Keurig B60 Special Edition Gourmet Single-Cup Home-Brewing System
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Keurig B60 Special Edition Gourmet Single-Cup Home-Brewing System
Customer Review: Couldn't be easier! Perfect for small households
Summary: 5 Stars
This Keurig single-cup coffee maker is great for people who want American-style coffee made fresh with each cup, although you'll need to have the counter space for it to keep it set up all the time. Because water gets pumped immediately through the machine upon pressing one of the buttons, the ease of this machine is lost unless the water reservoir is kept filled and ready to brew.
For brewing, simply insert a pod/K-cup and select the serving size. In less than a minute, you'll have a hot, forced water-brewed cup of coffee. Tthe unit has three buttons that correspond to the desired size of the cup: small (demi-tasse), medium, and large. Since the amount of coffee in each pod remains constant, the size also determines strength of the brew. I prefer the middle size because the large is too weak for my tastes and the small produces too little coffee. (If you are looking for espresso and cappuccino, try Nespresso D290 Concept Espresso and Coffeemaker for similar ease of use and better coffee.)
If you drink a lot of coffee, this coffee maker may not be for you since it can be expensive per cup. If your household doesn't drink a lot, however, then it saves the waste of having to brew more cups than you want. The good news is that the K-cups come in a variety of brands and coffees. In addition, you can brew teas (try the Twinings teas) or hot chocolate.
I recommend the following coffees: Caribou Blend K-Cup Single-Serving Coffee 108 ct., Timothy's World Coffee, Midnight Magic, Extra Bold, K-Cups for Keurig Brewers, 24-Count Boxes (Pack of 2), Timothy's World Coffee, Colombian, Decaffeinated, K-Cups for Keurig Brewers, 24-Count Boxes (Pack of 2), Twinings English Breakfast Tea, K-Cups for Keurig Brewers, 25-Count Boxes (Pack of 2), Twinings Earl Grey Tea K-Cups, 25-Count Box (Pack of 2), Green Mountain K-Cup Single-Serving Coffee 108-ct.- Sumatran Reserve, and Timothy's World Coffee, Colombian, Decaffeinated, K-Cups for Keurig Brewers, 24-Count Boxes (Pack of 2)
-- Debbie Lee Wesselmann
Customer Review: Love It But - Our Dissatisfaction Grows but Support Good
Summary: 2 Stars
We've been using ours for about 3 months. We love the idea of the Keurig and really like being able to choose which type of coffee we'll brew on a per-cup basis. In operation the Keurig is fast, especially after the first 3-4 minute warm-up in the morning. The single K-cups are a neat and clean way to brew ground coffee. As I said, we really like the IDEA of this coffe maker - the execution by Keurig, not so much.
Our dissatisfaction stems from inconsistent operation. To wit, after about 3 months our brewer has begun to fail to have hot water ready when it says "Ready to Brew." We have wasted several K-cups with cold water being used by the brewer. Then we figured out what was going on. Nowadays when we first turn the unit on in the morning it may go immediately to "ready" status without heating the water. We have learned to turn it off and back on and see if it starts to heat the water (you can hear it heating) or again goes straight to "Ready." If it does we just keep turning it off and back on until we hear the water beginning to heat up. So, this work-around is no big deal EXCEPT that every time it turns back on it pumps a little more water into the heating reservoir and that means when it finally DOES heat up and is really "Ready to Brew" you better have a BIG mug in place because it is going to pump ALL of that extra water through the K-cup and into your mug.
11JAN2010 - Update - I've dropped the rating to 2 stars because our unit continues to go downhill. This morning it began the day, when I turned it on, by simultaneously pumping water back into the reservoir AND out the brew spout (where there was NO cup yet). No big deal as the unit has a small catch tray which did not overflow. I called Keuring support and the 2 people I spoke to were very kind and courteous but the answer to my problem call was to clean out the two needles using a paperclip. I explained that the unit was barely 3 months old, we've used only bottled distilled water and I could see daylight through the bottom needle but I did what they asked. I'll wait until it fails again (likley tonight or tomorrow) and give them another call and proceed trying to get a replacement. I was assured that if the unit needed to be replaced they would take care of that for me. We'll see.
13JAN2011 - Yep, still going downhill and pickin' up speed. Unit now will not brew about 95% of the time and all that happens is the screen lights up and we can hear the pump running but not heating or brewing or water moving or anything.
Called service the second time this morning and they are sending a new unit to replace ours. All people I have dealt with have been very courteous. Fingers are crossed that the replacement unit (a model B65 - newer/improved?) will work longer.
Customer Review: Outstanding Single-Cup Coffee Maker
Summary: 4 Stars
We've had out Keurig B60 for over a week now, and have gone through dozens of K-Cups so far. I bought one for the third floor office area here at work, which is a long way from the over-crowded and inconveniently-located coffee maker downstairs. Now, people on the second floor are regularly coming upstairs to visit us!
The B60 is fun to use, and operation of the unit is extremely simple. There are no messy coffee filters to exchange; K-Cups are self-contained, single serving coffee filters. We fill the reservoir once a day using filtered water. Using the "lock and load" method, a K-Cup is inserted into an easily-accessible chamber by using a very functional lever right there on the front of the unit (the silver "rim" you see on the black top of the unit). Within twenty or thirty seconds of pushing a button, you have a steaming hot cup of joe.
So far, the only issues with the maker is the amount of coffee that goes into your cup. There are three buttons you can choose from when brewing; tea-cup size, coffee-cup size, and travel-mug size. So far, I think the difference between each may be about two ounces of water; in fact, the travel mug size seems to fill a coffee cup to a "just-about-right" level to still fit creamer and sweetener. The strength of the coffee is therefore a bit stronger with the tea cup selection (about a half a "regular-sized" cup of coffee), and a little weaker with the travel mug selection. All in all, this is not really a big deal; knowing the slight differences, I think it gives us options concerning the strength of our coffee. We seem to prefer using the travel mug size in our average-sized coffee mugs.
