Keurig B-70 B70 Platinum Single-Cup Home Brewing System
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Keurig B-70 B70 Platinum Single-Cup Home Brewing System
Customer Review: Great Coffee Maker
Summary: 4 Stars
I absolutely love my Keurig, and I'll tell you why...I'll also tell you why I'm only giving it 4 out of 5 stars.
I bought the Keurig when I decided to purchase a traditional electric coffee maker, but the good quality coffee makers were all the large 12-cup kind, and the smaller ones weren't very good. Amazon reviews pointed me to the Tassimo and Keurig pod-type machines, which turned out to be the perfect solution.
First off, I think it is a well-built machine. After a couple of years of use (granted, I don't use mine every single day), it's still running strong. I like the aesthetic styling of it, and it fits okay into the tiny amount of counter space I have available. I like being able to make a single cup of coffee for myself easily (I can even set the timer to have the hot water ready when I get out of bed, so coffee is instantaneous), or fill up the tank and have guests each pick their own drink, tea and cocoa (haven't tried the cocoa yet) included.
As for the quality of the coffee, I've had many good ones, but you have to find what works for you. Not all of the pods will brew to the same strength. If you like your coffee strong, or want to fill a giant commuter mug, try the "Bold" varieties. (Or maybe 2 pods for a huge mug). Personally, I went out of my way to find a smaller thermal container that is only about 12 oz., since I don't drink my coffee by the gallon. But even the larger mugs were easily filled with a good strength of coffee when using the bolder blends. My current favorite is Coffee People Donut Shop, but I'm also a fan of the Green Mountain Bold varieties.
I have also bought and used the refillable K-cup, which is not bad, and I still think cleaning that out is easier than dealing with wet, drippy filters full of coffee grounds or even my old French Press. The trick is to find a coffee that works for your preference for brew in this size.
Now, for the reasons it gets less than a perfect 5-star review:
1. The less than "green" aspect of the Keurig: I hate throwing away another disposable plastic item each time you use a pod...I'm pretty conscious of the amount of consumer waste I generate, and this works against that. (The reason I bought the reusable K-cup). On the other hand, I'm still probably generating less trash than back when I went to Starbuck's and threw away a double layered cup, lid, and java jacket each day...
I saw one review complaining that it's on all the time...well, turn the damned thing off, there is a power button. I actually unplug mine between uses, so I can't say power-consumption is an issue.
2. I have a little trouble really cleaning the tank. I have found that if I have not used the machine for a while and left water in it, it will start to grow algae (?) in the little hard-to-reach corners of the water tank. These have proven difficult to clean out, and I finally resorted to buying pipe cleaners that I can bend and fit into the areas the sponge and bottle brush can't quite get to. Not a deal-breaker, but kind of a pain.
That being said, I was still hard-pressed not to give it a full 5 stars, because I do love it so much. I have recommended this to others, and I'm pleased to see the popularity of these rising, as I can now find the cups more readily available, when I'm not filling my own.
Customer Review: It CAN Make a Great Cup of Coffee - But It Has Its Flaws
Summary: 4 Stars
Don't believe the people telling you that this machine is only capable of making "coffee water." The Keurig can deliver a great cup of coffee. You just have to know what you're doing.
My work had the commercial version of the Keurig and kept us flush with a wide variety of K-cups, so I felt I understood well what I was getting into when I bought this machine. I was mostly right: the B70 is capable of making an excellent cup of coffee, the only problem is that in order to do this, you end up utilizing a fairly narrow range of its available options. First, cup size has to be the second smallest, producing a European sized cup of coffee. Second, you have to be using a decent bold blend: my personal favorite is Emeril's Big Easy Bold - if you get a weak cup of coffee using this stuff, then there really is something wrong with your machine. In this regard, the B70 is right in line with its commercial siblings, which don't allow you to select your cup size and - sure enough - they brew small cups.
However, that is just when using K-cups. The available filter basket is a whole 'nother ball of wax. If you use the filter basket, and buy a great strong, superfine blend (my personal favorite: Seattle's Best "Post Alley Blend") you can get an excellent cup of coffee on the machine's BIGGEST cup setting. No kidding. I agree with other reviewers that the filter basket probably ought to be included, but I imagine there is a profit motive for Keurig to get you to use K-cups. I don't anymore - I prefer the bigger cups I can make with the filter.
