Coffee drinkers usually have at least two coffee drinking routines: the Out the Door and the Relaxing with a Cup. As such, we usually need two different types of coffee makers: single serve and something that brews more than one cup at a time. By combining a serve machine with carafe functionality, the Hamilton Beach 2-Way Coffee Maker covers both of these scenarios in one coffee maker.
Features of the Hamilton-Beach-49980A Coffee Maker
Here’s a quick run down of the features of this Hamilton Beach multi-tasking coffee maker.
The Basics
Type of Coffee Maker: Automatic drip/Single Serve
Both sides of the Hamilton Beach 49980A are an automatic drip system.
Type of Coffee Used: Ground Roast.
Both sides of this coffee maker use ground beans. You don’t have to switch out coffees or buy special pods for this machine.
Type of Filter Used: Mesh and paper
You’re actually getting two filters and two filter baskets. They are all removable and top rack dishwasher safe for easier cleaning.
Everything loads from the top so be sure you have room to pull the machine out from under your cabinets if that’s their usual resting spot.
There are a lot of people out there who love this machine but are dead set against using the mesh filter by itself as using it alone can result in sediment at the bottom of your coffee cup. One person even went to far as to use 3 mesh filters! That seems a little extreme to us and most people get around the mesh filter by adding a paper filter to the bottom of the mesh filters.
Although we haven’t tried it ourselves, many people swear by the Aeorpress replacement filter packs for getting the job done.
Reservoir: Yes
There are two reservoirs in this machine. One side is for the 60 ounce carafe and the other side is for the single cup server. You can only use one side of this coffee maker at a time.
The amount of water you put in is the amount of coffee you get out. The reservoirs aren’t designed to be a holding tank for a spontaneous single serve cup of coffee. Since a holding tank can be a breeding ground for germs if you’re not diligent about cleaning them, we’re not complaining.
Carafe: Glass
This is a 12 cup carafe that holds a standard 60 ounces of liquid.
You can easily find replacements for this carafe.
Number of Cups That It Can Brew at Once: 4-12 cups at 5 ounces each.
It’s never recommended to brew less than 20 ounces of coffee into a carafe. The water doesn’t have time to saturate the grounds and extract flavor in less time.
Hotplate: Yes
We think one of the best things about this hotplate is that no one mentions it. If a product is doing its job well, you’re really not going to notice it.
Auto-Pause: No
They want us to say “Yes” but if you have to manually shut the machine off mid-cycle, there’s nothing automatic about that. So you can grab a cup of coffee in the middle of the brew cycle but don’t just grab the carafe thinking the coffee will stop dripping. Of course, if you do, that’s a mistake you’ll only make once (trust us).
Automatic Shut-off: Yes
The single serve side of the machine will shut off automatically after the brew cycle has completed.
When using the carafe, the machine will keep your coffee warm on the hot plate and automatically shut off after two hours. You can also manually shut off the machine before then.
Click Here to Check out the Hamilton Beach 49980A Coffee Maker on Amazon.
Single Serve: Yes – Soft pods or grounds. Not compatible with K-Cups
The single serve option can fill either a coffee mug or a travel mug. There’s a height adjustment feature on the drip tray. We’d like this better if the adjustments could be made to a finer degree. This is simply an either/or type of option.
We think Hamilton Beach decided on this mug-lifting design since it can only brew one of two sized coffees: 8 ounces and 14 ounces. The fill lines on the scoop/filter are very clear.
Note that Hamilton Beach no longer includes a travel mug with this product.
Brew Strength Options: 2
There’s a standard medium roast. We didn’t think the Bold strength was on par with a Starbucks but we’d definitely put it in the robust category.
Color: Silver with Black Trim
This is a good looking coffee maker. Some machines make you wonder if the designer ever drank coffee at all.
A Closer Look at the Features
How Easy is the Hamilton Beach 2-Way Brewer Coffee Maker to Clean?
It’s a standard wash and use machine. Descaling should be done once a month. It’s a quick cycle. There are other machines where this becomes not only very involved, it also uses a lot of water.
Other Features to Note:
Programmable Yes.
This coffee maker has a 24 hour advanced brew timer. While you can set it up for single serve or the carafe, you can only brew one or the other. As the setting is a manually operated switch, there’s no way to set up more than one selection.
How Much Counter Space Does it Use?
