Description
The 8710100 is OXO’s 9 cup brewer, built around temperature control and even water distribution rather than around a feature list. It states a brewing range of 197.6 to 204.8 degrees Fahrenheit, uses what OXO calls a Rainmaker shower head to spread water across the grounds, keeps the result in a double wall stainless steel thermal carafe with an internal mixing tube, and is driven by a single dial that handles cup count, clock and wake up timer. OXO states that it is certified by the Specialty Coffee Association.
Nine cups is an unusual capacity and it is a sensible one. Most machines are sold at 12, which is more than most households drink at a sitting and which encourages brewing a pot that then sits. Nine is closer to what two or three people actually get through, and a machine tuned for that size will extract a moderate dose better than a 12 cup basket will.
Temperature Control and Certification
The stated range of 197.6 to 204.8 degrees Fahrenheit is a conversion of 92 to 96 degrees Celsius, which is why it carries decimal places. Whichever unit you read it in, it sits inside the window generally specified for full extraction. Water below that range leaves the coffee sour and hollow; water above it pulls bitter compounds you did not want.
OXO calls the combination of temperature management and cycle timing BetterBrew Precision, and describes the machine as SCA certified for gold standard home brewing. Certification of that kind is awarded against a defined dose, grind and volume, so it describes what the machine is capable of when used as specified rather than a promise about whatever you put in it. It is still a meaningful signal, because it means an outside body has measured the brewing rather than a marketing department having described it.
The Rainmaker Shower Head
The Rainmaker head spreads water across the whole surface of the coffee bed. That sounds like a detail and it is the single biggest mechanical difference between a machine that brews like a careful hand pour and one that does not.
A single stream of water entering a bed of grounds bores a channel and runs through it, so the coffee directly under the stream over extracts while the rest of the bed barely sees water. Spreading the entry points evens the saturation out, and the effect on the cup is larger than any strength setting. It is the same principle behind the wide showerheads on the Bonavita BV1900TS and behind the slow circular pour used with the cones in our pour over section.
The Thermal Carafe and the Mixing Tube
The carafe is double wall stainless steel with no warming plate underneath, so coffee is held by insulation rather than by heat. A freshness timer shows how long ago the pot was brewed, which is more useful than it sounds: elapsed time is the best single predictor of whether coffee is still worth drinking, and being told the number beats guessing.
The internal mixing tube addresses a problem most machines ignore. Coffee brewed into a carafe is not uniform. The first liquid through is the strongest and it settles at the bottom, so without mixing the last cup out of the pot is noticeably different from the first. A tube that stirs the stream as it enters evens that out. Pause and pour lets you draw a cup mid cycle, with the usual caveat that an early cup is stronger than the finished pot.
The Single Dial
Control is by one dial that sets the number of cups, programmes the clock and sets the automatic wake up timer. The specification block confirms the interface as a dial rather than buttons or a touchscreen.
Selecting the cup count is not a cosmetic setting on this machine. Telling the brewer you want two cups rather than nine lets it adjust the cycle so that a small dose is not flooded by a full sized flow, which is the standard failure of carafe machines used below capacity. A dial is also the correct choice for a wet handed morning: it can be turned without looking, it does not need a clean fingertip like a touch panel, and there is only one of it to learn.
Footprint and What the Data Gets Wrong
Recorded dimensions are 8.3 inches deep, 15 inches wide and 17.2 inches high, at 10.5 pounds. The height is the number that decides whether this machine fits: at 17.2 inches it will not go under a standard wall cabinet, and the water lid opens above that. Anyone replacing a low profile machine needs to measure before ordering.
Two specification fields are simply wrong. The specific uses field reads espresso; this machine has no pump, no portafilter and no way to make espresso of any kind. The model name field reads OXO, which is the brand rather than a model; the identifier is 8710100. The unit count field reads 9.0 count, which has taken the cup capacity and placed it in a field meant for how many machines are in the box. The included components field lists a base and an insulated carafe, which is accurate.
What the Specifications Do Not Settle
There is no wattage, no brew time for a full carafe, no carafe volume in ounces and no statement of how long the thermal carafe holds temperature. The filter type is recorded as paper, but the listing does not say which size fits or whether any are supplied, which is the number you need when reordering. Nine cups at the usual five ounce convention is around 45 ounces, so a full carafe fills roughly three standard mugs.
The listing does state the electrical supply as 120 volts at 60 hertz, which is a rare piece of precision in this catalogue and confirms the machine is built for the North American mains rather than relabelled from another market. What it does not state is the minimum number of cups the machine will brew, which matters given the cup count dial: a machine tuned for nine cups still has a floor below which the bed of grounds is too shallow to extract evenly, and OXO does not say where that floor is.
Who It Suits and Who Should Look Elsewhere
This suits two or three people who want a properly extracted pot, want it programmable so it is ready when they get up, and want it still drinkable an hour later. The combination of a published temperature range, a distributing shower head, a cup count setting and a thermal carafe covers every variable a drip machine can control.
Look elsewhere if the 17.2 inch height will not fit, or if you regularly brew more than nine cups. OXO’s larger Brew 8721200 at 12 cups adds a second brew basket for small batches, and the OXO Brew 8718800 is worth comparing on size. Single cup drinkers should not buy a carafe machine at all and should read the drip machine section or look at a dedicated pour over instead.
