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: Great coffee after six months
Summary: 5 Stars
I received this coffee maker for Christmas last year. Nobody else in the house drinks coffee, and I only need a cup or two in the morning to get me started. So a 10-cup pot was a bit overkill. The Jura line of makers is a bit more than I wanted anyone to spend on me for coffee. So I did the research between the "pods" and the Keurig K-cups. Each has positives and negatives, but in the end I went with Keurig because of the variety of coffees and the simplicity of operation.
Every single morning, I turn this unit on, then microwave some half and half to warm it up (otherwise the coffee gets cold too quickly). I put in a K-cup, usually Rainforest Espresso Timothy's World Coffee, Extra Bold Rainforest Espresso, K-Cups for Keurig Brewers, 25-Count Boxes (Pack of 2) because it just tastes wonderful. I pick the medium size and wait 30 seconds. The brewing is pretty quiet - just a bit of noise as the water is forced through the coffee. Now comes the "loud" part - when the water is pumped from the tank to the brewer. This can be a bit loud, and if any part of the machine is loose the vibration makes it even louder. But it lasts maybe ten seconds. Then that's it!
The coffee comes out hot and perfect every single time. I believe the only bad cup I've ever had was when I forgot to replace the K-cup and re-brewed it. That was pretty horrible. I'm actually drinking a cup now. If you want the coffee to stay hot for long, you solve the problem like you would with any other brewer. You buy a high-end insulated coffee cup like the Nissan Thermos Nissan Ultimate 14-Ounce Stainless-Steel Vacuum Travel Tumbler. With the lid on, I've had my Keurig coffee stay warm for several hours.
There is one downside of going with the K-cup system: buying the K-cups themselves. Only a couple of high-end retail stores carry any K-cups at all, and their selection is usually very limited. I've never seen a grocery store carry them. You need to buy them online. Don't mess around with the "basket" - it is sloppy and you won't get a perfect cup. Just order the cups! Although there are many online stores that carry K-cups, I tend to use Amazon because they always seem to have stock and the reviews are very helpful in selecting a winner. See my Rainforest Espresso link above for my favorite - it is also the favorite of every guest I've ever made coffee for.
Overall, I'd buy this unit again in a heartbeat. In fact I've bought a couple as gifts for friends and relatives who need a small amount of coffee and want the convenience.
Customer Review: Finally, good coffee!
Summary: 5 Stars
First, some background: my wife and I have been searching for a good coffee maker since our Delonghi died about 2 years ago. We tried many different brands and styles (everything from Mr. Coffee--yuck!--to Aeropress, which wasn't too bad after a steep learning curve). Brews turned out too weak, burned, watery, plastic-tasting, the list goes on and on. The best we found was an Aeropress single-cup dispenser, which we used until deciding that it was just too much work (mostly the cleanup). In continuing to look for a suitable solution, we had hoped to get away from the single-serving Aeropress, because it took so much time and effort just to fix a cup for each of us in the morning, and going back for refills took almost all the joy out of a morning cup of coffee.
After more than a year of disappointments we had resigned ourselves to paying the extortion-like $5 per cup at the local coffee shop. There had to be a way we could both enjoy coffee for less than $10 per morning! Finally, we saw the reviews for the Keurig, which had high marks similar to the Aeropress, and decided to give single-cup one more chance. Wow, am I glad we did!
The K-cups took almost no adapting, and we were "experts" by the second cup. I must admit that I don't miss the mess and hassle of grinding my own beans! We got some specialty coffees for Christmas, and had no problem using the "My K-cup" adapter included with the brewer.
Cleanup is extremely simple, making multiple servings quick and easy. It takes less than a minute to brew two cups and clean up (as simple as removing and throwing away the used K-cup). Note, however, that there is considerably more cleanup if you use the "My K-cup" adapter--similar to cleaning the filter from a drip coffee maker. Still, it isn't a big deal to us, especially as rarely as we use the adapter.
The coffee strength and flavor is what really sold us on the Keurig. We were able to "test" the machine at Costco on demo day, and were hooked from the first taste. I prefer extra bold, and my wife enjoys medium blends, so using a single-serving brewer is perfect to suit both our tastes. We have found that using the large cup setting (you can select small 8 oz, medium 10 oz, or large 12 oz cups) brews coffee that is too weak for either of our tastes, so we typically use the medium cup setting, which brews a perfect cup.
While some have said that the K-cups are expensive, we have been able to buy them in bulk for less than $0.50 each, which seems like a bargain to us. There are many blends and brands available, including Tully's (our favorite).
We have yet to find a downside to the brewer, after 8 weeks of use.
Customer Review: Best value for the money
Summary: 5 Stars
INTRODUCTION
If you are looking for a versatile and programmable single cup coffee maker, look no further. I had to upgrade from the basic Keurig system and this was the most versatile pricepoint amongst the pantheon of Keurig Brewing Systems for the home. With the capability to make 8 cups of coffee, tea or hot chocolate and a timer to allow automatic operation at a pre-programmed time, this system is as good as it gets. With the capability to make 5.25, 7.25, and 9.25 ounce cups of coffee, as well as have a variable temperature control system to have hot water, there is not much that this cannot do. There are literally hundreds of drinks that can be made from many, many brands of coffee. With the unit in standby mode, the water stays hot and your drink will be made in about 1 minute. If you are turning the system on from a "cold start", it takes about 3-4 minutes.
CONSTRUCTION
This is a hard plastic unit with a lighted LED screen showing time and status. There is even a message to remind you to refill the reservoir. A separate power button to shut off the unit is available.
USE
Use of the various K-cups allows for each user to brew their hot drink of choice. Hot chocolate and Cafe Mocha are the two main drinks that require a "flush" of the system (with a dry run of hot water) to clean the mechanism.
