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Considering a second one for work.
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Pros: Makes a superior cup of coffee. Offers a wide variety of coffees and teas. Clean, quick, and convenient. I like the variable cup sizes and the cold beverage option on this model.
Cons: The per cup price is pretty high. (See below for tips to reduce the cost of the cups.) The whole setup is certainly not eco-friendly (I do feel a small guilty pitching those cups.) While the coffee is fantastic, I’ve been less than impressed by the hot chocolate and mocha (I haven’t tried the tea yet.)
Competition: I’ve never tried the Tassimo. So I can’t really compare them, but the reason I went with Keurig was the availability of the My K-Cup reusable filter assembly. I couldn’t find anything Tassimo had that would allow you to fill-it-yourself. The one thing I suspect the Tassimo might really excel at is making drinks like lattes and capuccinos. So if that’s more your focus you might take a closer look at Tassimo. (Although the discs certainly seem to be more expensive than the k-cups.) The only other reason I would consider Tassimo is the availability of a particular brand of coffee. But I’ve been very pleased with the selection with Keurig even though I wasn’t familiar with many of the brands before I got the machine.
Tips: So far I’ve found the k-cups in 3 stores locally: Kohls, Target, and Bed, Bath, and Beyond. The best price and selection was at Bed, Bath, and Beyond. (55 cents a cup. Plus they frequently run 20% off coupons. Taking it to 44 cents a cup.) I reckon the prices at Target were comparable, but the selection was about a quarter of what B, B, & B had. Kohl’s was priced ridiculously high. Online the Keurig store has the best selection and generally runs about 58 cents a piece, but has a rewards program that takes 10-15% off of that depending on how often you buy, and free shipping on orders over $45. The real prize that I’ve found so far is certainly amazon. I bought a case (50) of the Black Tiger cups for $21.00 (42 cents a piece.) They’re also running a special though taking 10% off of certain brands of k-cups, and there is a 15% discount if you sign up for a subscription of the type you buy (free shipping included.) This takes the cost to 31.5 cents per cup. The only way I’ve found to get it down lower is to use the reusable filter, which I’ve bought, but haven’t tried yet. Regarding hot chocolate and mocha, they’re really just powdered mixes in the cups so to my mind you’re better off just buying the mix and using the Keurig to measure and heat your water.
Overall: I’ve been very pleased with my machine. I make my first cup of the day at home on my Keurig and then come to work where we have a pot of Folgers. I reckon the quality of the coffee from the Keurig and the selection of coffees has spoiled me for that. I may have to buy a Keurig for work.
Keurig – -SO simple -So excellent.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I held off ordering this item for more than a year,thinking I didn’t “need” it.
Then I realized how much coffee I was wasting after brewing a pot every morning, and only having 2 or 3 cups. Silly me. Buying the adaptable filter so that I can use my own freshly ground beans makes the system so worth having. The K cups I’ve tried work fantastic, so that’s reassuring,but knowing I can make my own blend, one cup at a time ?…incredible.
Minus 1 Star for Missed Expectations – Add it Back for Convenience
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Very simply – I am an absolute coffee snob. The coffee is *excellent*.
Perspective: Eight years in the Navy, Nine years of college, and hundreds of all-nighters have made me
Findings:
[1] The strength and taste of the coffee are widely affected by the size of the cup. The more water flowing through the same beans dilutes the coffee. I make small cups back to back if I need to fill a large cup. Remember though – that’s *my* preference.
[2] The taste is *excellent*. I read in one review how a native Italian gave up his espresso machine because this coffee was so excellent. I’m keeping our expensive coffee equipment, thank you very much. BUT fascinatingly – I haven’t used it in the last month we’ve had this machine in our house. 
[3] Doesn’t make Turkish coffee…
[4] The automatic shutoff feature is simple – I know – but SO nice. We set it for an hour and don’t have to worry about turning off the coffee machine.
For my ancient navy nuke friends that started me on coffee… Go green and save a violent U-235 atom.
Defective product
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I received my first B70 as a Christmas gift in 2008. I loved it until October, 2009 when it just stopped working. I was told by customer service that I hadn’t descaled it properly. As it was still under warranty they sent me a replacement. It took about 10 days to get it in November. In December, the replacement suddenly became extremely loud. Once again they replaced it. By the end of December it started to turn off at will eventhough it wasn’t programmed that way or when it does work it only brews a couple of ounces of coffee. They are sending me another replacement (this will be my fourth brewer) and asking that I return the complete unit to them this time so that Engineering can determine what the cause is. In the past they only wanted the k-cup holder returned.
