The Sunbeam coffee machine. Doesn’t that just sound like some delicious morning enjoying your coffee on the porch as the sun wakes up and basks you in its warm yellow glow. Maybe I’m confusing the name with an image from a commercial. But what a great name for an appliance company. Today we’re going to talk about the Sunbeam coffee machine or Sunbeam coffee makers as there are 2 options currently as I write this. It’s interesting as you dig deeper into a company’s history how colorful they often appear. Just like humans really.
Background on the Sunbeam coffee machine
Sunbeam was started in 1897 as the Chicago Flexible Shaft Company which actually produced horse trimming and sheep shearing machinery. It wasn’t until 1910 that they came out with a “Sunbeam” product which was the Princess Electric Iron. But it was later still until they formally changed their name to Sunbeam in 1946. Their most popular products have been the Mixmaster mixer, the Sunbeam CG waffle iron and the Coffeemaster coffee makers from the sixties. In the 90’s, Sunbeam takes some beating when it becomes evident that they’re involved in massive accounting fraud. The SEC sues 5 of Sunbeam’s executives as well as a person from their accounting firm Arthur Andersen. See this Wikipedia article for more details.
In the early 2000’s they emerge from bankruptcy as the privately held AHI or American Household Inc. As of 2004 they are a subsidiary of the Jarden Corporation. All very well and good you say but this is supposed to be about the Sunbeam coffee machine. I know, I know, and this is where we start to talk about them.
Recommended Sunbeam coffee machine
The first Sunbeam coffee maker I want to talk about is the 12 cup programmable coffee maker currently going by the product number of Sunbeam TXG23. At around $20 you can’t find many cheaper programmable coffee makers. But also for around twenty bucks you shouldn’t expect the world. This is a great entry level coffe maker that is available at Amazon but has mixed reviews. I don’t like the fact that it has a glass carafe but then most coffee machines do. It is programmable so you can wake up to freshly brewed coffee every morning and it does have an automatic 2 hour shut off in case you forget. There is also brewing pause ‘n serve so you can interupt the brewing cycle if you just can’t wait for your first cup of coffee in the morning. I wouldn’t say this is the best coffee machine out there and it’s not a free coffee machine even though it is practically free because the price is so low. But I don’t think you can go wrong with this Sunbeam coffee machine for the price.
Now Sunbeam doesn’t make a cappuccino coffee machine and these certainly aren’t Jura coffee machines. The Jura coffee machine is more high end like the DeLonghi coffee machines, but you definitely could put the Sunbeam coffee machine in the same ballpark as say the Melitta coffee maker, the Zojirushi coffee maker or even the Breville coffe maker otherwise known as the Breville coffee machine.
The other Sunbeam coffee machine I want to talk about is the Sunbeam HDX23 Heritage Design 12 cup programmable coffee maker also available at Amazon. This isn’t one of those grind and brew coffee makers, but it does have a fancy design with a fancy digital display. In addition to the features in the previously mentioned Sunbeam coffee machine, this one has a permanent filter so you don’t need to buy paper coffee filters. It also has a removable water reservoir which is a handy feature so you can bring that over to your sink to fill it up.
Now having said that, this Sunbeam coffee coffee machine carries a price tag of around $70 which is quite a bit more than the Sunbeam TXG23 for just a couple of additional features. I wouldn’t recommend it at this price range as their are other, better known brands that can be bought for 70 to 100 dollars. For example, Saeco coffee makes some great Saeco coffee machines that can be had for around a hundred bucks. But if you’re looking for a cheap and inexpensive coffee machine then I don’t think you could do much worse than getting the Sunbeam coffee machine TXG23.