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Product
Features
- 6-cup
coffee/tea maker with charcoal filter for
fresh
taste
- Built-in coffee-bean
grinder; shower-drip coffee
basket
- Specially designed tea
basket; keep-warm
function
- Removable, easy-to-fill
water tank with printed
measurements
- Measures 11-3/16 by
11-13/16 by 10-7/8
inches
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Product
Description
The Sanyo
SAC-MST6 Coffee/Tea Maker With Built-In Grinder
combines coffee and tea making in one complete
system. The built-in coffee grinder provides
enough fresh coffee for up to 6 cups. The same
can be said for the tea maker. A warming plate
keeps beverages hot.
A soft shower drip basket and charcoal
filter help brew either coffee or tea with the
fullest of flavor. This Sanyo unit also has a
removable water tank for quick filling at your
sink.
Reviewers have had many positive remarks on
the Sanyo SAC-MST6, with many compliments for
having the ability to grind and brew with one
machine. Negatives have been that you need to
grind and then transfer to brew, and that you
need to transfer the hot tea to another pitcher
for iced tea.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Combination coffee/tea
maker with built-in
grinder.
- Charcoal
filter gives coffee and tea its fullest
flavor.
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Customer
Reviews
Customer Review #1
"*The
built in grinder works just fine and detatches
easily so you can pour it into the filter.
*It uses Militta type #2 cone filters and the
water drips slowly, so there are not flooding
problems.
*Instead of filling the carafe, you fill the
detatchable water tank. Not more or less
convenient really, just different. Hey, you
wanted to be different. Nice because it's not
breakable like the carafe.
* 6 cup maker instead of 12 cups -- its my own
fault I didn't notice that.
* Temp is fine. I think those fancy BUNN
machines everyone loves so much get the brew so
hot it destroys the flavor. That's just a
personal opinion.
*I have not used the ice tea maker function -
we already have a different unit for that, so I
can't render an opinion.
* Small carbon filter twists off and they ask
that you just rinse it in regular water before
you make a fresh pot. Its suggested replacement
is every 2 years - although most people never
replace them, so its not a worry.
* Instructions are specific and simple - they
also come in spanish / Se habla espanol :)
It does what it says it will do, but is it as
great coffee maker?
No, it's as good as most. You can get a $20+
Mr. Coffee or whatever you like and it will do
no better or worse, Im sure."
- Actual review from
Amazon.com
Customer Review #2
"I had been searching
for a coffee maker with a built-in grinder and
even went as far as purchasing a Cuisinart for
$150.00, which I didn't care for and returned.
There aren't that many coffee makers out there
with the built-in grinders, so I decided to
give the Sanyo a try. I must admit I was
pleasantly surprised at how hot the coffee was
(compared to the Cuisinart) and how delicious.
I was a little bit disappointed in that I
thought the grinder automatically ground the
coffee and brewed it, but got over that
quickly, since everything else was so great. I
also would have preferred the coffee maker been
in black rather than the dark gray color, but
again, it is a minor flaw to me. All in all,
for the money, I don't think there is a better
coffeemaker out there with the features it has
for the low price. Buy it! Patricia Davis in
Cave Creek, AZ"
- Actual review from Amazon.com
Customer Review #3
"This coffee
maker is a 6 cup maker, which equates to about
2 office cups, perfect for the early morning
coffee drinker.
I really like the detachable tank.
The grinder and coffee maker are both
reasonably quiet.
At $39, the price is good. I didn't spend an
arm and a leg for it and I get a great cup of
coffee, every morning."
- Actual review from Amazon.com
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Customer Review #4
"I like Sanyo and looked at a
lot of coffee/tea makers before purchasing this product online,
so I was very disappointed to return it. The product design was
not thought through as thoroughly as one would expect from
Sanyo, and the marketing description did not communicate an
accurate understanding of the product (at least not to me).
CAPACITY
The maximum capacity is 3 cups (24 ounces), not 6 as described.
For iced tea and iced coffee, the capacity is only around 12
ounces. I assume good faith: Sanyo is a big company and in
countries that use the metric system a "cup" can be any size.
However, in America, when "cup" is used as a unit of measure, 1
cup = 8 ounces. I would like to believe that the discrepancy is
simply a misunderstanding, at least in this instance. However,
I have noticed that the manufacturers of coffee makers and tea
makers seem to be inflating the number of cups by making the
cups ever smaller, so they can boast a "10 cup" or "12 cup" or
even "14 cup" capacity without actually spending the extra $1
to make a larger machine. Marketing departments treat capacity
as a selling point, and rarely disclose the actual capacity. In
this instance, the package and description say the capacity is
"6 cups," and do not disclose that the "cups" are actually
half-cups.
