Café - Smart Drip 10-Cup Thermal Carafe Coffee Maker with Wi-Fi - Matte Black

Q: Just received the Cafe coffee maker. Has anyone figured out how to remove the brew basket insert? It is part "H" on page 5 in the owner's manual.

A: Hello Catman - Thank you for your question; we are glad to assist. There is a finger hole at the front of the brew basket to aid with removal. The basket is snapped in to keep it tight to prevent it from shifting when the carafe is removed. Thanks for checking. Olga@Café

Q: Where do I find a replacement carbon filter?

A: Yes, I received the same response from Cafe when calling them yesterday. They did agree to send me one carbon filter free. Although the item shows out of stock on the website, they actually do have a large supply of on hand. You just can't purchase them. Further, the price they want to charge for the replacement carbon filter is $5 each which is really excessive. On other coffee pots I've owned, specifically Cuisinart, the brand name carbon filters are more like $7-8 for a 12 pack with free 2-day delivery through Amazon. This was quite disappointing to discover. Problem is, the filters for this coffee maker are not a standard size. I certainly hope they resolve this issue. Other than that, the coffee pot is amazing! It brews the best coffee!

Q: Does the water ever touch plastic in this coffee maker?

A: Yes. And I’m very concerned about plastics. If you were still considering the coffee maker this is what I would suggest. There are three main points of concern: the water reservoir, internals, and the carafe lid which on the thermal carafe has a plastic straw that extends down into the coffee. Reservoir and Internals—When I make 10 cups of coffee each morning I fill the reservoir, hit brew, and the water is out of the reservoir and through any/all internal plastic elements in 5 minutes. It’s usually done before I’ve done the other things in my routine and am there with my warm mug of milk, doctored up. So the water doesn’t have any time to sit in the reservoir and leach anything if you aren’t pre-setting it. However, the Straw Lid— that is a problem sitting right in the acidic coffee. It doesn’t look like the glass carafe has the feature. So there’s a possible solution. Or you can decant into a large thermos so it isn’t sitting. The variables which matter with plastic are temperature (high temperature can cause chemicals to leach out), acidity (likewise acidity may cause chemicals to leach, juices, sodas, etc), length of exposure (5 second rule, jk, but sort of), and age or other degradation of the plastic (apart from age, being put in the dishwasher everyday can age plastic or being left outside, altering its structure and potentially making it more susceptible to leaching chemicals). Coffee makers are problematic. The safest bet is always all glass or metal. They exist (French press, cold brew systems, old school percolators) but they aren’t electric. Personally I haven’t come across an electric coffee maker that doesn’t have plastics touching what will be consumed. At least not a decent one that’s worth that sacrifice without just going to a French press, or percolator, which I’ve used for years and they work well. Hope that helps :)

Q: In order to pair with my phone it is asking for the password which I cant find on the bottom. Can you help me locate it?

A: The password is on a sticker on the back of the coffee maker behind the water tank, not the bottom.

Q: Where can I get replacement carbon water filters for this machine? Thanks!

A: The Café Smart Drip 10-Cup Coffee Maker with WiFi by GE uses generic carbon water filters available at big box/major online retailers and some grocery stores. When my machine arrived I saw the water filter in that fancy looking plastic cage and thought they’d be a pain and an expense to replace, as well as terrible for the environment… all the plastic for a water filter?! But you don’t throw out the plastic. It only houses the little water filter which you replace. You can easily lift it out with your fingers, or as the manual suggests, gently use a teaspoon. Open the plastic cage. Pull out the spent filter. Plop in the new one. And drop the whole thing back home. I’ve included a photo of the filter removed from the plastic cage. It’s about 2” across at the top. I saw a pack of 12 on Amazon for $8. We have a three-stage reverse osmosis system so I may just stop using it though. Hope that help!

Q: I noticed the cost recently jumped up significantly from $279 to $349. I’m very impressed with this machine, but $349 is steep. Will this be going on sale anytime soon? Thanks so much.

A: 279 was the sale price. 349 is the retail price. Best Buy was the only one on sale over the holiday.

Q: Hello - Am I able to purchase an extra carafe for this coffee maker? So that I can brew a pot of decaf and also a pot of regular.

A: I also wanted to get an extra carafe. I found it easiest to go to www.geapplianceparts.com. I might have started at geappliances.com/parts. But at any rate I put the model number for our machine in the search bar and up it came. It said there were no accessories available but I clicked on the diagram-like picture below and there were all the parts in the correct colour for our coffee maker. Huzzah! Carafe- WC02X20414 Matte black carafe lid- WC12X20420 Brew basket- WC02X20405 Gold filter- WC02X20407 Matte black shower head- WC02X20413 Activated carbon holder- WC02X20403 Carbon filter- WC02X20412 Hope that helps!

Q: Does this coffee brewer have adjustable blooming time and does it even has blooming at all?

A: Hi Janika79! Thanks for your question! The bloom time is built-in; however, it cannot be changed. We apologize for any inconveniences that this may bring. We hope that this helps though! Stay safe. -Michael@GEA