, which is 8.4L... but also it's advertised as 7.4L. So which is it? Well, I measured 7.8L of fresh water, which yields about 7.5L of coffee. That's 44 cups, as they define it (5.75 oz per cup). But wait, there's about 1L of coffee that can't be easily dispensed because it's below the spigot line; that's about 6 cups. So the end result: you have a 38 cup coffee maker. Now we all know Americans like normal cups of coffee, so if we call 12oz normal, then this is ultimately an 18 cup coffee maker. That's right, 18 cups. Even if you tip it for that last bit, that's still only 21 cups. Design: The body is stainless steel, double layer. It is not insulated, just 2 layers. The basket and perc rod are also stainless. The boiler (that cup shaped thing in at the bottom) is aluminum. The sight tube is cheap plastic, the spigot is cheap plastic with a silicone valve. The perc head is just 4 holes drilled into the side of the rod at the top. The basket is stainless; the filter holes are rather large, but match the water output and overall design. Temperature: Brew water eventually gets up to 180 - 190F, which is good. Hold temperature (Warm mode) constantly heats the water, and will eventually make the coffee too hot (near boiling). BUT, coffee stays hot for 2 - 3 hours without power, so you can just turn it off. Outside body is very warm, but you won't get burned by casual contact. The lower part (where the switch and lights are) remains fairly cool, and you can grab it there. The metal lid gets scalding hot, as it is a single layer. All handles remain cool, as they should. Operation: Fill with water, add coffee. You have to make a FULL pot. Making a partial pot will result in super weak coffee, or even just water. Load the correct amount of ground coffee, which is about 440 grams. The basket is *barely* large enough to hold the coffee. Now wait... and wait... It takes about an hour. Noise: It makes percolator noise, surprise! It's not loud at all, even in a quiet house. At my work in the lunch room, you can't hear it at all. Cleaning: You need to clean the boiler with a scrub pad, that's just how it's done. If it's brown, then you didn't clean it. Everything else is straightforward. The spigot can be disassembled. Oh and if you use tap water, then expect hard water problems - that's not a fault of the machine. TASTE: This is a percolator. It cycles water and coffee over your coffee grounds. Percolators produce a certain taste profile, but really what it comes down to is: type of water, type of coffee, amount of coffee. I roast my own SCAA 90+ coffee, and it comes out pretty good. Not like a Chemex pour over, but it wows the employees at my office. On paper filters: I originally tried it with limited success, but finally gave up. Paper filters just don't work. Grind your coffee coarse, with a good burr grinder. You can filter out the "dust" with a collander, but I also gave up on that. Basically just load the coffee and go. Complaints: The spigot is plastic. Hot coffee going through unknown cheap plastic. Same with the sight "glass." Out of the box, it's covered in industrial polishing compound. You can't see it, but it's there, and it smells bad. Wipe it down with 99% alcohol or acetone, and you get towels covered in black smelly grease. It's made in China. Regarding the aluminum boiler: The temperature of the water and the low acidity of coffee will not cause any significant aluminum to leach into your coffee. Remember, aluminum forms a skin of aluminum oxide, which is very resistant to acids. You'll get more aluminum in your diet from eating an apple than you will from drinking an entire urn of coffee.
