Brew 8-Cup

OXO

Affordable SCA-certified drip with a rotating showerhead.

OXO Brew 8-Cup

SCA-certified drip with a rotating showerhead that spirals water across the bed instead of dripping it in one place. The cheapest way to get even batch extraction.

Roast	Grind	Coffee	Water	Time
light	medium	11 g	180 ml	5:35
medium	medium	11 g	180 ml	5:25
dark	medium-coarse	10 g	180 ml	5:05

Per 180 ml cup. Makes 4–8 at a time.

What goes wrong

Ignoring descaling (blocked showerhead ports, uneven extraction returns), brewing small batches on the full-carafe setting (fast cycle over a shallow bed, weak), letting the carafe sit out (flat within the hour), overdosing past 70g per litre (the basket overflows and bypasses)

Care schedule

2 tasks for this machine.

Wash the carafe properly

Weekly

Coffee leaves a brown film on glass and a duller one on steel. It is not a stain, it is oil, and it goes rancid - a thermal jug that has never been properly cleaned adds a stale note to everything poured into it.

What you need

A long-handled brush. Bicarbonate of soda, an oxygenated cleaner such as Cafiza, or a denture tablet. Hot water.

What goes wrong

Leaving the pot on the hot plate to dry out, which bakes the film on hard. Cleaning the jug and never the lid. Dishwashing an insulated jug. Taking a scourer to glass and leaving scratches that hold more oil than before.

The procedure

Rinse with hot water after every pot, before the oil dries. That is 90 percent of the job.

5 more steps

The full procedure is in the app, along with a reminder when this is next due. Add the Brew 8-Cup to your shelf and it keeps track.

Get the app

Descale the brewer

Every 3 months

Scale insulates the heating element, so the water never reaches brew temperature and the coffee comes out thin and sour. It also shortens the element's life - a scaled machine runs hotter internally to deliver cooler water.

What you need

Citric acid powder, about 30g per litre, or a proprietary descaler. Two reservoirs of fresh water for rinsing. No paper filter in the basket.

What goes wrong

Leaving the paper filter in, which collapses and floods. Under-rinsing, so the next three pots taste of citric acid. Using vinegar on a machine whose manual forbids it. Descaling on a fixed calendar while ignoring water hardness, which is what actually drives the rate.

The procedure

Check your machine's manual for the descaling agent it allows. Some makers void the warranty if you use vinegar.

4 more steps

The full procedure is in the app, along with a reminder when this is next due. Add the Brew 8-Cup to your shelf and it keeps track.

Get the app

What it makes

Batch Brew

95 mg