I am happy to report, that I got a new brewer this week, a Behmor Brazen Plus 3.0 Pulse Based Immersion Drip Brewer, that I got from Sweet Maria's Coffee! It replaced a Hamilton Beach single serve unit, that failed to live up to my standards in the end.
It began its journey by UPS, who delivered the box with a bag over it, but not before it got rained on a little bit. This reminds me of the famous scene in the movie, A Christmas Story, where Ralphie's father, played by the famous Darren McGavin, got a huge crate, with this label on it. Of course, he completely said the word wrong, he thought it was an Italian word for a nearby town or something. You can have the lamp old man, I rather have the coffee brewer. So lets have a look!
When I first saw this thing, I thought it looked a little bit like a rocket, talk about bringing a little style into your coffee den! This thing is pretty big folks, ( 15.75" x 9" x 9.5" ) your going to need a substantial amount of space on your counter for this, however, it still takes up less space then an average espresso machine. It weighs 10 pounds, is made out of stainless steel, and BPA-free plastic. It has a max water capacity of 1.2-liter AKA 40-ounces, and uses up to 1400-Watts of power, via a 3-prong grounded wall plug. Manufacturer provided 2-year warranty.
Most of the drip brewers I've owned in the past, used glass carafe's, that sat on hotplates, in order to keep the coffee warm. This resulted in the coffee tasting bitter, as the hot plates scorched and burned the coffee. Additionally, the glass carafe's would often break, if they were dropped, or fallen off the table. The great thing about the Brazen's carafe, is that it is a thermal insulated carafe, with a removable top, so no hot plate is necessary to keep the coffee hot.
Additionally, coffee can be brewed directly into the carafe, while the top is on, as it has a hole in the center, where the coffee can enter. The carafe has a solid heft to it, even when it is empty, and it just feels like quality when I hold it in my hand, I like it! Regarding the pour spout, many companies seem to have issues creating an excellent pour spout. The Brazen's carafe does not use the best spout I have seen, far from the worst, but not very good either, it works, just have a towel ready for droplets.
The top of the brewer contains the water reservoir, which has a lockable removable lid, and a steel mesh water filter, which extends the life of the pump valve. This reservoir has a calibration line, 0.9-liter line, ( 6-Cups ) and a 1.2-liter line ( 8-Cups ) and it works like a tea kettle, where a non-exposed heating element, heats up the water to the required boiling point, before it is ready to be brewed. Using this method, there are no hidden internal heating pipes that can get clogged and turning your water to steam. Additionally, this method also allows for better controlled heat retention, as the water has a short path, to reach the coffee grounds!
On the bottom of the brewer, is the 32-hole shower head, this is what allows the brewer to provide an even distribution of liquid, to the coffee grounds. This allows for a more proper extraction, because it reduces channeling by quite a lot. Many cheaper brewers have a single hole, or 4-holes that the water comes out of, and this causes channeling, which equals, a bad coffee extraction. Additionally, this brewer uses a pulse based system, this is where the pump will pulse the liquid out at 15-second intervals, which provides an agitating force, which also aids in proper coffee extraction. This is what you want in a brewer!
The removable coffee basket, can be used either with the gold mesh filter that the brewer comes with, or if you prefer to use paper filters, the Brazen can use the standard flat-bottom 10-cup Bunn filters. Which you use is your own preference, but I personally, prefer to use the gold mesh filter. The basket and filter are large, and I like that, plenty of room to fill it with grounds without making a huge mess on the counter. Additionally, the basket filter tray also has an auto stop valve, on the bottom.
Welcome to the control center, this is where you exude your supreme power, over your coffee universe. On/Off turns the brewer on and off. Mode is what you use to setup the brewer. Auto is used to activate or deactivate your programmed brew start time. Manual Release allows you to use this brewer as a kettle based system instead, allowing you to brew into a Chemix jar, or V60 pour over unit. The Up/Down arrow buttons are used to increase or decrease values. The SET button is used to switch between hour and minute in settings, and to switch between Fahrenheit or Celsius for brew temperature. START button starts the brewing process.
The first mode setting, is for setting your programmed automatic brew start up time. I have no intention on using this, but this is what the setting looks like, if you were to go to adjust it.
The next mode is where you set your pre-soak AKA bloom time. It is recommended that you set this to at least 30-seconds. However, if your coffee was most recently roasted, it is recommended that you use at least a 2-minute pre-soak time. Blooming is when the brewer releases a shot of water to wet the grounds, and then it stops brewing, ( For your set time ) to allow the grounds a chance to release the CO2 left over from the roasting process. This allows for a better tasting coffee, as it also increases coffee extraction.
The next mode is for setting your brew temp, it is recommended to set your brew temp no lower then 195 degrees, for proper coffee extraction. Having said that however, depending on what type of coffee you are brewing, can greatly impact your temperature choice. For example, it is better to use lower temperatures, ( 195F to 200F ) for brewing darker roasts. And it is better to use higher temperatures ( 205F to 210F ) for brewing light roasts. For medium roasts, choose a temperature in-between, I recommend 200F.
The next mode, is for calibrating your brewer's boiling point, for your locations altitude, the brewer allows for 250 feet increments. Believe it or not, the higher the altitude you are, the lower the boiling point. If you do not properly calibrate your brewer, your settings values can be way out of wack, when your trying to achieve proper coffee extraction. So it is in your best interest, to run the calibration process. All you have to do, is input the closest value to your nearest elevation, that click the START button to activate the calibration process. Follow the instructions in the manual for details.
The next mode is simply where you set your coffee brewer's clock time, no further explanation necessary.
