Product ReviewsGevalia Stainless Steel Black 12 Cup CM 500 Coffee Maker

Good and Bad

This is my second Gevalia coffee maker. I like the cone type filters and that is why I bought another Gevalia. The price was right and it makes good coffee. It is necessary to use a little more coffee with this style of maker but it does make a rich flavored cup of joe. The drawbacks to this style are these; This is my second one because the first on only lasted six months. Sometimes you just get a lemon so I'm hopeful this on will last longer. If it doesn't, its the last one I will ever buy. Another problem with this style is that when you open the lid after brewing a pot water will run down the back and sides of the pot leaving a mess for you to clean up every time you make a pot. This problem could be inherent with this model and I wish I had went a few extra bucks for a different model just because of that.

To sum up, it makes good coffee if it lasts and if you don't mind a little mess every time you make a pot.Read full review...

Gevalia Coffee Maker Is Worth The "Free" Price Tag!

The Gevalia Coffee Maker, the 12 Cup CM-500 is a decent coffee maker, with all the main functions you'll need in a good coffee maker. However, you'll have to become part of the Gevalia family to get the special deal on the coffee maker, unless buying from a seller that already is a member and is passing on JUST the coffee maker to you. In that case, you can't go wrong if the price is around $15.00 or less. I priced several coffee makers at a large discount store, all with the same or similar features. Since Gevalia requires that you become a member, at least in the beginning with 2 packs of coffee, the maker can end up costing more than you think. I bought into the free coffee maker from an ad in a magazine and promptly got my coffee maker and my 2 packs of coffee beans. The quality of the coffee was "Good", not "Excellent" and not "Poor", but average in the scale of the many coffee brands out there. Enjoy your new coffee maker, if you have one, but steer away from the free coffee maker unless you seriously want to get involved with a coffee club. You can cancel at any time, but forgetting to call them or write them will cause coffee to be sent to you on a very regular basis! Enjoy!Read full review...

Gevalia CM-500 12 Cup Coffee Maker

It is very easy use and clean. Few buttons to deal with so easy to program. A bit tall so not easy to use under a cabinet as it must be pulled out to fill with water and coffee. Very nice looking. I have bought Gevalia coffee makers in the past as well as many others but Gevalia is a great product.Read full review...

Gevalia coffee maker smell problem

I've been a Gevalia customer for years. I think their coffee is great and I like the fact that I can get a variety if I want to. Its a little pricey, but good quality in my opinion. I priced Jamaica Blue Mountain at a local store, and it wasn't much different. The first time I joined, back in the 90's, they sent a free coffee maker that worked great and lasted for years. However, I fell on some hard times for a while and canceled my membership. When I re-joined later through a promotion with a free coffee maker, I got the new one. It smelled so bad when making coffee that it stunk up the whole kitchen. I stopped using it and called Gevaila. They sent a new one, along with a half pound of Jamaica BM they forgot to ship. The second coffee maker is just as bad. Summary: Gevalia has a great product and fantastic customer service, but they need to fire the manufacturer of their junk Chinese coffee maker. C'mon, Gevalia. Get your act together before you start losing customers.Read full review...

An Average Coffee Maker

I think what people like best about the Gevalia coffee maker is that you can get it "free" for joining the Gevalia club. But having tried two of their coffee makers so far, I would say the appliances deserve an average rating.

While the staineless steel 12-cup maker looks great, it has a few features that are somewhat annoying. First of all, the reservoir that you have to pour the water into is tiny and so unless you have a perfectly steady hand there's going to be water on your counter and all over the coffee maker! Secondly, the digital clock is very hard to read. You have to be at just the right angle to view the numbers. This was disappointing to me because I basically use my coffee pot as my kitchen clock.

Finally, for the price of this machine you'd expect some extra features like perhaps a warmer feature or something, but it doesn't have anything that your average programmable pot from Walmart or Target has.

So like the coffee Gevalia sells, the coffee makers are also "average to good" but vastly overpriced.Read full review...

Don't let the Less than positive reviews diswade you.

I gave away My Cuisinart DBK500BK Grind in Brew to go back to my Gevalia coffee maker. Reasons being...

1. Easy to program. Lost the instructions to the Cuisinart (see my tip below for The Gevalia)and never could figure out on the BDK500BL how to program it.

2. The Gevalia coffee makers has a cone shaped filter. The Cuisinart had the flat basket; if you brew less than 6 cups, you run the chance of not having the grounds covering the entire bottom of the basket. What ever coffee Maker you decide to purchase, get one that uses cone shaped filters as it makes a much better cup of coffee.

3. The water level indicator is on the outside of the CM-500. On the Cuisinart you had to look down inside the water reservoir and use a flashlight too.

