The Perfect Cup, from an Imperfect Machine

The SPINN Coffee Maker. Oh, where to begin. When it's good, it's GOOD. When it's bad, it's broken, and you can't fix it.

Why we bought it.

We drink coffee every day. We aren't Starbucks people. Mrs. Questionable and I drink it black, not too dark, not weak and watery. Good beans, good brew, hot and ready when we want it. After years of a boring drip machine and a metal carafe that finally gave out, we went coffee maker shopping. We liked the idea of per-cup, but the pod machines couldn't match the quality (or justify the cost). SPINN promised fresh-ground, fresh-brewed whole-bean coffee at the touch of a button, in the kitchen or from my phone, with an app that could switch from coffee to espresso to a menu of other drinks. What was not intriguing? $999. Ouch.

The bargain hunt.

So I did what I always do when price becomes an obstacle: I went looking for someone else's mistake. Hard to find on Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace, but a gently-used SPINN turns up regularly on eBay. Our first was about $500 shipped. We later added a second (also eBay) for about $600, and that newer unit plumbed directly into the water line, which is as close to coffee-on-demand as a kitchen gets.

When it works.

The app is great. The machine, when it's working, is great. Delicious fresh-ground hot coffee at the push of a button, and easy cleanup: dump the grounds, no filters. It needs periodic descaling, but the app tells you when, you add the solution, and it runs itself in about 40 minutes.

When it doesn't.

Once things go south, it's a dark and lonely road. Our second SPINN (the daily driver) started throwing periodic machine errors. Sometimes descaling cleared them. Sometimes you could Fonzie it with an unplug and replug. But sometimes that meant an hour of fussing, on a morning where you don't have an extra hour, and you really need a cup of coffee, and the Questionable Kids are giving you attitude before school, and Mrs. Questionable is on your case because your stupid expensive coffee machine isn't working, and SPINN support isn't getting back to you, and you bought it off eBay so you never registered the warranty.

SPINN support did eventually come through with a part and a link to a YouTube video to DIY that sumbitch. It still gave out. We pivoted back to the first SPINN, where we fill the water tank every day like peasants, and I feel like device failure is a question of when, not if.

The Mrs. Questionable Test.

Failed on reliability, passed on coffee. She'll tell you both in the same breath.

Would I buy another?

Not off eBay. I'd want the warranty and the support. But I'm also not ready to put $1,000 down on a device with a 3 to 4 year shelf life. We love it in theory and most of the time in practice. Caveat emptor.