There are a lot of outstanding products in my best coffee maker guide. Some of them offer a whole host of brew styles and snazzy features. What sets the Bunn Speed Brew Coffee Maker apart, though, is its sheer simplicity and ease of use.
There are a lot of outstanding products in my best coffee maker guide. Some of them offer a whole host of brew styles and snazzy features. What sets the Bunn Speed Brew Coffee Maker apart, though, is its sheer simplicity and ease of use.
That’s not to say you won’t get excellent results from this Bunn drip coffee maker – it definitely has a few tricks up its sleeve.
I ordered a Bunn Speed Brew 10 Cup Platinum Thermal Coffee Maker from Amazon and I’ve spent a fair bit of time testing it out. I’ll share my experiences using this straightforward machine a little later.
In the meantime, let’s take a look at what makes the Bunn Speed Brew such a popular coffee machine.
Ideal for both home and office
Bunn Speed Brew Platinum Coffee Maker
Best Office Coffee Maker
Can brew 10 cups in 5 min
Thermal carafe
Spray head
Desgined and Assembled in USA
Must be kept on all the time
Bunn Speed Brew Platinum Thermal Coffee Maker Overview
Based in Springfield, Illinois, Bunn-O-Matic Corporation has been in business since 1957. It turns out these guys really know what they’re doing when it comes to coffee makers, and their commercial products are pretty much industry standard. Chances are, there’s a Bunn batch brewer in action at your local coffee shop.
Assembled in USA
As with all the manufacturer’s products, the Bunn Speed Brew carries the “Assembled in USA” tag. While $169.99 might seem like a lot to pay for a coffee maker, you’ll know you’re buying a quality machine from a reliable and trusted company.
For sure, the Bunn drip coffee maker looks the part. It features a sturdy, utilitarian design with just the right amount of stainless steel accents to keep things interesting.
I particularly appreciate the mirrored backsplash that gives the coffee maker a sleek, polished look. Of course, I was hoping it’d be made from stainless steel, but alas, it’s only plastic. You can’t win ’em all, I guess. Anyway, the backsplash doubles as a way to check your hair while you’re making coffee, so bonus points there!
What’s immediately apparent is the absence of buttons, dials or an LCD display. There’s an on/off switch on the side of the machine, but that’s it. Like I said, the Bunn Speed Brew keeps things simple, yet effective. The stainless steel thermal carafe sits below the brewing basket, and there’s a flip-top lid on the brew group for adding water.
The real secret to the success of this 10 cup coffee maker is its internal hot water tank. Unlike most other home coffee makers, the Bunn Speed Brew has a stainless steel water tank that maintains water at 200 degrees Fahrenheit. I’ll talk more about that later.
For now, what you should know is that the Bunn Speed Brew is always ready to go and can supposedly brew a full carafe in around 4 minutes. That’s ridiculously fast! There’s a reason I crowned the Bunn Speed Brew “best office coffee maker” in my coffee maker guide.
Bunn Speed Brew Platinum Thermal Coffee Maker Features
Although owning a coffee maker that can brew in a range of sizes, offers the option of iced coffee and has a milk frother is great, many people just want a simple, effective machine that makes excellent hot coffee.
If I’ve just described you, the Bunn speed Brew will be right up your alley. Add in the fact that it brews coffee in half the time of a typical coffee maker, and you should be getting pretty darn excited! Let’s take a look at the features that make this Bunn drip coffee maker so cool.
Water Reservoir
The Bunn Speed Brew has a commercial grade stainless steel hot water tank that holds 70 ounces (2.07 liters) of water.
Not only that, the internal hot water tank maintains water at 200 degrees Fahrenheit, the optimal brewing temperature for good coffee.
Once the water in the tank has been heated, the coffee maker is always ready, which saves time once you’re ready to brew.
Speed Brewing
Perhaps one morning your alarm doesn’t go off and you wake up twenty minutes before you’re supposed to be at work. You can’t find clean socks and there’s no way you can go another day without showering. Making coffee takes too long – can you skip it today? Absolutely not!
It’s during times like this that the Bunn Speed Brew really shines. The coffee maker has been designed to be left on at all times, so the hot water tank can maintain the optimal brewing temperature.
Seeing as the water is always hot, you can brew a travel mug of coffee in around two and a half minutes. Who knows, you might even make it to work on time! I like to think of it as the coffee maker the Flash would use.
Commercial Style Spray Head
When I’m using my favorite gooseneck kettle with a Chemex or pour over coffee maker, I’m in complete control of the brewing process. During the initial pour, I make sure to dampen all the coffee grounds equally – it’s the key to a well-balanced and even extraction.
That kind of precision can be hard to achieve in a coffee maker. However, Bunn has addressed the issue by adding a unique spray head to the Speed Brew. This means the Speed Brew can evenly distribute water over the ground coffee during the brewing process, leading to an optimal extraction each time.
Funnel
Unlike most coffee machine manufacturers, Bunn refers to its brewing basket as a funnel. Who am I to argue? They can call it whatever they want for all I care.