When I first saw this thing, I thought it looked a little bit like a rocket, talk about bringing a little style into your coffee den! This thing is pretty big folks, ( 15.75" x 9" x 9.5" ) your going to need a substantial amount of space on your counter for this, however, it still takes up less space then an average espresso machine. It weighs 10 pounds, is made out of stainless steel, and BPA-free plastic. It has a max water capacity of 1.2-liter AKA 40-ounces, and uses up to 1400-Watts of power, via a 3-prong grounded wall plug. Manufacturer provided 2-year warranty.
Most of the drip brewers I've owned in the past, used glass carafe's, that sat on hotplates, in order to keep the coffee warm. This resulted in the coffee tasting bitter, as the hot plates scorched and burned the coffee. Additionally, the glass carafe's would often break, if they were dropped, or fallen off the table. The great thing about the Brazen's carafe, is that it is a thermal insulated carafe, with a removable top, so no hot plate is necessary to keep the coffee hot.
Additionally, coffee can be brewed directly into the carafe, while the top is on, as it has a hole in the center, where the coffee can enter. The carafe has a solid heft to it, even when it is empty, and it just feels like quality when I hold it in my hand, I like it! Regarding the pour spout, many companies seem to have issues creating an excellent pour spout. The Brazen's carafe does not use the best spout I have seen, far from the worst, but not very good either, it works, just have a towel ready for droplets.
The top of the brewer contains the water reservoir, which has a lockable removable lid, and a steel mesh water filter, which extends the life of the pump valve. This reservoir has a calibration line, 0.9-liter line, ( 6-Cups ) and a 1.2-liter line ( 8-Cups ) and it works like a tea kettle, where a non-exposed heating element, heats up the water to the required boiling point, before it is ready to be brewed. Using this method, there are no hidden internal heating pipes that can get clogged and turning your water to steam. Additionally, this method also allows for better controlled heat retention, as the water has a short path, to reach the coffee grounds!
On the bottom of the brewer, is the 32-hole shower head, this is what allows the brewer to provide an even distribution of liquid, to the coffee grounds. This allows for a more proper extraction, because it reduces channeling by quite a lot. Many cheaper brewers have a single hole, or 4-holes that the water comes out of, and this causes channeling, which equals, a bad coffee extraction. Additionally, this brewer uses a pulse based system, this is where the pump will pulse the liquid out at 15-second intervals, which provides an agitating force, which also aids in proper coffee extraction. This is what you want in a brewer!
The removable coffee basket, can be used either with the gold mesh filter that the brewer comes with, or if you prefer to use paper filters, the Brazen can use the standard flat-bottom 10-cup Bunn filters. Which you use is your own preference, but I personally, prefer to use the gold mesh filter. The basket and filter are large, and I like that, plenty of room to fill it with grounds without making a huge mess on the counter. Additionally, the basket filter tray also has an auto stop valve, on the bottom.
Welcome to the control center, this is where you exude your supreme power, over your coffee universe. On/Off turns the brewer on and off. Mode is what you use to setup the brewer. Auto is used to activate or deactivate your programmed brew start time. Manual Release allows you to use this brewer as a kettle based system instead, allowing you to brew into a Chemix jar, or V60 pour over unit. The Up/Down arrow buttons are used to increase or decrease values. The SET button is used to switch between hour and minute in settings, and to switch between Fahrenheit or Celsius for brew temperature. START button starts the brewing process.
The first mode setting, is for setting your programmed automatic brew start up time. I have no intention on using this, but this is what the setting looks like, if you were to go to adjust it.
The next mode is where you set your pre-soak AKA bloom time. It is recommended that you set this to at least 30-seconds. However, if your coffee was most recently roasted, it is recommended that you use at least a 2-minute pre-soak time. Blooming is when the brewer releases a shot of water to wet the grounds, and then it stops brewing, ( For your set time ) to allow the grounds a chance to release the CO2 left over from the roasting process. This allows for a better tasting coffee, as it also increases coffee extraction.
The next mode is for setting your brew temp, it is recommended to set your brew temp no lower then 195 degrees, for proper coffee extraction. Having said that however, depending on what type of coffee you are brewing, can greatly impact your temperature choice. For example, it is better to use lower temperatures, ( 195F to 200F ) for brewing darker roasts. And it is better to use higher temperatures ( 205F to 210F ) for brewing light roasts. For medium roasts, choose a temperature in-between, I recommend 200F.
The next mode, is for calibrating your brewer's boiling point, for your locations altitude, the brewer allows for 250 feet increments. Believe it or not, the higher the altitude you are, the lower the boiling point. If you do not properly calibrate your brewer, your settings values can be way out of wack, when your trying to achieve proper coffee extraction. So it is in your best interest, to run the calibration process. All you have to do, is input the closest value to your nearest elevation, that click the START button to activate the calibration process. Follow the instructions in the manual for details.
The next mode is simply where you set your coffee brewer's clock time, no further explanation necessary.
What I discovered by using a brew temperature of 196F, is that my dark roast had no bitterness at all, it was almost sweet flavored, but ever so slightly weak on the strength level, so basically, the first brew was almost perfect.
In the words of the Mandalorian creed, This Is The Way!
I absolutely recommend this coffee brewer, and I am going to give this coffee brewer a solid... 
The only time that ratio changes, is if I am brewing a low density coffee. For example, my Klatch Brazil Diamond Reserve coffee, is a low density coffee, in other words, takes up less space in the filter basket. To compensate, I do 52 grams for 6-cups, and 68-grams for 8-cups. That gets my extraction right on the money everytime.