One issue that bothers me is that I liked this machine so much I recommended it to others, including two of my daughters. One daughter has had the cheaper model since early December and hers is fine. The other daughter has the B70 since Christmas and she told me yesterday that she is having the same problem with it turning off and not making a full cup of coffee. I’m not sure just yet where I will go from here if I have any more concerns but I will just refer to that ancient adage of Buyer Beware. Perhaps it’s time to band together and let Keuring know this is not acceptable.
Keurig Pump Failures
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I’ve had this Keurig now for two weeks. I despise it. This is the way it’s SUPPOSED to work: Push the “On” button. The LED says, “Not Ready”. The pump brings water from the water tank into the heater. The water heats. Four minutes after pushing the “On” button, the LED says, “Ready to Brew”. Lift the handle, place in a pod, close the handle, the three buttons corresponding to what size coffee you want (small, medium, large) flash. Push one of the buttons. The coffee brews for about 15 seconds in the pod and then is deposited into your waiting coffee cup. Now, this is how it really works: Push the “On” button. The LED says, “Not Ready”. The pump runs but nothing much happens. Four minutes later, it turns itself off. Take the water tank off the base. Place it back on the base, just right. Push the “On” button. The LED says, “Not Ready”. The pump runs but nothing much happens. Four minutes later, it turns itself off. Take the water tank off the base. Place it back on. Swear. Push the “On” button. The LED says, “Not Ready”. The pump runs. Nothing happens. Four minutes later, it tuns itself off. Sigh. Add water to the tank, even though the LED didn’t call for it, just in case it’s too low. Push the “On” button. The LED says, “Not Ready”. The pump runs. Nothing happens. Four minutes later, it turns itself off. Yell at spouse. Lift up the water tank. Spill water on self. Reset water tank on base. Push the “On” button. The LED says, “Not Ready”. Get out drip coffee maker and make drip coffee while pump on Keurig runs for four minutes and then turns itself off. Pick up water tank off of base again, swearing in mind that spouse bought it for you just to drive you crazy, then place it back on base again. Push the “On” button. LED says, “Not Ready”. Pump runs for four minutes, but this time it sounds different. Water level in reservoir decreases. Water is pulled into heater. Heater is making noises that something is happening. LED says “Ready to Brew”. Amazed, you take this opportunity to lift the handle, place a pod in, close the handle, push the flashing button for a medium sized cup of coffee. Coffee pours into the cup you’ve had sitting there for the last 20 minutes. Spouse comes into kitchen, picks up the cup of freshly brewed Keurig coffee, brings it to his lips, takes a sip and says, “Isn’t this the greatest gadget? Aren’t you glad I got it for you for Christmas?” Close your eyes and wait patiently for your reliable drip coffee maker.
B70 Platinum – Apparently Plagued With Same Problem!
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
I must admit that I am VERY disappointed. I LIKE the concept of this machine, but apparently Keurig is plagued with consistent problems with this machine and others. I have had my B70 for less than a month and it’s already defective. It started shutting itself off even before it would attempt to start to brew. At first I dismissed it to user error but during this last week, it’s been shutting itself off in the middle of a brew cycle – the show goes to “not ready” and then it just completely powers off! I double checked the settings and the auto off is disabled so it’s not user error. I have used bottled water from day one, so Keurig is not going to get away with telling me that I need to descale the thing. I’m also disappointed with their customer service – like other reviewers, I too am getting the run around. I called Customer Service on Thursday and after spending several minutes giving my name, address, phone number, email address, buy date and serial number (by the way, I had already registered my unit online so I found myself wondering why I was having to provide all of this information again on the phone) I was told “gee, we sold thousands of them on QVC so our call volumes are very high right now.” So, after providing all of the information to Customer Service and describing the problem I was then told that I must speak to a “technician” for further help. After waiting on hold for several minutes I was informed that there wasn’t a technician available and assured that someone would call me back within 48 hours. How maddening! As you may suspect, it’s been 24 hours and not a single attempt from a technician to contact me has been made (I have caller ID so I know that no attempt to contact me has been made). I attempted to call Keurig again Friday afternoon to see if perhaps one of these so called “busy technicians” was available but guess what? They all went home for the day. As you may have seen with other reviewers, their technicians have bankers hours working only Monday to Friday until 5 or 5:30pm ET. Excellent grief! I also attempted to call the third party vendor that I finished up inadvertently ordering this unit from through Amazon (Chef’s Corner Store). I called them at 2pm Pacific on Friday and they didn’t answer their phone. Their voice mail indicated that if I was calling during business hours (of course, their business hours weren’t provided in the message) I’d receive a call back. Guess what – no call back! No attempt to contact me what so ever!