So really, the machine can't be faulted for not being able to deliver a great cup of coffee - it just requires some tinkering and thought. I give the unit a 4-star rating because of the other things I've experienced - the "slightly flawed" bit in the title of this review. I use nothing but RO filtered water in my unit, and yet 6-months in, it's asking me to descale it and is struggling to make a half a cup of coffee. The de-scaling process requires an entire day essentially, so I've been putting it off, and running the brew process twice to get my full cup of coffee. I'm sure this is a bad idea, and I will be de-scaling soon, but I just don't think I ought to have to so soon. Also, the unit's "operating system" - such as it is - is not quite ready for prime time. It will frequently get "stuck" in brew modes that it won't let you out of, and you end up having to unplug it to "reboot" the system. I think that all these problems might ultimately have engineering solutions in later versions of the machine.
All that said, I couldn't live without mine. What with the price dropping to $159, I personally think this unit is more attractive than ever. If I had one last wish for my Keurig, it's that its water reservoir would be about twice as big. The B70 has the biggest reservoir of the home models, and I still end up having to fill it every day.
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Edit After De-scale - Turns out, the unit didn't need to be de-scaled after all. After de-scaling properly, it was still performing poorly. It was the filter basket... too gunked up with coffee residue. After procuring a new basket, BAM - everything works flawlessly. So, FYI, if you use the filter basket, you need to replace it every 6 months or so.
Customer Review: Made a coffee drinker out of me
Summary: 5 Stars
I've long been a tea fanatic and had more or less given up coffee drinking once I finished up my college days. I had an addiction to expensive lattes and though I have a nice espresso machine, cleanup was such a pain that I was usually happier to run out to my nearest coffee shop and spend $4 a cup. Not any longer.
I admittedly bought this machine on something of a whim. When I did drink coffee at home, I used a French press but this wasn't effective for entertaining so when I bought a house, I wanted a regular coffee maker. I looked at a few different models but couldn't settle on anything. What initially sold me on this machine was its ability to make iced beverages and the fact that it could purportedly make not only coffee, but tea and hot chocolate as well.
I've only owned the machine for a few weeks but, since then, I have been drinking at least two cups of coffee a day, something I never did before I owned it. I simply love the iced drink feature and I enjoy my iced coffees so much that I've stopped making trips to the coffee shop. While the K-cups aren't exactly economical, they are definitely a lot less expensive than a cup of your typical coffee shop coffee so I know that, in the long run, the machine will save me money.
My favorite things about this machine are the ease of using the K-cups and the wide variety of coffees available. I like to have a lot of different flavors and blends and my variety of K-cups takes up less space than buying bags of coffee would. I also really like the idea that when I have company, I can set out my K-cup carousel (yes, I like my machine so much that I'm purchasing accessories for it) and they can select their own flavor and type of coffee. I am also admittedly a coffee-making idiot and I never can seem to get the proportions right when I measure out ground coffee so I like that the machine takes that guesswork away.
As for tea, I've so far only tried the Bigelow organic green and it was decent but not a fabulous cup. I'll have to try some other tea varieties but I suspect that I will likely use the machine only when I'm in a hurry and desperate for a cup of tea. Otherwise, I'll likely stick to loose leaves and my adjustable water heater as this makes for a much better cup of tea. On the hot chocolate front, I was a bit disappointed as well. I initially tried using the second largest setting and this made for a very watery cup. The taste is better on the smallest cup setting but the hot chocolate still needs to be stirred pretty vigorously so I'm not sure that making it in the Keurig is all that much more convenient than simply adding hot water to a packet.
I have to say that I've also noticed a sort of plastic tang to my water. It wasn't as strong with the tea but was definitely noticeable with the hot chocolate and with hot coffee. With the iced coffee, I don't notice it. I'll probably try running the reservoir through my dishwasher (as the unit says that it is top-rack safe) and see if this solves that problem.
Overall, though, I am truly love this machine. It was considerably more expensive than the other machines I was looking at but I feel it was money well-spent.
Customer Review: Run away! Don't walk....RUN away!!!
Summary: 1 Stars
UPDATE 11/22/10: Replacement machine arrived within 4 days. Paperwork in the box indicates 1 year warranty still. The warranty info on the Keurig site for this model says 30 days. Not sure why the discrepancy. I am already having problems with the machine short-cupping. And there is a nasty burnt smell/taste on every cup (even though I lowered brew temp to lowest possible). While their customer service definitely seems above average (which is saying something these days) I just don't see the value in constantly replacing these machines.