What’s more important than the name is the fact that the Bunn Speed Brew funnel is about half an inch taller than other brewing baskets.
That means you’ll have to use Bunn size 10 filters, which are taller than most. Using other coffee filters means you’ll run the risk of the water overflowing during the brewing process.
Brew Sizes
The Bunn Speed Brew allows you to prepare anything from a 20 ounce travel mug of coffeeto a full, 10 cup carafe. As I’ve already mentioned, the manufacturer makes a big deal about how fast this coffee maker is, claiming it’ll make a full carafe in four minutes. You’d better believe I timed the thing to see if that was true. I’ll share my findings a little later.
One feature that’s missing from this Bunn drip coffee maker is a drip-stop function. If you try to sneak a cup of coffee before the brew cycle is complete, you’ll end up with a mess to clean up. That’s fine with me – there should be a penalty for trying to drink under-extracted coffee!
Thermal Carafe
I always prefer a coffee maker with a thermal drip free carafe, rather than a glass carafe and a keep-warm function. A warmer plate just slowly cooks fresh coffee, and no one wants that. If I want to remind myself how bad it is, I can just pay a visit to my local convenience store.
The Bunn Speed Brew Platinum comes with a vacuum insulated, double walled stainless steel carafe with a 50-ounce capacity. The drip free carafe has a really nice ergonomic handle, even if it does feel a little on the flimsy side. That said, I do love the proprietary lid and spout design, which allows for a steady, quick flow. Plus, the carafe will keep coffee fresh and hot for at least a couple of hours.
High Altitude Version
Even if you live at, or close to sea level, just knowing that Bunn makes a high altitude version of their Speed Brew coffee maker should pique your interest in this machine. It proves that the manufacturer takes things very seriously and cares about the quality of its customers’ coffee.
I don’t want to science you to sleep, so I won’t go into detail about the effects of elevation on water’s boiling point. Suffice to say, if you’re making coffee above 4,000 feet, it can be challenging for a coffee maker to perform properly.
The Bunn Speed Brew High Altitude Coffee Maker has been specially calibrated for use in higher elevations and costs only a few bucks more than the standard model.
Warranty
Bunn-O-Matic had me at the retro-futuristic name and the fantastic coffee makers it produces. Then I learned that the Bunn Speed Brew comes with a 3 year warranty. That’s right – you’ll get a warranty backed by Bunn for 3 years, covering any defects or unforeseen malfunctions.
In this day and age, a 3 year warranty like that is hard to come by, especially for an appliance costing less than $200. I might just have to call Bunn customer service in Springfield to congratulate them!
What’s in the Bunn Speed Brew Platinum Thermal Coffee Maker Box?
Here’s what’s included with the Bunn Speed Brew Platinum Thermal Coffee Maker:
50 ounce thermal drip free carafe
Bunn funnel
Unique spray head
Paper Bunn filters
Deliming tool
Instruction manual
How to Use the Bunn Speed Brew Coffee Maker
There’s a certain amount of preliminary setup to take care of before you can use the Bunn Speed Brew to make coffee.
First, you’ll need to fill the machine with water by filling the carafe and pouring water into the tank. Put the carafe back on its base to catch any water overflow. Then, once it’s finished dripping, dump it out and you’re ready to plug in and turn on.
Remember to Set a Timer
The instructions say to wait around 15 minutes for the internal tank to do its thing. I forgot to set a timer and realized there’s no way for the machine to let you know when the water is hot enough. That said, it is fairly obvious – the Bunn drip coffee maker sounds like an electric kettle as it’s heating up and goes silent once the water temperature is high enough.
As I already mentioned, you’re meant to leave the Bunn Speed turned on – that’s kind of the whole point, and it’s how the machine can brew so quickly. If that worries you, an inexpensive plug timer would solve the problem nicely.
Brewing Coffee
Preparing coffee with the Bunn Speed Brew is a simple affair. Place a Bunn filter in the funnel, then add ground coffee – high-quality and freshly ground, please!.
Make sure to gently shake the filter basket, so there’s a level bed of ground coffee. That way, the spray head will evenly soak all the grounds. I made sure to check the used filter after every brew, and I must say the unique sprayhead performed admirably. The coffee grounds were uniformly moistened and I saw no evidence of channeling.
Slide the funnel into place, using the funnel rails, then open the flip-top lid. Then it’s just a case of pouring in cold, filtered water. In my experience, the water level markers didn’t prove helpful at all. I find that a sightglass style level indicator is way more accurate and convenient. When using the Bunn drip coffee maker, I recommend measuring your water before adding it to the machine.
Once you’ve put the drip free carafe back in place, close the lid and the machine starts to brew. The water you’ve added displaces the hot water inside the stainless steel tank, which is how this machine brews coffee so quickly. There’s no need for a heat exchanger, so you’ll have piping hot coffee pronto!
How Does the Bunn Drip Coffee Maker Perform?