Because I do like this machine, I’m going to give Keurig a chance, although I’m honestly confident that a replacement machine probably won’t last very long either. From what I’ve read, most folks can’t seem to get one to last more than about 1 1/2 years. As with other reviewers, this is very disappointing considering the cost of this machine – it’s nearly $200. You’d expect better quality and much better customer service for that price. And if you look at other negative reviews, you’ll see that this problem has gone on for years!
On a positive note, I disagree with those who indicate that the coffee is weak – I’ve tried several of the varieties and like most of them – and I have certainly NOT had any problems with weak coffee and I have been brewing my coffee at the 9.25oz size. I simply can not know how anyone thinks that the coffee is weak. I’ve had enough Starbucks coffee to tell you that the Bold and Extra Bold K-Cups live up to what you’d expect!
I also completely disagree with those who indicate that the Keurig is noisy – sure it gets a small noisy right near the end of a brew, for all of about five to ten seconds, but truthfully, my microwave buzzer and stove hood are louder than the Keurig for goodness sakes.
My only other disappointment with this machine is the lack of mug warmer. I have my B70 set for the maximum temp which is 192 degrees. It’s hot when it first brews, but with no mug warmer (the machine simply has a small drip tray plate) the coffee cools off quickly. To get around this problem, I bought a mug warmer and simply replaced the drip tray with the mug warmer – that way I can brew a cup of coffee but don’t feel like I have to rush back in to the kitchen to get to it before it starts cooling off. I’m quite surprised, really, that Keurig hasn’t designed a built in mug warmer. I reckon it would be an ingenious thought!
Update: I posted this same review on Keurig’s website and fascinatingly enough, they have not posted it. I removed all references to price and Chef’s Corner Store and Amazon yet it still hasn’t been posted. This makes one wonder if Keurig has something to hide? If you look at all 77 reviews for the B70, you’ll find only ONE negative review – huh.
Also – I finally received the infamous call from the “busy technicians” today. This gal could not wait to get me off the phone. She didn’t even question me to descale the thing telling me that it’s been too soon – it’s fascinating, though, that she mentioned the descaling first – this seems to be a canned response from Keurig and their answer to all of their problems (see other reviews). She did question if I’d used the special filter that allows consumers the option of using their own coffee instead of one of the prepackaged K-Cups – like somehow that is the cause of a machine that has chose to shut itself off all the time. I have been assured that my new Keurig will ship on Monday, Fedex Ground no less, but no charge to me. Once I receive the new one I am to box up the ancient one and send it back. Any bets on how long the new one will last?
The convenience of this machine is wonderful – it is so nice not to have to clean out coffee filters full of used coffee grounds and clean out a coffee pot with hours ancient coffee. The coffee is really excellent and it’s hot (if you drink it straight away or place a mug warmer under your mug). The B70 is stylish and it’s simple to operate (when it works). Sigh…
Exchange your Unwanted K-Cups
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This is not a review on this wonderful Keurig machine. It’s to inform you of a fantastic (really free) place to trade any unwanted k-cups or pods you may have and get fantastic brewing tips, find cheap places to buy k-cups, and we have freebies and specials from time to time directly from coffee manufacturers. This group is really free to join and it’s really fun! go to; [...]
Absolutely no selling by vendors to members, no cost to join, just fantastic Keurig info and fantastic people.
keurig B70
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
Just received this coffee maker and was so excited to try it. Primed it according to instructions then turned it off until morning. In the morning when I tried to make coffee it kept shutting itself off. When I tried to access the menu to see if it was on auto off the menu screen would not come up. After several attempts was able to make 1 partial cup of coffee then machine started to smell “hot” and turned itself off again. I am returning it and since I like the thought of how convenient it is to have fresh coffee each time I want a cup I will try it one more time and hope that I have better luck. Right now I give it 2 stars for looks and ease of use.
Pleased wife!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I bought this for my wife for Christmas. She has been using it every day and has absolutely loved it. We’ve only had it for a few weeks, but so far she really likes the fact that she can have a cup of coffee in practically no time and there is no clean up at all.
If Specialty Coffee Is Your Thang, Do NOT Buy!
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
I was really excited to get this machine, hearing lots of excellent reviews about it and exploring the over 200 fabulous (sounding) flavors that are offered. But, when i got the machine, there was only one taste i could find: bitter. I tried over 15 different k-cups, ultimately only liking one, the cafe mocha (escape). None of the flavors could be taste properly. Gingerbread, hazelnut, french vanilla, breakfast blend: BLECH!
*If you are the person who goes to Starbucks for flavored coffees and frappuccinos, do NOT buy!
The only reason i gave this 2 stars is the concept, simply putting a cup in and some water and receiving coffee in less than 20 seconds.
Fantastic thought, terrible coffee.
5 out of 5
Responses for "Keurig B70 Gourmet SingleCup Home Brewing System"