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Bosch Tassimo T20
by MoleyGoldpaws
You only have to walk down the High Street to realise that coffee houses like Costa, Starbucks and Caffe Nero are becoming even more popular nowadays. Sure, we all like a cuppa when relaxing at home but this often comes in the form of freeze dried granules and a kettle of boiled water.
Having researched some of the new 'pod ... machines' such as Dolce Gusto and Nespresso, I opted for a Tassimo machine as I was impressed with the range and had heard good things from a friend who loved her caffeine fix.
The T20 is compact in size and takes up roughly the same kitchen space as a medium sized electric kettle. There are options to customize it with various coloured 'splashbacks' so it can compliment most modern kitchen colour schemes. These can be bought on the Tassimo website for £14.99 each.
Easy to set up, the instructions walk you through first use and how to brew the perfect drink. With the option to vary the strength of your drink, it distances itself from vending machine coffees by using a specific technology to create each hot drink.
Each T-disc has a barcode on it which is placed face down in the top of the machine. A barcode reader picks up the information which tells it how much water to use and what temperature to heat it to. Regardless of this, each drink is made quickly - no more than a minute or so - and leaves virtually no mess to clean up. The used T-disc can become hot after use but apart from that, I have not noticed any safety issue in using the T20.
Maintenance of the machine is also very user friendly. A yellow service disc with its own barcode slots in the back of the machine and can be used to rinse hot water through, this can be useful to use if you have just made some hot chocolate and are going on to make tea. The illuminated display also includes a symbol that will light up when descaling is required. The process involves either using tablets or solution available from the manufacturer and should be done more frequently if you live in a hard water area.
On the whole, I am very impressed with the quality of the drinks, especially the Costa range which I am sure influences many people when choosing a machine. The packs of T-discs normally come in around the £4.00 mark but can sometimes be found on offer in supermarkets so that's a perfect time to stock up!
Prices for the T20 vary, they are supplied by the Tassimo website for £99.95 but I picked mine up from John Lewis for £39.00. Stock varies but if you can get one for this price it's well worth it. They are available from most electrical retailers, department stores and a host of websites so there is plenty of places to search for a bargain.
If you decide to opt for a Tassimo machine, be sure to register your model on the Tassimo website where they offer you a £20 credit to use in their online store. This allows you to buy a decent amount of T-discs and view the full range of drinks available.
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Russell Hobbs 14590 Stylis Kettle
by elysia2003
Please note that this review features the Russell Hobbs Stylis Kettle 18579. I'm writing about the RED one and not the black mentioned above with a different model number.
My mum was ordering a new kettle out of her catalogue recently as she was in need of a new one, and there was an offer for a Russell Hobbs Stylis model at ... 50 percent off. With no further research she went to place her order. While in the phone queue she asked if I needed one too; it seemed like a bargain so I replied yes. A couple of days later two new kettles arrived, one glossy black for Mum, and a glossy red one for me. Upon opening mine and trying it out, there were a few issues, and this review discusses my thoughts and findings since that initial use.
My mother opened hers and immediately tried it out. She was upset that she hadn't ordered the red one when she saw mine, but in my opinion the black one looked much more premium and expensive. The red one looks a little bit plastic-ey (if that's a word). She filled hers with water and all was well.
Take One:
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The box it comes in looks very luxurious and stylish, going well with the Stylis model name. It's jet black and features this bright and shiny looking, modern jug kettle. The box informs me that this is 3KW rapid boil, large 1.7 litre maximum capacity and a 360 degree base for right and left handed use. It ticks all the boxes so far. The kettle was rather securely fitted inside the box, allowing for absolutely no movement and therefore preventing damage. While extracting the appliance, I did notice a rather annoying rattle and even before we plugged it in, I knew it was going back for replacement. There was a screw loose within the element area and unknowing whether it was one that had worked loose or one that was an extra, so to speak, it was promptly repackaged and a replacement ordered.
Take Two:
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The second kettle arrived with the same good looks as the first, minus the rattle; all's well so far. The kettle has plastic exterior throughout. A matt black handle is seemingly fashioned from one solid piece and rather unusually is moulded around a section of the kettle. This leads to a semi -transparent section where you can see the water level, and minimum and maximum measures. The spout is also in this same semi -transparent material, and the main body is a vibrant tomato red. Chrome touches on the lid and surrounding the swivel base give this a rather stylish feel.