I have owned the Keurig B70 since December 22, 2009. I bought it from Amazon. Within 2 months of owning it, the machine started turning itself off after brewing a cup. This continued for about a month and then worked fine for a month or two. For a short period of time (maybe 4 weeks) the machine started short-cupping (Keurig's term, not mine. They actually have a TERM for this!). It would brew less than a full cup and then shut off in the middle of the cycle. Always, it could be turned back on after 5 or 10 minutes.
Today, 10 months and 3 weeks after purchase, the machine shut off after brewing my cup of coffee (I bless it for brewing that final cup for me) and it will not turn back on. It is toast. It's been 9 hours and the machine is gone. Dead. I called Keurig and yes, they are sending me a new machine because "it cannot be repaired." Kind of incredible that they know it cannot be repaired without even seeing it. Smells like a known problem to me. On a side note, at my own cost I have to send them back the K-cup holder as "proof" that I owned this one. I guess the fact that they had me in their system for the last 10 months proves nothing.
So I received the email that they are sending the replacement. For whatever reason, they are sending a B76 instead of the B70 I purchased. I haven't figured out the difference yet (they look the same) but I'm working on it. The big thing I noticed though was the warranty. This machine only comes with a 30 day warranty. Let me repeat that THE MACHINE ONLY COMES WITH A 30-DAY WARRANTY! I thought they were stiffing me on the warranty because it is a replacement, but no I've checked Keurig's store and ALL their machines now carry a 30 day warranty.
Keurig has been replacing these machines hand over fist. Everyone is raving about their great customer service. But now it looks like now they've hit the bottom. Instead of improving the product and fixing a known defect they are going to shorten the warranty. Deplorable.
I will take their replacement machine and use up my remaining K-cups. But when the machine dies (and I am sure that it will), I will replace it with something else. No way would I spend money on this machine again. I suspect that most of the positive reviews have come from people within the first month or two of owning it. I would love to see some 5 star reviews from people who have owned the machine 2 years or more. Anyone? Yeah...that's what I thought. Crickets....
Customer Review: Plenty strong coffee!
Summary: 5 Stars
I just got the B70 for Christmas and I am VERY happy with it. I use the second largest cup setting for all roasts. Jo Annes special blend and the coffee, although not extremely strong, is strong enough for me. I tried the same setting with two of the very dark roasted coffees, Newman's Own and Timothy's Midnight Magic, and it is PLENTY strong! Timothy's Midnight Magic is not only strong, it is one of the BEST tasting coffees I have ever tried... PERIOD, no bitterness, just rich taste!
As far as the noise is concerned, it is fairly quiet when priming for the next cup. Overall, I am now able to have the best tasting coffee I have ever had at home... and I have always bought whole coffee beans from Starbucks and Trader Joe's... to grind at home with my burr grinder and the same at work. But the coffee I've tried so far with THIS machine all but blows away what I grind myself!
I am using nothing but distilled water, so descaling should never be an issue for me. Yes, it does add roughly 5 or 6 cents to the cost per cup, but I don't mind. Even home filtered water WILL leave mineral deposits behind that can damage the heating element... and descaling does NOT remove all mineral deposits.
I also use a piece of terrycloth towel between the cup and the chrome baseplate, which protects the baseplate from scratches and eliminates any noise caused by the machine vibrating against my coffee mug.
Soon I'll have the reusable coffee filter for this machine and I am anxious to taste the results!
UPDATE January 17th, 2008
I have had my B70 for almost a month now and am very happy with the brewed coffee. I did have one problem which occured this morning. The machine only brewed half a normal cup this morning and there were a lot of coffee grounds in the cup. The outlet needle got clogged. If you attempt to brew a cup of coffee and your machine only gives you a small amount... check to see if you have coffee grounds in your coffee. What happens is that when the bottom needle clogs, it forces the cup to overflow and the machine pump turns off. Clean the hole next to the needle at the bottom of your k-cup holder with a regular paper clip. It works! I think that on rare occassions, the paper filter breaks inside the k-cup, thus releasing coffee grounds into the outlet needle. I still think this is the best single cup coffee server on the market!!
Update January 13, 2010
Two years with no problems... still love it!
Final update January 8th 2010
Got home last night from overseas vacation over the Holidays. Found the brewer broken. The pump would suck in the water, but put none out. Now my mother stays with us in our home and does use the machine, but she has problems with anything that has more than an off and on switch! It t she may have done something wrong with it. In any case 3 years is pretty good for any coffee brewer nowadays, so I will be replacing it withh either the another B70, or getting the newest stainless steel model.
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