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: Serves multiple purposes
Summary: 5 Stars
There are plenty of positive reviews on this item. I'm posting this because:
I'm a noise-sensitive person, and when I read about noise while brewing, it made me pause. But this is a non-issue. We have a small apartment. I put the brewer on a piece of shelf liner to protect our marble counter and awaited the worst. OK, it vibrates for a few seconds when brewing and after I add water to the tank. But I can't imagine being "embarrassed" or disturbed by this level of noise. Our kitchen adjoins our bedroom, yet my husband has slept peacefully through this process.
The second concern that arose from the reviews was the strength of the coffee. I'm not a coffee snob and only visit Starbucks occasionally, but it's hard to imagine that the strongest setting would be too weak for the majority of coffee drinkers.
As to the amount you get out of a K cup, I don't spend a ton of time drinking my coffee in the morning; as long as it's enough to wash down my vitamins, I'm not concerned about the volume. I'm all about the caffeine at that point. We keep the Keurig on the lowest temp setting, which means I can actually drink it right away, which is not the case at Starbucks.
However, in the evening, I enjoy the Green Mountain hot chocolate, which is best on the middle setting and therefore fills up most of a regular mug. My not-supposed-to-drink-caffeine husband enjoys the decaf teas, which he actually dilutes/cools by adding ice, so they must be fairly strong to begin with. I'm not a tea drinker, so this is just a supposition.
Someone also posted that the K cups were expensive and hard to find. A K cup is about 50 cents by my count. Even if you add things to it that cost, e.g. I throw in milk most of the time and some sugar-free amaretto syrup occasionally, you're going to be hard-pressed to approach the tab at Starbucks. And, of course, with the attachment that costs about $20, you can use your own ground coffee.
Some people really enjoy the coffeemaking process. For them, it's an art form. They aren't going to like the Keurig because it's just too simple. There aren't enough variables, though you can certainly mix and match flavors within one cup.
For me, I'm more concerned with the finished product, low maintenance and not spilling coffee grounds. From an environmental standpoint, my husband mixes paints in the used K cups, so they're being reused.
So...if you like coffee/tea/hot chocolate but aren't concerned with the process as much as the outcome, this might be for you.
Customer Review: Works a lot better than it should!
Summary: 4 Stars
I'm a coffee snob, plain and simple. I have a high end espresso machine, burr grinder, several french presses and an assortment of drip coffee makers along with a wonderful vintage vacuum machine. But, on a recent vacation, the condominium I was staying at came equiped with one of the Keurig machines and there were a few K-containers of assorted blends in the cupboard. Expecting nothing more than ordinary "motel room" coffee, I figured out how to use the Keurig, fired it up, put in a nondescript K-cup of "Columbian" and brewed a small cup while I was getting ready to head out in the morning. I won't say I was shocked, but I was certainly impressed. That cup was significantly better than it should have been given the pre-packaged, pre-ground coffee and the somewhat "gimicky" appeal of the system. I purchased some additional "k-cups" that day from a local store and continued to have easy, no mess morning coffee for the rest of my stay.
When I got back one of the first things I did was investigate the Keurig and I wound up getting a B-60 along with several boxes of K-cup coffees. Is it as good a 100% Blue Mountain in a french press or Chemix drip maker? No, but it is pretty darn good coffee that is consistent from cup to cup with literally no mess.
The machine operates pretty much the same way as an auto espresso maker with the K-cup replacing the espresso handle and filter. Hot water from a removable tank is heated and then injected into the K-cup after the machine punctures the cup's top and bottom. On this particular model one can adjust the size of the cup and the temperature of the brew, though this is a rather narrow range. I got the best results from the smallest cup size and a 190 degree temp setting, but LIKE WITH ALL COFFEE MAKERS, BUYING ONLY THE FRESHEST K-CUPS AND USING GOOD QUALITY BOTTLED WATER, will be necessary to get the best results. The bottom line is that one can easily get a good decent cup of coffee in less than a minute (if you leave the machine on all the time) with practically no mess. Do I use it all the time? No, but for a single cup in the middle of the day, or if you only want one or two cups in the morning, it's a simple, no mess fix. I also, got the available permanent filter and have had good success with my own grinds, though you do have to futz with the settings a little.
The only reason I'm not giving it 5 stars is because of the initial and ongoing cost connected "the convenience". But it does make very good coffee and is clearly superior to most auto drip coffee makers using store bought pre ground coffee.
