If you’re not entirely familiar with the Viking coffee maker, don’t be surprised. Viking has only made a few models of drip coffee machines as a part of their overall kitchen collection. Viking is known for sleek, stainless steel designs to their kitchenware, and their coffee maker is no exception. The models they’ve released are beautiful, and match other Viking equipment well, though they can easily find a place in most modern kitchen collections. The fact that they don’t focus on coffee makers may shine through though, as they seem to be somewhat unreliable and so they may be a bit hit or miss on how well they work. Electronics that don’t work and water that doesn’t seem to heat hot enough are two of the more common complaints that Viking’s products have faced since their release in early 2011, making this $300 purchase one that you may want to carefully consider.
As any serious coffee enthusiast will tell you, the biggest problem with most drip machines is that they don’t get hot enough to properly brew the coffee. The water needs to reach around 190 degrees to extract the maximum amount of coffee from the beans without burning them – anything less and you’ll get a more diluted product. The Viking is specifically designed to heat water to the right temperature, and it succeeds overall. When properly used, the machine will do a much better job of producing coffee than the average machine.
I say properly used, and that’s because the Viking machine is a little more complex than a typical drip machine. For one, their models are side loaders, which means the coffee goes in through the side of the machine, rather than the top. This can help it fit a bit better for counters with low cabinets. If you have a model that makes french press then you have the extra parts for that, all of which will need to be cleaned thoroughly afterwards. There’s nothing new here for someone used to working with a step up from a basic drip machine, but if you’ve only ever used an automatic Mr. Coffee, then be aware that good coffee has a few more steps than just ‘pour in coffee, turn on’.
The model I tried worked fine, but there are a number of reviews online about how the machines seem to be almost hit or miss when delivered. It’s a little unsettling when a $300 machine has as many bad reviews as good reviews, so if you like the look and want to try it out you probably will want to go to a store in your area where you can see the product and return it if there are problems. Be sure to take it home, use it, and make sure everything seems okay. This is a large investment, one that should last you longer than a year or two. Maybe Viking is trying to get the bugs worked out of their manufacturing, but for now, I would be hesitant to buy the machine until I was a little more assured that it would work. Though on the other hand, if I knew the machine was going to work as it was supposed to, I would not hesitate to recommend it.