4. With the Grind and Brew, every so often the drip stop plug would get stuck open and, as you remove the carafe, coffee poured out. I don't remember the Gevalia never doing that. Will up date if necessary.

5. Easy to pour carafe. You may not think that is necessary, but My brother and sister-n-law have a coffee maker that with the carafe, you have to pour the 1st cup over the sink as there is a design flaw with the lip.

6. The Gevalia made a much better cup of coffee than the Grind & Brew.

So all and all, I love my Gevalia so much I purchased two used ones on line to keep in reserve as I seem to be hard on appliances.

Below are some programing instructions and Coffee maker maintenance tips.

Gevalia Instructions

Use the scoop provided to add your coffee. If you prefer strong European coffee, use one level scoop of coffee for each cup or 6 oz. or 10 scoops for a full pot. Adjust the amounts according to your taste, but don't exceed the 12-cup level of water in the reservoir. Securely position the filter basket, push down and lock into place. Close the reservoir cover and press the "On" button. The red LED light indicates the cycle has begun. When the cycle ends, there will be excess hot liquid in the filter basket. Let it cool before removing the basket and the coffee grounds. The warming plate will operate for up to two hours, as long as the red LED light is lit, then it will automatically shut off. When you completely finished, turn the switch off. For brewing consecutively, allow at least 10 minutes in between pots. Rinse the filter basket for each brew.

Setting Auto-Brew
Set the clock by pressing the hour and minute button to scroll through the numbers to set the current time. When the correct time is reached, release the button. Don't forget to set the time for AM/PM, located above and below the red indicator light. The clock will flash a few times until the time is set. Press the program button and the words will appear on the clock. Set the appropriate time you want the brewing cycle to commence, using the hour and minute buttons. Press program again to confirm your setting. The program indicator will flash a few seconds before automatically returning to the current time.

How to Remove Burnt Coffee on the Warming Plate

1
Turn off and unplug the coffeemaker. Wait for the warming plate to completely cool before cleaning.
Potion: Have a diluted solotion of soaper water. Turn on unit; wait for the warming plate become warm then mist the warming plate
2
Combine warm water and a few drops of dish-washing liquid.

Stainless steel

Furniture polish like Glade works wonders on Stainless SteelRead full review...

Our Gevalia CM 500 story

We have been Gevalia coffee drinkers for many years, so this isn't solely about the company, it's about the quality of coffeemaker they are being supplied. We opted for a new plan (which we've done several times over the years) and Gevalia did send our coffee and a new coffeemaker(CM500) right away. The thing tasted like burned electronics, and smelled up the entire house. We tried the old routine of running a 50/50 solution of vinegar and water thru it, etc., no help there. We called about it, and they promptly sent another one.....same results. Again, we called, and much to their credit, we recieved yet another coffeemaker, same brand, same design, same color, which did the same thing.
We couldn't live with it, and at that time went out and purchased another coffeemaker, and now buy our coffee locally. I tried several times to reach someone at a higher level in the company, to inform them that they needed to put some pressure on their manufacturer, to get the problem solved, but to no avail. Finally, we just gave up. I have to give them credit, the people whom we dealt with at least tried to make it right. If anyone needs a nice planter for their garden we have three of them! :) Someone tell me, are we alone in this situation?Read full review...

Your Average-ish Coffee Maker

I had this coffee maker for a while and I have to say that I'm glad it was through Gevalia, because when it broke they would send me a new one w/out charge. However, that happened 3 times in a 2 year time span so I can't bring myself to give this coffee maker high reviews.

The good notes: It did make good coffee when it worked and had all the functions a coffee maker should have.

Bad notes:
When ever I used the Gevalia Brand coffee cleaning packets in the Gevalia coffee maker - as directed - the coffee maker broke. It stopped filtering through and would fill up in the filter causing damage in the machine altogether. I had to use other methods to clean it, which can void out their warranty. REALLY frustrating.

Also, after a few months, if I pulled the coffee pot off to pour while brewing it would still drip out pretty quickly and make a big mess on my counter.

I wouldn't recommend paying for this coffee maker, but Gevalia coffee is very good and their customer service is very good as well. Since it comes free with the subscription - it is well worth the price.Read full review...

Great looking easy to use and makes exlnt. coffee!

Nice very easy to use coffee maker. Good looking and makes great coffee! Only one small problem, the water reservoir has way to small of opening to pour the water into. Most likely you will spill some over the side unless you have a very steady hand. Over all it still a great little coffee maker!Read full review...

Gevalia Coffee Maker

Gevalia coffee makers are the best in my book.. they last forever and brew fast..

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: dee_and_harry