A drip pan allows any excess coffee to be collected without a mess. The unit is quiet and operation is rather simple: Just lift the compartment door, place your respective K-cup, and place your mug (of virtually any size) under the nozzle. Selecting the various sizes of coffee determines the concentration of flavor of your brew. When ready the buttons flash and you're good to go.
Clean up is rather simple. Just take the drip pan and water reservoir off, and handwash it. If your water has been sitting for greater than 1 week, you're better off replacing the water. I go through refilling the reservoir about twice a day for various drinks (I love tea and coffee). I also use the hot water for my Oolong Tea which I seep the tea leaves (independent of the K-cups).
The K-cups replace the need for grinding coffee, changing filters and dealing with an entire pot of coffee. Supplied separately from Amazon or the manufacturer, there are so many brands of coffee, tea and cocoa to choose from. The cost of the K-cups vary but it really beats the price of heading to Starbucks or Dunkin' Doughnuts for a cup of Joe.
OVERALL
Overall, this is a wonderful invention and if you are a power user, you need this brewing system. Where has this been all my life?
Customer Review: the B60 is the ideal middle ground among the Keurig brewers
Summary: 5 Stars
This review is a bit lengthy because this was a pretty involved purchase decision for me, as it likely will be for anyone reading reviews for these brewers.
I recently decided to purchase a single-serve brewer, and I was faced with the decision of which of many companies and models to choose from. After considering Flavia, Tassimo, and Keurig, I decided to get the Keurig B60, and I couldn't be happier with my decision.
I settled on Keurig because it seemed to be the most widely supported brewer both in brick-and-mortar stores and online. You can find a variety of k-cups at Target or even Walmart, but Flavia packets are non-existent, and Tassimo t-discs are much harder to come by than k-cups. There is also a wide variety of k-cup flavors available online from Amazon or directly from Keurig. The Keurig machine can't make creamy drinks like lattes while the Flavia and Tassimo machines can, but for me this was not a deal-breaker.
After researching the various Keurig brewers, I decided to get the B60 rather than the B40 or B70. The B40 lacks the 6oz cup size, has no LCD screen, and is not programmable. The B70 includes an additional 12oz cup size and has a larger water reservoir.
I wasn't exactly sure what the programmable settings entailed before I purchased the brewer. Now I know that the auto on feature allows you to set a time for the brewer to turn on and begin preheating the water, which means that you can set it to be ready to go as soon as you wake up in the morning. You can also change the amount of time the machine waits before automatically powering down. The auto on feature is nice, but the brewer doesn't take but a minute or two to preheat anyway, so it isn't an absolute necessity.
For me, the additional $30 to upgrade to the B70 was not justified by a bigger reservoir and one more cup size, especially because I would not recommend brewing on a setting above 10oz because the drink would likely be somewhat weak. However, the additional functionality on the B60 over the B40 is worth an extra $30.
After using the brewer for several days so far, I could not be happier. Before buying it, I would occasionally drink tea, but rarely coffee because I was too lazy to brew any. This brewer makes it easy to enjoy coffees, teas, and chocolate with almost no effort, prep, or cleanup. It also provides instant gratification, since brew time is generally under 30 seconds. I've also been completely satisfied with the quality of drinks produced, and the variety of k-cups available means there are plenty to try and something to please every taste.
I could not recommend this machine more.
Customer Review: Great machine, but room for some improvments
Summary: 4 Stars
As an admitted caffiene addict, the daily drudge of grinding my own beans, cleaning out the traditional pot, filling it with water, waiting 10 minutes to brew, just to possibly throw away the unused portion was becomming a hassle, not to mention a waste of time and coffee.
Now with my B60, I can begin to enjoy a cup of coffee in the morning in under 2 minutes. I'm fascinated by the speed in which the water gets hot, and I like the idea that I'm not throwing away unused expensive coffee that never get drunk when I leave for work.
I also really like the idea that I can easily switch to tea as well, and as of this writing they finally introduced a K-cup for hot chocolate instead of just adding hot water to a traditional envelop and stirring.
Overall, the asthetic design is pleasing to the eye, and it really is pretty easy to use overall. In one way I wish I would have purchased one sooner, but I'm glad I waited to see all the different models and competitors as well.
Pro's
1) Heats water and ready to brew in under a minute!
2) Pretty good selection of coffee's and teas, and now introduction of hot chocolate K-cups.
3) Ease of use and overall cleaning.
4) Of course not wasting unused portions of coffee with traditional coffee makers.
5) 3 cup size slections.
Con's:
1) Well, I guess I've always been accustomed to drinks larger than 8 oz, so when I select the 'mug' size I was a littel surprised I guess what 7.25 oz really was, or in my case wasn't. So I guess I select the 9 oz setting.
2) I find so far that the coffee's, while rich in smell and fresh, they could be a bit 'stronger'. As another reviewer wrote, if you are accustomed to the power of Starbucks, you may find these K-cups a little light in boldness.
3) K-cup purchasing. Yeah, you can do the online thing, but you can probably find K-cups cheaper if you're willing to look around beyond your grocery store. I found them at Target, Bed-Bath-Beyond, Tully's....etc.
4) Programming. While the blue back-lit display is nice, it seems a tad cumbersome to program a future cup of coffee for AM drinking. By the time it takes me to program for only '1 cup' in the morning, it's actually just faster if I turn it on and brew when I first wake up.
Improvments I'd suggest:
1) Stronger coffee selections for those that enjoy a kick like myself.
2) One step programming, if it can be done?
3) Maybe add one more button for a larger size, say 10 oz, or something adjustable. 7.25oz just seems a little too little.