ICED COFFEE & ICED TEA
I bought this product because I wanted one machine that could
brew hot coffee, hot tea, iced coffee, and iced tea. The only
difference between brewing coffee and tea is in the filter, and
this product can make both - hot. The only difference between
hot and iced is that hot uses a "keep warm" plate under the
carafe, while iced uses ice to chill instead. So, one machine
should easily be able to make all four. This machine is
marketed for all four, including measurement markings on the
side for "Iced." However, unlike machines that are actually
designed to brew iced tea or iced coffee, you must not add ice
to this machine. Page 8 of the instructions say, "Do not add
ice to glass carafe. It may cause glass to break." The reason
is because the "Keep Warm" plate turns on with the machine,
heating the carafe from below, which would melt the ice and/or
crack the glass. Why would you want to "keep warm" tea or
coffee that you are planning to pour over ice? You wouldn't,
but there is no switch to disable the "Keep Warm" plate, so you
have to. This is what I mean by not thinking through the design
carefully. For an extra $1, Sanyo could have installed a switch
(or added a position to the main switch) to turn off the "Keep
Warm" plate for iced tea and iced coffee. Instead, they merely
marketed the machine for those uses, without actually designing
for them.
OTHER ISSUES
The machine includes (and requires) a replaceable charcoal
filter. Even if you already use filtered water, you must use a
Sanyo filter for this machine to operate. If they stop making
replacement filters, this product will be orphaned and you
won't be able to use it anymore.
The machine uses paper filters, size #2. Sanyo does not make a
reusable filter. Other reviews have reported success with some
#2 reusable filters from other manufacturers, but I found that
the Krups 052-33 filter was too big to fit. Some manufacturers
(e.g. Cuisinart) do not provide specific size numbers. If you
prefer a reusable filter, make sure to get #2 size from a store
with a good return policy in case it does not fit.
The machine includes a built-in grinder, but using it is a
separate step. So, it is not a mill & brew machine, where
you add coffee beans and water and it produces coffee. It is
more like having a separate grinder and coffee maker, except
that the grinder is attached so you have it handy and it
doesn't waste counter space.
However, I think the machine wastes counter space in a
different way. If miniaturization is not thought through
carefully enough, it can become counterproductive, wasting both
space and energy. This machine exemplifies that risk. If you
try to make iced tea or iced coffee, this machine will waste
electricity keeping them hot until brewing is complete and you
pour them over ice. Also, 12 ounces is a very small capacity
for iced tea, less than half what iced tea makers typically
brew. If you avoid those issues by buying a separate iced tea
maker, the two machines together will take twice as much
counter space as either alone, and you've bought two machines
to do the job of one.
Unfortunately, I have not yet found a machine that is really
designed to do all four functions that this machine is marketed
to do. If anyone does find one, please comment!"
- Actual review from Epinions.com
Customer Review #5
"Great coffee pot, it
has a very Japanese style about it, and it seems to be of
higher quality than the Mr Coffee machines which seem to die
after 1-2 years of daily use. All of the Sanyo items that I
have owned, from my rice cooker to my tv set have lasted a long
time. The coffee is plenty hot, but not too hot, and brews
relatively fast. It's also shockingly easy to keep this machine
clean- after 3 month of daily use it still looks brand new.
Features which are different from most coffee pots:
grounds container:
This sits in the pot itself, it is not attached to the
coffee-pot body, as with most. Most coffee pots seem like they
are permanently dirty, but the Sanyo method enables you to keep
the machine a LOT cleaner because the grounds aren't held right
against the water spout.
grinder:
I like having an attached grinder, it saves counter space, and
an outlet, and its the quietest grinder that I have ever
heard.
reservoir:
It detaches, so you don't spill water all over the machine
while emptying a carafe of water into it.
off-switch: I wish that it had auto-power-off. That cost it 1
star. Otherwise this machine is perfect!
tea-maker: I only used it once, but because the
tea-leaf-container is separate from the coffee-grinds-container
your tea does not end up tasting like coffee. (assuming you
clean the carafe!)
size: 6 4-oz cups. "
- Actual review from Amazon.com
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