I know you’re all desperate to find out whether the Bunn Speed Brew is actually as fast as the manufacturer says it is. Can this coffee maker really brew a 50 ounce (1.47 liter) carafe of coffee in four minutes? In short, no.
During my test, the Bunn Speed Brew clocked in at just over five minutes when brewing a full carafe. That’s still pretty darn fast, though! I also timed the Bunn drip coffee maker as it brewed 20 ounces (591 milliliters) of coffee for my travel mug, and was happily sipping away less than three minutes later.
I know that many of you like your coffee to come out at mouth-scalding temperatures, so you’ll be pleased to hear that the Bunn Speed Brew certainly delivers in that regard. As far as the quality of the coffee that this machine produces, I can’t really complain. On the other hand, I wasn’t exactly blown away.
As always, I experimented with grind size and brewing ratio, and eventually got some very drinkable results. Still, for those of you who need a coffee maker that’ll rival your pour over technique, you’d be better off exploring some of the other options in my coffee maker guide.
Bunn Speed Brew Platinum Thermal Coffee Maker Cleaning and Descaling
A clean coffee maker is a happy coffee maker, so it’s a good idea to rinse the funnel after each use. The manufacturer claims the funnel is dishwasher-safe, but I wouldn’t recommend putting it in there. Same goes for the carafe’s pour through lid.
As with all drip coffee makers, it’s a good idea to descale the Bunn speed Brew every couple of months. This depends on the hardness of your water, so keep an eye out for limescale buildup.
Allow white vinegar and water to sit in the tank for an hour or two, before running a brew cycle to rinse the machine. The Bunn Speed Brew comes with a deliming tool for cleaning the spray head tube, and you should clean the spray head holes with a toothpick, if needed.
Bunn Speed Brew Platinum Thermal Coffee Maker Specifications
| Bunn Speed Brew Platinum Coffee Maker | |
| Manufacturer | BUNN |
|---|---|
| Model number | CSB3T |
| Product category | Drip coffee maker |
| Housing material | Stainless steel with plastic parts |
| Color options | Black/Silver |
| Carafe | Thermal |
| Keep warm function | No |
| Milk frother | |
| User interface | Buttons and dials |
| App | |
| Removable water reservoir | |
| Water reservoir capacity | 71.0 fl oz / 2.1 l |
| Brew capacity | 50 fl oz / 1479 ml |
| Single cup function | |
| Reusable coffee filter | |
| Coffee pod compatible | |
| Brew styles | 1 |
| Pre-infusion | |
| Adjustable coffee temperature | |
| Coffee strength adjustment levels | |
| Hot water function | |
| Water filter | |
| Power consumption | 850 W |
| Weight | 7.8 lb / 3.5 kg |
| Dimensions | 14.9 x 13.9 x 8.3 in |
| Warranty | 3 years |
| SCA certified home brewer | |
| Notes | Included Accessories: Instruction manual. |
| Current price on Amazon | $169.99 |
| All specifications | |
Verdict: Bunn Speed Brew Platinum Coffee Maker
Ideal for both home and office
Bunn Speed Brew Platinum Coffee Maker
Best Office Coffee Maker
Can brew 10 cups in 5 min
Thermal carafe
Spray head
Desgined and Assembled in USA
Must be kept on all the time
From my experiences using it, I can’t think of many reasons not to recommend the Bunn Speed Brew Platinum Coffee Maker. This awesome machine is ideal for heavy coffee drinkers, and it’ll perform really well in an office setting.
Lately, there’s been a lot of hype surrounding coffee makers that have been Golden Cup Certified by the Specialty Coffee Association. The Bunn Speed Brew might not fall into that category, but don’t think for a second that the manufacturer isn’t committed to producing high-quality Bunn coffee makers.
I’ve really enjoyed testing out the Speed Brew and putting it through its paces. The Bunn drip coffee maker might not be quite as fast as advertised, but it’s still a speedy machine!
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading my hands-on review of the Bunn Speed Brew Platinum Coffee Maker. What kind of coffee maker is in your office? I look forward to your questions and comments!
Bunn Speed Brew FAQ
All the Bunn Speed Brew coffee makers share the same core features, including a unique showerhead and a stainless steel internal water tank. Choosing the best Speed Brew really comes down to personal preference.
Unless you won’t be using your Speed Brew for more than four days, you should always leave it turned on. That way, the water in the commercial grade stainless steel tank is always hot and ready to brew coffee.
The stainless steel internal water tank in a Bunn Speed Brew is always full of hot water at the perfect temperature for optimal coffee extraction. Adding cold water displaces the hot water and starts the brewing process.
You should descale your Bunn drip coffee maker once every three months or so. Add white vinegar and water to the coffee maker, then let it sit for an hour or two. Run a full brew cycle to rinse the machine, then it’ll be ready to brew coffee.
Bunn speed Brew 10 cup home coffee makers aren’t programmable. If you want a programmable coffee maker, consider the Bunn Heat N Brew.
