Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Coffee, Coffee, COFFEE!!!!

The fine folks at Influenster recently sent me a Keurig 2.0 (model K300) to check out. They sent this to me, free of charge, in exchange for my review.  It is the first time I have received a Voxbox and was really thrilled to learn that I would be receiving a Keurig machine to review.

We're fans of Keurig products and have been using one of their older machines in our house for about 18 months now.  What we find appealing about single serving coffee makers is the variety.  Mark likes really bold, dark roasts and I like medium roasts and flavoured coffees.  For years, we compromised on our regular morning pot of coffee and if we really wanted to indulge ourselves, we would "get our coffee on the outside" a la Jerry Seinfeld.

I'd been hearing a lot of buzz about the Keurig 2.0 for a few months now and was anxious to check it out.  Out of the box, I noticed that this particular unit was a lot smaller and lighter than our current Keurig.  Also, on the box and on the materials which accompanied the coffee maker, it stated that the machine will only operate with Keurig branded products.  Some of Mark's favourite blends are not branded with the Keurig ring so I'm not sure if we'll be able to make a permanent switch or not but I did try it out with one of my favourite flavours, Green Mountain Vanilla Caramel. 

As I expected from Keurig, the machine heats up quickly and made a nice cup of coffee.   The temperature was good and the flavour was consistent with what I was accustomed to drinking.

The reason that this machine is "2.0" is because of the carafe.  Keurig 2.0 allows you to use a larger pod and made a pot of coffee.  Now, the carafe that comes with the K300 is made of plastic and would not be great for keeping coffee warm in.  They do sell upgraded carafes which are probably insulated but the accompanying carafe I received was pretty flimsy.  Flimsy-ness aside, it did brew a nice pot of coffee.  This feature would be really useful if you were having a group of people over and didn't want to be making 4 individual cups of coffee. Using one larger pod saves you time and it also cuts down on the waste.

In addition to the carafe, I received a box with samples of individual k-cups and the larger pods.  The Keurig 2.0 would make a terrific gift for anyone on your Christmas shopping list who loves coffee.  It doesn't take up a lot of room on your counter and it consistently brews delicious coffee.  If you'd like to see what it looks like, I have made a little video (my first ever) - you can also hear how it works too!!

Thanks again to Influenster and Keurig for this opportunity!

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