I recently purchased this coffeemaker because of its favorable reviews, exceptional price, and some promotional credit I needed to use at Best Buy. I have used the Cuisinart DCC – 1200 Brew Central for many many years and have always gone back to that model when I needed to replace a coffee maker. In this case, I decided to try the Cuisinart DCC – 3650. For purposes of this review, I thought I would compare some of the pros and cons of this model to the DCC- 1200, which is one of the most popular models Cuisinart has ever made.
First, the coffeemaker is very simple, modern, and attractive, with minimal buttons on the front. The buttons are incorporated into the base. I did have some slight difficulty programming the auto brew setting and the clock. Specifically, it’s hard to hold down the auto brew button and catch it at exactly the right timing to set the auto start time before it quits flashing and reverts back to normal. It took several attempts at it before I could get it to work right. This is probably a learning curve-I followed the instructions but the buttons on the auto brew weren’t cooperating. Fortunately I was able to make the settings and shouldn’t have to change them very often so this is no big deal.
One of the things I like about this coffeemaker that is an improvement over the DCC – 1200 series is the lid. There is not as much condensation on the lid dripping down in back of the coffee pot, so there is no need to have the reservoir for the water to drip into at the back. The reason for this is that the brewing chamber of the coffee maker is totally contained within a compartment below the lift-up lid. It is accessible by pushing the button to open the swing-out door where you insert the filter basket, coffee filter and the coffee. This does mean that there are two steps you need to take to prepare for brewing- open the lid to pour in the water, close the lid and open the swing-out door to put in the coffee and filter. The DCC – 1200 is easier in that respect because you can access everything under the lid. Another plus of the DCC-3650 is that there is a viewing chamber to see the level of the water in the coffee maker. It’s a little more awkward to pour in the water because the charcoal filter holder is on the right side rather than the left, as in the DCC– 1200. The carafe is modern in appearance and easy to pour. I do have a little bit of trouble getting it in and out of the warming plate as it fits tighter on the coffee filter basket. Perhaps this will become easier as it wears a bit from use. However, the good news is that you can pull out the coffee pot to grab some coffee before the brewing is finished and it does not drip! I had been having trouble with my previous DCC- 1200 in that regard, even after changing the brew basket twice. The coffee on the “hot “setting is perfectly hot, but there is an “extra hot“ setting if you prefer it hotter. There is a button for “bold“ coffee but, to be honest, I don’t find the coffee to be that bold, even with this setting. As I seem to recall, the coffee from my DCC – 1200 series seem to be a bit stronger and more flavorful. I don’t know if this is because the brewing process is different and/or faster. I did notice that the grounds did not seem to float all the way up to the top like they sometimes did with my DCC- 1200. Occasionally I had had the grounds float to the top of the filter and clog the opening on the lid when they were too fine, but after brewing several full-size pots with this DCC-3650 model, the grounds stayed well below the top level of the filter. Finally, this model is very quiet when brewing and does not gurgle loudly and spit steam like my old DCC-1200. My previous model had so much steam coming out of the top when it brewed that I had to pull it out from under the cabinets. This one has relatively little steam escaping so it is a big improvement in that regard.
All in all, I like the features of this coffee maker a lot. Being honest, I think my old DCC – 1200 did a better job in terms of coffee flavor, but I’ve only had the DCC-3650 a week and time will tell. I will try doing a finer grind in the future and seeing if that helps with the brewing flavor.