Keurig B60 Special Edition Gourmet Single-Cup Home-Brewing System
by Keurig
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List Price: Our Price: $139.49 You Save: $50.46 (27%) Availability: Usually ships in 2-3 business days Buy Used: from $94.99 (click here) Category: Kitchen See more product details |
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Keurig B60 Special Edition Gourmet Single-Cup Home-Brewing System
Customer Review: Just what the Doctor Ordered. Clean and Convenient!
Summary: 5 Stars
Tired of cleaning out the coffee pot and grinds? Tired of waiting 10-15 minutes for the coffee to brew? How about your guests ... are they tired of waiting or tired of being forced to conform to one brand/flavor of coffee? Then this is the answer.
SIMPLICITY
You literally pop in your k-cup, close the top and hit a button. Within 30-60 seconds your coffee is brewed and ready. Choose between 6, 8 and 10 ounce sizes. The only effort required from you aside from the button press and k-cup selection is to keep the water container filled, which couldn't be any easier with two options: open the lid and pour water in, or take the entire water tank with you to the tap.
NO MESS
If you are like me, you grow weary of cleaning our your coffee pot, filter tray and grinder. The Keurig machine gets rid of that part of the process. All brewing and filtering is self-contained within the k-cup and so all you do is toss the k-cup when you are done. As for as cleanliness goes, this is fantastic because other people aren't putting their hands all over your filter, grins or coffee pot.
GUESTS
Guests absolutely love this machine. You can offer them a variety of coffees or teas to choose from. Finally, you can allow your guests to have coffee whenever they feel like it (upon arrival, during a meal or after dessert) without having to go through the hassle of brewing a pot for everyone. Guests love picking out a brand/flavor. Some people like that "Jet Fuel" bold, other people like the decaf or flavored coffee. It's actually entertaining as well for the guests - some of them will try it just for the novelty of it.
DRAWBACKS
There are a few drawbacks, although none of them are major issues in my book.
First, using k-cups is a bit more expensive. This is the case with any single-serve type product, especially products designed for speed or convenience. Anyone buying this machine is probably willing to pay more for each cup of coffee. On the bright side, you aren't dumping out half a pot of coffee all the time or drinking old coffee.
Second, k-cups are not great for the environment because they are made from plastics and disposed of - one for each cup you make. Compared to regular coffee machines that simply use paper filters, this is a downside. I still find it worth my time and I would like to continue to press Keurig and other manufacturers to come up with a better environmentally-safe solution. Until then, this is the way to fly for me.
Customer Review: A great machine - By Wife
Summary: 5 Stars
I received this coffee maker from my husband for Christmas 2010. I absolutely love it. The machine is very simple to use and is much cheaper than my previous coffee shop habit! I have been trying all kinds of different coffees and brands to find what I like and have found many. I have read reviews saying that the coffee brewed is watery. I have not found this to be a problem, and I always brew with the largest mug size. Coffee strength is definitely a personal preference. I know many people who make coffee in a drip filter with double the grounds recommended for the amount of water or they double brew it. If this is how you like your coffee, this may not be the machine for you. Here are my pros and cons.
Pros:
* Very simple to use (fill with water, place mug under drip, open lid, insert k-cup, close lid, push appropriate mug size, wait a few seconds, enjoy)
* Easy to clean machine
* Clock with brew timer and auto-off functions are great for rushed mornings
* Easy clean up (much easier than a filtered drip brewer, take out k-cup and throw away...done)
* Large variety of beverages (black teas, fruit teas, apple cider, hot cocoa, spiced chai, iced coffees, flavored coffees, caffeinated coffees (light, medium, dark, bold, extra bold), decaffeinated coffees, etc)
* K-cups are cheaper than getting coffee at most coffee shops
* Brews very quickly (My morning routine has become: grab a mug, put in a k-cup, hit the right size, grab car keys and wallet, put on coat, grab mug, walk out door)
* Run without a k-cup for hot water (much faster than the microwave or a teapot)
* Holds enough water to last me a week worth of morning coffees
* No wasting grounds due to estimating the number of cups needed, only make the number of mugs you need (a second serving is quick)
Cons:
* K-cups are more expensive than filtered coffee (but cheaper than coffee shops)
* Machine is too tall to open while under my cabinets, check measurements (I just have it pulled out a bit from the wall so I can open the lid, and I store the K-cups behind it, no biggie)
* Does not come with a filter for ground coffee ($15-$20 dollars for this)
* K-cups can quickly become clutter without organization
* Only one cup at a time is brewed (but I believe that they are brewed quick enough to even prepare a few cups for guests within the same time as (or less than) a drip brewer)
Customer Review: Only two negatives
Summary: 5 Stars
A friend of mine had splurged and bought herself this coffee pot. She was showing it off to me and I thought it was pretty neat. But I was dubious about the upkeep cost (the k-cups). It is technically cheaper to get a normal coffee pot and brew from regular grounds. However, a lot of us (including myself) throw half the pot down the drain because we just don't drink that much. The solution to this, if you don't want to buy the cups, is to buy the Keurig My K-Cup Reusable Coffee Filter in which you can put your preferred ground beans.
By the way... kudos to the reviewer that broke down the costs for regular coffee, k-cups, and going to a coffee shop. That review is probably what tipped me over the edge of my decision making.
