Recommendations for a coffee maker/hot water dispenser

Cheetah Designs

Cheetah Designs

Cheetah Designs

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Joined
10 Jul 2006
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We are quite poor with the use of the kettle, with the amount of water we boil, the number of times we boil it etc...

I am told we can buy a coffee maker/hot water dispenser that will only dispense and boil enough water for one cup of tea, therefore saving energy. Does anyone use one of these?

I'd like a recommendation for one, preferably that has a "coffee making" element to it, with the minimal cleaning required. I don't want my tea tasting like coffee :p
 
My Mrs' work asked her to get one of these - it was garbage. Not quite hot enough for a brew, at breaktime loads of people queuing to get a lukewarm brew and then it broke in a very short space of time.

False economy, get a decent kettle.
 
You could get an instant hot water maker but you won't save money.

Unless you use bottled water or filtered water in them the heating elements just get covered in limescale and the water is less than boiling within a week or two.

The alternative is descaling every few weeks which is expensive in itself.
 
My boss has one of these boiling water taps and he said the costings they tell you are a load of rubbish, clearly maintaining water at a 9XoC temperature is going to cost money, far more than boiling a cup and a bit of water.

pitchfork said:
You could get an instant hot water maker but you won't save money.

Unless you use bottled water or filtered water in them the heating elements just get covered in limescale and the water is less than boiling within a week or two.

The alternative is descaling every few weeks which is expensive in itself.
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I'm sure I read that boiling mineral water wasn't good. Even if it's fine I don't find it tastes good. Where I work now, they used to only use mineral water for the kettle and you could see this almost oily film residue on top, plus it didn't taste good.

For coffee why not use a stove top maker like a Bialetti? I use this with water straight from the tap and within 5 minutes I have a lovely espresso or latte.
 
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I do like my Tassimo machine BTW.

I'd never have bought one, but got one off the mother in law for Xmas.

You can't beat a quick and easy latte in the morning, but if you're a coffee fiend it could get expensive!
 
we have a zip tap in work which is great as the hot water is instant and making a cup of tea or coffee takes seconds. But I looked into it for the house and they are about £1000 to buy, there is no way I would ever drink that much coffee to justify the costing.
 
I use one of these for my morning cuppa pretty much every morning and it does me just fine. It dispenses 250ml water at 88C (I just tested it) in about 45 seconds. I've had it for 2 1/2 years and used it all the time since I bought it (I use filtered water in it). Still going strong.

I don't know if it's any more economical but it allows me to get my morning cuppa in double quick time. I switch it on, nip out the back for a fag and, by the time I'm back, my tea is ready.
 
pitchfork said:
You could get an instant hot water maker but you won't save money.

Unless you use bottled water or filtered water in them the heating elements just get covered in limescale and the water is less than boiling within a week or two.

The alternative is descaling every few weeks which is expensive in itself.
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Limescale is only an issue if you are unfortunate enough to live in a hard water area, if you live in an area with nice tap water you get none our ten year old kettle for example is totally limescale free.

I can't stand going to hard water areas visiting people the coffee tastes horrible!
 
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