First off, let me be clear about something: I'm not a coffee drinker. You may say, "well then why the heck would you be reviewing a coffee maker, you ding-a-ling!?" Well, that's the beauty of this thing - it's not just for coffee.
Let me start off at the beginning. I occasionally get free stuff from websites like Influenster.com so that I'll review the products I try and bring the companies business.... blah blah blah. Well, I've never been much for lying to people in order to get free stuff so when I review these products I am brutally honest, whether or not I think it will ruin my chance of getting something else in the future. I don't know if my honesty has hurt so far but obviously someone still thought I deserved a Keurig....
Well, about a month ago +Influenster sent me a massive box filled with all kinds of +Keurig goodies including a Keurig K55 coffee brewer and a bunch of k-cups. The Keurig K55 goes for $119 from their website or $95 from Amazon. When they first contacted me telling me I'd be getting one of these, I was a bit surprised since I'm not a coffee drinker and I'm pretty sure I've never indicated that I was in any of the surveys I filled out. With that said, I knew very little about these products since I assumed that's really all they were for.
When I unboxed this baby, I discovered that with it came huge boxes of coffee k-cups, black tea (neither of which I drink), and a box of hot chocolate (yay!! Now we've got a winner). Admittedly, the type of hot chocolate that came with it would not have been my personal preference (Swiss Miss brand is like the red-headed step-child of hot chocolate - you only love it because it's always around). The box even included a nice stainless steel stand for the k-cups to sit next to the Keurig. Fancy-schmancy!
Well, after a quick text asking my good friend Gemma if she wanted to inherit the coffee and tea for her own Keurig, I began the setup process. All in all it took about 10 minutes to get it set up because the water filter takes a bit of time to soak and install. I wouldn't say this type of work qualifies me as a handy-man but it's the closest thing I've done to a house project in years so I'm counting it.
Once it was set up, my initial thoughts were: 1) this thing is pretty dang sexy on my counter-top, and 2) it sure takes up a lot of real estate in my smallish kitchen. The size is a bit deceiving too because the water tank only holds enough water for 3 cups or so (depending on the cup size you select) of whatever you are drinking. Each time you go to use the unit, you are given 3 options of cup sizes to fill - small, medium or large (6, 8 or 10 oz respectively). All of the mugs we have accommodate the big boy size so I don't see any reason you'd want to use the smaller cups as it just wastes product in the k-cups (I've tried all sizes and have noticed no difference between flavor concentrations at the different sizes). Once the cup is done brewing in about 30 seconds total (a quick surprise in my opinion), you have a very piping hot drink to enjoy.
Like I said, the non-coffee/tea options are very limited but there are a few Keurig k-cup choices of hot chocolate, tea and soup that you can try. The real winner with this Keurig though is that it include a reusable k-cup which essentially lets you brew whatever you want without purchasing k-cups. That means you can drop in some of your gourmet hot chocolate or that fancy coffee that it made from beans that grow in poop and enjoy to your heart's content!!
I've extremely happy with out Keurig so far. Even happier knowing that it was free. I'd give it a 4/5 rating.... only losing a star because of the lack of options for refills for non-coffee drinkers.
Pros:
-cheap alternative to daily Starbucks
-quick and easy
-looks good on the counter-top
Cons:
-lacks options for non-coffee drinkers
-k-cups are expensive (only when compared to other grocery store options)
Rating: 4/5
If you want to get free stuff like this, you can sign up for Influenster at this link: www.influenster.com/r/1174342
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