A couple of weeks later I was telling my husband about this coffee pot and he was impressed! Our problem has been that he wakes up so much earlier than I do (4 a.m. vs. 8 a.m.) and it is not worth it for him to brew just a cup for himself in the morning or brew an entire pot that sits there for 4 hours burning. This single cup serving is the perfect solution for him while I can continue to brew a pot for myself when I wake in the morning.
After reading the reviews of all the coffee pots and different coffees, this is what I ended up choosing as a Father's Day gift for him. I chose this one over the other Keurig models because of the 9.5 oz button that the others lack. The day it got here, he promptly brewed four different cups of coffee. I can tell I've made a great choice. We use it every day.
There are only two negatives about this product that I've found. First, unlike many appliances that are power savers in one way or another, this product is constantly on. It keeps (I'm guessing) 10 ounces of water in a warming reservoir so that when you push that brew button, it is ready to go. If you want to save on your power bill, make sure you use the on/off button or the auto on/off feature. The downside of that is that it takes 5 mins or so for the water to warm up once you turn it back on. The second negative is not one I've experienced but one I was warned about. At the bottom of the refillable reservoir is a rubber gasket that may eventually fail the more times you remove the reservoir. I've avoided this by using my retracting kitchen sink nozzle to refill it instead of removing the entire thing.
Customer Review: Fresh Coffee on Demand
Summary: 5 Stars
We had an industrial version of this machine at work and everyone loved it (then the office moved and it didn't come with us).
The idea is that you brew each cup of coffee as you want it, so it's always fresh. This works very well for coffee and tea. You can also just use the machine as a hot water source for use with broth, tea bags, or mate -- whatever. You just don't put a K-Cup into the holder when you press the button.
I've tried the hot chocolate but I'm not impressed. The water seems to flow through the K-Cup too quickly to dissolve the hot chocolate powder, and most of it ends up still in the K-Cup at the end of the brew cycle. Yes, you can open the cup and spoon the powder out, but it's just as easy to run water through the machine and then add your own cocoa. It's probably less expensive.
And speaking of expense, I've found that a cup of coffee averages 40-50 cents depending on what blends you buy and where you buy them. I don't drink cheap coffee like Folgers, Maxwell House, etc., so I don't find the cost to be out of line with the ground coffee that I buy on a regular basis. You'll have to decide what you consider to be expensive, but bear in mind that you'll probably waste less coffee, especially if you always pour out partial pots of undrank coffee at the end of the day.
Additionally, you can save electricity by turning the Keurig machine on only when you need it. It takes about 2-3 minutes to warm the water and make a cup of coffee. A brewer will take 10-15 minutes to brew a pot of coffee, and the warming plate will remain on for about 1-2 hours. So that's 3 minutes versus 70-135 minutes of electricity. It might not save tons of money, but it's something to consider if you're trying to conserve.
The only negative is finding K-Cups. I've actually bought them at Best Buy, Target, and Bed Bath and Beyond. But the selection is very limited. You will do much better and save money to buy K-Cups online. Amazon offers a fair range, but you can order from Keurig, which gives you the option of buying 5-cup packages so you can try different flavors and blends without having to purchases large boxes of something you might not like.
If I have one qualm, it's about adding more trash to deal with, but you can recycle the plastic K-Cups. I'm also considering opening them to throw the coffee grounds out in the yard for compost.
Customer Review: Makes Mornings Doable
Summary: 5 Stars
I've never been that huge of a coffee drinker. That was mainly because I hated making coffee. I would spill grounds everywhere, I hated washing it, and it took so long. i also wasted a ton of coffee even with a 4-cup coffeemaker. All I wanted was 1 cup. So I ended up wasting a lot of money at coffee shops.
I've been tempted by single pod coffee makers since they started popping up on the market but never really dared to take the plunge. After having a few cups of coffee from the Keurig I knew I had to get one.
I've only had my Keurig for about a month now and I wonder why I waited so long. The magic starts before I get out bed thanks to the timer that has the machine turned on and warmed up for me. Even if I'm half asleep I can still manage to pop in a cup and press a button and get a perfect cup of coffee. Some other reviewers said that it was too noisy but I haven't noticed any problem. There are plenty of things in the kitchen that are much louder. And I haven't had any neighbors complain about it yet. I've been using the Green Mountain Nantucket Blend and the largest setting and it's perfect for me. I don't really like dark roasts or overly strong coffee. The GM cups are what are primarily available at my grocery store. I also keep the Hazelnut around for my mother when she visits and she loves them.
Another thing that I love about my Keurig is the fact that I can make hot water so quickly. I can use it for ramen noodles and instant soup. I also drink a lot of hot chocolate. I know there are hot chocolate k-cups available but I like a big cup of hot chocolate and they were just too weak on the big setting. Plus using the instant packets are a lot cheaper since it's just instant cocoa in them anyways. I love the Celestial Seasonings Chai tea cups but again I often use Keurig just to make hot water and use my own tea bags.
At first I was concerned about the size of the Keurig on my tiny, tiny kitchen counter but it really doesn't take up as much space as I thought it would. Plus it's a beautiful machine and I love how the blue LED lights can lead me to it in the morning.
I loved my Keurig so much I ended up buying one for my parents for Christmas so I can use it whenever I visit them. And after 54 years of marriage they can finally stop arguing over how to make the coffee.