The other thing is the price and availability of the K-Cups, which seems a wee bit steep so far. We looked around online and found one company that sells 25-count boxes of a wide variety of K-Cups for about $10.50 a box, which breaks down to .42 cents a cup. I don't think it's too bad, really, considering the coffee you're getting is good, hearty gourmet, and the flavor one person chooses doesn't have to be the flavor the next person is forced to drink.
Overall, the B60 is very attractive, well made, and a fun, smart alternative to a 12-cup maker of coffee which might sit on a burner for hours, and might have decaf when you want caf, or french vanilla when you want regular coffee. Also, we ordered K-Cups of chai tea, green tea, and ghiardelli hot chocolate, so you're not just limited to coffee variants. Great for visitors!
I'd give the B60 4.5 stars if I could, but I still think a 4 is a better discriptor than a 5. I really do recommend this model -- enthusiastically -- if you're looking for something with the features and flexibility I've mentioned above. We're very happy with it.
Customer Review: Worked a couple times, then no-ah-ah
Summary: 1 Stars
I'm not a coffee snob - in fact, I'm not much of a coffee fan. But, pretty much all the rest of my family and friends LOVE coffee and will congregate around the coffee pot like addicts looking for their next fix. So, I researched the different models and bought this unit thinking it was the best option for my situation. Used it a couple of times, thought it was pretty decent and actually had a few cups myself. The coffee was not super bitter, and the Gloria Jean's Butter Toffee was simply divine - very buttery and smooth. About two weeks after having the unit and using it sporadically (maybe once per day, if that), I came home from work to find the clock and all my settings were gone, emulating what appeared to be a power outage. None of the displays on the other appliances in the house were flashing, so I knew that wasn't the case, but chalked it up to a quirk, reset the settings and thought nothing more about it. The next morning when I got up - same thing. I again reset the unit and went to work, only to return home again to the same problem. The idea of repackaging and returning the machine seemed like a pain so I just accepted that I would not be able to set the timer or the clock - small price to pay for the convenience of this machine.
Another few days went by and on Saturday morning, I set the unit to brew the largest cup possible, only to have the cup fill about a quarter of the way, which was nowhere near the amount of coffee it should have produced. So I had to use a second K-cup, and at $10 (on sale) for a box of 18, that's alot of money being used on just one cup of coffee. This one produced even less coffee. So, I used another K-cup, and finally got a full cup. I then ran it with no coffee, thinking perhaps the unit just needed to be de-scaled and/or cleaned. This accomplished nothing. Frustrated, I gave up for the day.
The next day, I again tried to make the largest cup of coffee, but again the unit produced only a fraction of what it should have. When the unit tried to re-prime for the next cycle, I noticed that the water level was not decreasing, so I took the reservoir off, re-seated it, and then primed it again, but still the water level did not go down. I tried this a few more times, to no avail. At this point, with no water running through the machine, it was no longer usable. Problem after problem after problem caused me to finally give up, and I took the machine back to the store and got my money back. These single brew coffee makers cost way too much money to have the poor track records they all seem to have. I wish the companies would get their R & D act together and improve their technological track record before releasing a product with this many problems, as many of the other reviewers have noted.
Customer Review: A perfect solution for coffee lovers
Summary: 5 Stars
We recieved the Keurig as an early Christmas gift from my Mom... and have been in love with it ever since! My wife and I are both regular coffee drinkers, and we prefer higher-quality coffee when we can get it. With the Keurig system you can grab a cup any time you want, and every cup is perfectly brewed. I find that we're not wasting as much coffee as we used to, since we're only brewing one cup at a time. And the tea & hot chocolate options are a favorite for our kids. Great product, great convenience!
THE PROS:
- Convenience. The water is always hot, and second cup is always moments away.
- Quality. Every cup of coffee is brewed consistently well. No cleaning of residue on the drip machines, for example. Also the variety of available coffees are all good quality that we have had so far... think coffee shop vs. folgers.
- Variety. Oh, the variety! So many blends and styles to choose from including the coffees and teas... we're constantly trying new styles. And the variable cup size option lets you vary the strength of the final brew to your preference.
- Flexibility. Need one cup? Done. Need two? Done. No need to put on half a pot of coffee to get a single cup!
THE CONS:
- It is more expensive than the ol' reliable drip machine. Depending on the sales you find, you are paying 30-50 cents per cup based on style and available offers.
- If you like a bigger cup, you can only get a maximum of a 10-oz cup from one K-cup. You can try to run the same cup twice, but you lose all flavor. We have found, however, that we don't need the larger cups because we're drinking a higher quality coffee to start with.
- If you're having a party or dinner, everyone needs to be a little patient. You can't obviously make a whole pot at once, and the machine does need to heat up between cups. Expect a delay of 30-60 seconds between cups.
BUY THIS IF YOU...
- Like higher quality coffee, and don't mind paying a little more to get it (it's still cheaper than your local coffee house, and it's on your counter).
- Like the convenience of a one cup at a time system.
- Like variety in your coffee.
- Have coffee, tea, and hot chocolate fans in the house. One solution for all three, on demand. Lovely.
DON'T BUY THIS IF YOU...
- Like to drain a pot of coffee at a time. You won't feel that you're getting the value.
- Are cost-sensitive. You will be paying between 30-50 cents a cup based on the deals you can find on k-cups... a lot more than you pay for what you get out of a can of Maxwell House.
Hope this helps your buying decision!