Customer Review: My Favorite Coffee-Maker of All time!
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought a Keurig Gourmet Single-Cup Home-Brewing System a fews years back when the product was first launched. I was absolutely thrilled at the excellent quality of the coffee it brewed. The convenience of being able to make one cup at a time, especially since I live alone and hate the fuss of brewing a small pot which requires more work and, of course, more clean up, is well worth the initial investment on the cost of the machine - even in these difficult economic times. And I was so tired of wasting an entire pot of coffee, or making a pot only to find it stale and lukewarm later in the day.
Recently, my generous daughter bought me the latest, (or later), version of the appliance - the Keurig B60 Special Edition - and I am even happier with the results of this newer model. As with my original machine, making coffee is still a breeze, especially in the early morning when I am usually in a daze.
Added attractions to this new Keurig Special Edition B60 include a generous 48 oz. removable water reserve, and, unlike the prior machine's choice of 2 size cups, this coffee maker gives the consumer 3 different choices of cup size, including a 9.25 oz. serving, perfect for a traveling. A new temperature control feature allows one to choose the 19-degree F. temperature, or the cooler 187-degree temperature...so no more adding an ice cube to your cup of java. As with the older version, there is a removable stainless steel drip tray for easy cleaning
The Keurig B60 Special Edition Gourmet Single-Cup Home-Brewing System uses pre-measured, air tight portions called K-Cups and over 200 varieties of coffee, tea, cocoa and other hot beverages are offered. I love a freshly ground gourmet roast and have yet to be disappointed in the quality of my favorite roasts and flavors. I order my K-Cups online at a reasonable price and the delivery usually takes from 3 to 5 days. Easy to use? Just open the lid, insert the K-Cup of your choice, close the lid and select a cup size. There is also a 24-hour digital clock and programmable on-off timer.
The sleek chrome and black design looks wonderful in my kitchen. I know some people have complained about the noise during the brief brewing process. This has never bothered me, and we are talking about under a minute's worth of sound here. So no biggie! I cannot recommend this product highly enough. ENJOY!!
PS - of course, when brewing coffee for a crowd it is more economical to use the multiple cup coffee maker of your choice - automatic drip, French Press, percolator, etc..
Jana Perskie
Customer Review: Awesome Coffee, Easy and Very Clean
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm not a big coffee drinker, but I don't mind a cup on a cool morning, so long as it's easy to make. I also run a small office with five people, and we didn't have a coffee maker, so people would get their joe at one of the coffee stores - wasting their time and money.
I was visiting a friend in Barcelona, and he had this cool Euro coffee maker that used disposable cups to make espresso. It was great, but it was slow, tiny, and the coffee was expensive. But I loved how easy and tidy it was. A month later, I saw the Keurig machine in Costco, and figured it was worth a shot.
It has been fantastic. Better than I could have expected. It heats up fast, makes coffee, tea, or hot water fast. I never thought coffee could be this clean and easy to make - there is no clean up. Maybe once a month, we wipe the drip pan. Every one of the staffers loves the coffee, gets a hot, fresh cup whenever they want, and get to choose their blend and boldness of beans.
The machine has two ways of working:
1 - from "off" it needs to power up, warm up the water in the internal tank, then it's ready to make a cup of joe. Total time, about 4 minutes.
2 - from "on", the internal tank is always pre-warmed. Thus it takes just 60 seconds to brew a first cup.
If you're trying to brew many cups in a row, it will take a couple of minutes per cup, since it does need to pre-warm the water in between cups.
The machine has a great timer that has two key functions I like:
- you can set it to be "on" based on an timer. Ours is on at 8AM, off at 11AM. This makes ours "ready" for a fast cup during the mornings, and slower otherwise, but saves power.
- you can set a "auto off" timer, so that if it is turned on at any time, it will turn itself off after an hour or two. Saves power.
I love the Amazon coffee choices, have tried many blends and found a bunch we like. We "subscribed" to a Timothy's Kona, which means Amazon sends us a box every month automatically, free shipping, and discounted. Subscribing is pretty cool! Amazon also has new packaging for 50-count boxes, which reduces the amount of packaging, while further lowering the price per cup.
This unit paid for itself in the first month. I bought a second Keurig for my family's lake house, and it is being equally well-received.
WEAKNESS: The hot chocolate, being water-based is not very tasty. It's OK, but don't expect to impress anyone using the cocoa K-cups produced by this machine.
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.