Technivorm Moccamaster KBG 741 Review
Pros: Good taste, unique aesthetics
Cons: Expensive
Manufacturer: Technivorm
Our Verdict
Compare to Similar Products
![]() This Product
Technivorm Moccamaster KBG 741 | |||||
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Awards | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ||
Price | $330 List $329.00 at Amazon | $170 List $169.99 at Amazon | $300 List $299.95 at Amazon | $100 List $99.95 at Amazon | $200 List $169.00 at Amazon |
Overall Score ![]() |
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Star Rating | |||||
Pros | Good taste, unique aesthetics | Great taste, easy to use, single-cup brewing option | Great taste, almost endless adjustability | Great taste, relatively inexpensive considering its taste quality | Good taste for a pod machine, incredibly easy to use and clean |
Cons | Expensive | Expensive | Surprisingly loud, very expensive | Not as thoughtfully designed as other high end machines | Can be expensive if not on sale |
Bottom Line | Great if you're looking for a unique looking countertop appliance, but you can get better coffee for much less | Top tier taste quality and a simple interface make this a great choice for connoisseurs | Imparts a great tasting cup, but some drawbacks in user friendliness and its high price make it hard to recommend to most | Can almost match the OXO in terms of taste but costs about half as much | Convenient, and tastes significantly better than Keurig machines |
Rating Categories | Moccamaster KBG 741 | OXO Brew 8 Cup | Breville Precision... | Cuisinart 14-Cup... | Nespresso Vertuoline |
Taste (50%) | |||||
User Friendliness (20%) | |||||
Convenience (20%) | |||||
Ease Of Cleaning (10%) | |||||
Specs | Moccamaster KBG 741 | OXO Brew 8 Cup | Breville Precision... | Cuisinart 14-Cup... | Nespresso Vertuoline |
Capacity (cups) | 10 | 8 | 12 | 14 | 1 |
Automatic Brewing | No | No | Yes | Yes | No |
Dimensions | 13.4" x 6.7" x 14.2" | 13.5" x 10/5" x 7" | 12.4" x 6.7" x 15.7" | 14" x 8" x 9" | 9" x 12.2" x 12.3" |
Weight (pounds) | 6.3 | 11.5 | 13 | 9.5 | 12.3 |
Warranty | 5 Year Limited | 2 Year Limited | 1 Year Limited | 3 Year Limited | 2 Year Limited |
Our Analysis and Test Results
The Technivorm Moccamaster KBG 741 produced good coffee in our testing. However, given its very high price point, it would only really be worthwhile if it made the best coffee. Therefore we would recommend the OXO On Barista Brain to those looking for the best morning cup possible.
Performance Comparison
The Moccamaster earned one of the top scores in our testing, as you can see in the table above. Below we discuss its specific performance in all of the different tests we conducted.
Taste
The coffee we made with the Moccamaster ranged from decent to good, earning it a slightly above average taste score of 7 out of 10. The manufacturer suggests using just 42g of coffee grounds to make 8 cups of coffee. This resulted in quite a watery brew. When we increased the amount of grounds to 65g for an 8 cup pot (the recommended dosage for the top scorer in this metric) the coffee became rich and robust. However, it still didn't have quite as much nuance or flavorful notes as the coffee made in the OXO On Barista Brain and the Cuisinart 14-Cup Programmable, and these models cost more than $100 and $200 less, respectively.
User Friendliness
The Moccamaster earned a slightly above average score of 7 out of 10 in our user friendliness testing. It features a very simple interface of just two switches. One turns the unit on and off and the other sets the hot plate temperature to high or low. The glass carafe has a nice handle and produces a consistent, me free pour. While this model didn't have some of the bells and whistles of other models, like LCD displays and timers that let you know how old the coffee in the pot it, but overall it is still quite easy to use.
Convenience
The Moccamaster again picked up a fairly average score of 5 out of 10 in this metric. In our brewing speed test it took 9 minutes to make 6 cups of coffee, including all prep and cleanup time. This was exactly the average time in our testing. The Moccamaster lost some points because it does not have an automatic brewing function, so you can't set the machine to wake you up with freshly brewed coffee. Many of the machines we tested have this feature, including both the OXO On Barista Brain and the Cuisinart 14-Cup Programmable.
Ease of Cleaning
Cleaning the Moccamaster is relatively painless. It uses a paper filter, which makes disposing of grinds easy. The pot has a large opening, and is thus quite easy to clean. Long term cleaning involves filling the water tank with descaling liquid and running a few brew cycles. This process was mostly hands-off and took about 25 minutes to complete. The Moccamaster lost some points in this metric because it doesn't have any dishwasher safe components, everything must be washed by hand.
Value
The Moccamaster costs quite a pretty penny. It lists for $330, making it the most expensive coffee maker we tested by a wide margin. Unless you really like its unique aesthetics, we don't really feel that the Moccamaster is worth this high price. Both the OXO On Barista Brain ($200) and the Cuisinart 14-Cup Programmable ($100) make better coffee and cost substantially less.
Conclusion
The Technivorm Moccamaster KBG 741 is a good coffee maker with unique styling, but it doesn't really live up to its very high price tag.
— Max Mutter and Steven Tata