Russell Hobbs Chester Grind and Brew 22000 review

The Russell Hobbs Chester Grind and Brew 22000 gives a lot of coffee choices for a reasonable price. It’s easy to use and produces a delicious brew, so take a look to see whether or not it’s the right kitchen appliance for you.

Want to know what other types of coffee machines you can get? Check out our list of the best coffee machines, or pick up a cheap one with our recommended Black Friday coffee machine deals. 

Price and availability

At £58.99 (around $75), this is certainly a far cry from some of the extortionate coffee machines that you can invest in, providing that you’re just looking for a standard machine that produces filter coffee and no other extras. Plus, this is still an appliance that will give you a better cup of joe than a pot of instant coffee would.

UK readers can get the Chester Grind and Brew from Amazon, AO.com and Very. It’s not currently available in the US, though Amazon UK may be able to do international shipping for it depending on where you’re based. 

Design and build quality

The overall look of the Chester Grind and Brew is sleek and professional, with a monochrome exterior, a clear digital screen and large buttons. Due to its multi-functional purposes, the Grind and Brew isn’t exactly the most compact coffee machine in the market, so probably not a good option if you have limited counter space.

This coffee machine comes with a grinding mill and filter where you can add in your coffee of choice – just be sure to set it on the right mode (either grind and brew, or just brew) depending on what type you’re making. The grinding of the beans is a little bit on the loud side, but that’s to be expected really. The actual brewing process is super quiet and unobtrusive. 

You save on paper filters with this coffee machine, as it comes with a permanent filter that you can easily remove to clean whenever you wish. Reloading this was on occasion a little fiddly, but becomes easier with practice.

You can choose between your preference of grind (coarsely ground to fine) with a choice of five different settings – which can also correlate to the number of cups you want. The manual includes a handy guide to the appropriate amount of water that you should add to the machine and how many scoops of coffee to use depending on how many cups you want – twelve is the max.

You can also pick between three different strengths for the brew, which will slow the process down to give a stronger taste of coffee. The buttons are clearly marked and easy to use.

The Chester Grind and Brew comes with a digital clock that does a lot more than just tell the time. You can set a program that will set the brewing process for a certain time. The machine also comes with quiet brew technology so it doesn’t disturb your sleep, though of course we recommend only timing the machine during quiet hours if you’re not grinding beans.

Wanting to come back for multiple cups of coffee in a short period of time? The 22000 comes with a warming plate that can keep your brew warm for up to 40 minutes. Although the fresher your coffee, the nicer the taste overall, but at least it won’t be lukewarm or (god forbid) cold.

The only niggle I had with this feature is that you can’t change a timer setting on the warm plate once it’s set. So if you set it for ten minutes – but then get held up in a meeting – you can’t change that. It would have been a nice bonus to have this flexibility.

Does the Chester Grind and Brew give a good cup of coffee?

Simply? Yes. For a basic cup of black coffee, this produces a real smooth brew that’ll do the job. It also gives an accessible route into experimenting with various beans – so you can try out different flavours and strengths to find your preferred taste. As we said before, the fresher the better with this – but a warmed cup can still hit the spot.

If you’re in the mood for more fancy coffee like cappuccinos, lattes or mochas, then you’d need a separate milk frother for this. Or alternatively, you should take a look at a pod-based machine like the Lavazza Deséa.

Verdict

For a reasonable price tag, you get quite a capable machine with the Russell Hobbs Chester Grind and Brew 22000. Whether you want to use beans or ground coffee, you can get a strength and smoothness to suit your taste.

It had a solid build quality and the controls are easy to use when setting your various modes, making it an ideal coffee machine for a beginner. The coffee quality was very good, especially when it was fresh from the pot.

The lack of flexibility with changing the warming plate timer was slightly disappointing, and the mechanisms were a little awkward at times, but those minor details cannot take away from the fact that this is a strong contender in the coffee machine market.