It stands about 10.6 wide x 12.2 x 13.7 inches high. The side fill single serve drawer is nice but you still have to fill the water from the top. There’s really no way to not have to pull this coffee maker out from under the cabinet.
At the same time, the coffee maker isn’t all that big. Some people have compared it to the size of a home espresso machine. This is pretty impressive for a 2-in-1 machine. While you’d expect it to be twice the size of a 12 cup coffee maker, it’s actually smaller than some we’ve seen.
What the Comments Say
The comments on this coffee maker were either very high or very negative. They either love their machine or it was the worst purchase they ever made.
Praises From Reviewers:
The highest praise seems to come from people who were dissatisfied with their old machine. Whether they were coming from a programmable super machine or a K-cup machine, the flaws on their old machine made them wonder why they waited so long to get a new coffee maker.
Many reviewers loved how quickly this coffee maker brews a cup of coffee from start to finish.
It doesn’t take long for water to reach optimal brewing temperature.
Another thing people love was how easy the cleaning cycle is. Many machines use a lot of water and vinegar. The amount of water could reach two to three gallons by the time it’s done rinsing. The Hamilton Beach 49980A uses much less water and vinegar, saving time and money.
A lot of people were quite pleased that this machine does not take K-cups. They wanted a single-serve coffee maker that would allow them to use their own premium roasted beans without having to make 4 cups at a time. This machine is the answer to their wish list dreams.
Drawbacks to Consider:
While there were rave reviews for this coffee maker, there were also those that had some quibbles. While there is a warranty for this machine, it’s good to know what kind of problems people have had in order to make the best buying decision for you and your situation.
Some people mentioned how the single serve feature stood at a height that was either too low or too high for their mug. A mug sitting too far away from the spout meant that the coffee would splatter onto their counter.
Some people weren’t happy with the reusable mesh filter. These filters, no matter who makes them, allow a certain amount of sediment to seep through into the carafe or mug. To combat this, it’s pretty common for people to use a paper filter in conjunction with the mesh filter.
Using a paper filter not only prevents sediment from seeping into your coffee, it also filters oils from dripping in.
There were also people that noted that after several months of use, the coffee machine began to slow down it’s cycle. The resulting cups of coffee were watered-down and undrinkable.
While this could always be an issue where the coffee maker wasn’t being cleaned regularly, there are indications that using a very fine grind of coffee can clog everything from the filter to the spout.
Our Take
We like the Hamilton Beach 49980A 2-Way Brewer Coffee Maker for making it easy on us whether we’re looking for a weekend with a pot of coffee or just looking to fill our travel mug on the way out the door. The automatic shut-off feature will give you peace of mind and it’s nice to be able to program this machine for either side. The LED display doesn’t stay on, making it less of power hog.
Its cleaning and programmable convenience make this machine a winner.
Click Here to find out more about the Hamilton Beach 49980A 2-Way Brewer Coffee Maker on Amazon.
Descaling the Hamilton Beach 2-Way Coffee Maker
All coffeemakers should be cleaned at least once a month (once a week for areas with hard water). The Hamilton Beach 49980A is pretty simple to operate but two different reservoirs and coffee systems in one machine means having to clean and decalcify what amounts to two different machine.
Cleaning Single Serve Side
- Pour 1/2 cup (125 ml) of plain white vinegar and 1/2 cup (125 ml) of cold water into single-serve side reservoir.
- Press the On button
- Wait for 30 seconds.
- Turn off the coffee maker.
- Wait 30 minutes to allow the vinegar to soak into and soften the calcium deposits.
- Press the On button to resume the brew cycle.
- Press the Off button to finish up.
- Run the brew cycle 2 to 3 more times to rinse out the remaining vinegar.
- Allow to dry.
Wipe down the outside of the machine with a soft, damp cloth.
The filter and filter basket are both dishwasher safe.
Cleaning Carafe Side
Decalcifying the carafe side is straightforward but it does take a bit of time.
- Pour 1 pint/2 cups of distilled white vinegar into reservoir on the carafe side.
- Select Carafe from button display.
- Place the empty carafe onto the hot plate.
- Press the On button
- Wait for 30 seconds.
- Turn off the coffee maker.
- Wait 30 minutes to allow the vinegar to soak into and soften the calcium deposits.
- Press the On button to resume the brew cycle.
- Press the Off button to finish up.
- Run the brew cycle 2 to 3 more times to rinse out the remaining vinegar. Be sure and let the machine and carafe cool off between brew cycles.
- Allow to dry.