The Kettle
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Utilising this appliance is simplicity itself. There are only two operations on the appliance - one button is to open the lid and the other is the power on and off. The button to open the lid is absolutely perfectly positioned to work it with your thumb of the same hand that is holding the handle. That's one thing I must commend Russell Hobbs on, in my limited experience of the brand, all the necessary details are expertly positioned, and they have a lovely ergonomic feel.
As a true jug style kettle, this is filled from the top. The lid mechanism opens extremely wide to do this with ease; alternatively, you could fill from the spout if you wished as its wide enough to enable this. Opening the lid however, enables you to check for lime scale build up on the filter and give it a rinse and clean as and when necessary. This is an extremely fine (plastic I expect) mesh and I imagine it would do a good job at trapping any particles. I live in a soft water area so I've never had to do this myself, but for the purpose of the review, I can testify that it is easy to remove and locks back into position with a satisfying click.
With a maximum 1.7 litre capacity this is on the larger side of kettles; my last one was just 1.5 litres. I can't see this being a problem though, as it's an extremely light kettle when empty, presumably due to its plastic construction. My last kettle had a metal body, and was noticeably heavier. This would only be heavy if it was filled up to the maximum, but I doubt there would be many occasions to do this, especially if you only boiled what you need in order to conserve electricity.
This boils water really quickly due to the 3 kilowatt element. A plus point for me is that when boiling a red light illuminates from within, co-ordinating with the red body. That was a huge bug bear of mine, my previous kettle which was chosen to match all my other red appliances had blue illumination - why, oh why? It might be worth noting if this bothers you too, that my mum's black model illuminates blue. Well, it would be pointless illuminating it black wouldn't it? : )
One thing I did notice upon using this, and is something that is not noted in the instructions or on the box outer - is that this is a cool wall kettle. Even at boiling point I can put my hands on it, it feels ever so slightly warm, but nowhere near as hot as one would expect and I was pleasantly surprised.
Down to the kettles other problem, and the main reason why I'm sending this kettle back too - after the kettle has boiled and the on/off switch clicks back into its initial position, steam escapes from the switch; my Mum's kettle doesn't do it, well not that I've noticed anyway. I've only ever 'owned' two Russell Hobbs appliances before, this kettle and the iron that featured in my last review, and both have steam leaking issues. Whereas I decided to keep the iron as the good points outweighed the bad, I don't particularly like this kettle enough to warrant keeping it, especially when you hear about the price.
Now this kettle was purchased 'half price' from Freemans catalogue on a special promotion at £25, and this seems to be a good deal when you see that this same model is currently £49.99 in Sainsbury's. Now here's the thing, this very same kettle is also available for sale in Tesco's for just £19.99 with no promotion. There seems to be something decidedly wrong with the pricing of this. £25 I would say was the correct price for this kettle and the absolute most I would pay for it if there were no steam escaping issues, so the Tesco price seems to be a bit of a bargain. These were the only two stores I did a comparison with, so you might be able to find it even cheaper elsewhere.
Now to list the Positives:
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Cool wall
Fast boil
Left and Right handed use
Easy to fill
Lightweight
Contemporary styling
Easy operation
Concealed element
Negatives:
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Plastic-ey looking (sorry for using that term again)
Can be expensive - shop around
Possible loose screws/ fittings
Steam leaking from the on/off switch
My Thoughts
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In summary, the positives seem to outweigh the negatives on this kettle but once bitten (my leaking iron), twice shy (leaking kettle) - I'm sorry Russell Hobbs there isn't going to be a third time. I will never buy another appliance from your brand again. I've had problems with three appliances and two totally different items, and I'm just not satisfied. My mum is quite happy with hers though and if she were to write a review, I'm sure she'd award the full five stars. In all honesty, it's a 'so-so' kettle. As my school report often used to say - could do better! I'm sending this back as soon as possible for a refund and I'll be buying a totally different brand.
This review will also be posted on Ciao, with the addition of photographs.
Thanks for reading my review and I hope it has been of some use to you.
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Bosch Tassimo T20
by Lbird99
I had been looking at getting a hot drinks machine, but as I am not a huge coffee drinker I decided I couldn't really justify the expense for that something that could turn out to be a five minute wonder. However I was really tempted by the Tassimo especially when I saw that they were doing a Costa Coffee range, as I am partial to their ... lattes, and by the fact they do various varieties of hot chocolate which is my hot drink of choice. When my friend gave me £15 in Argos vouchers before Christmas I decided to treat myself to a Tassimo T20 as it was half price and with the vouchers it worked out at £35!
Setting up the machine is really easy. First it needs to be plugged in. There is a clear plastic tank that holds the water that slots onto the back. After filling this you need to pop the control T-disc into the top and press that start button, which flushes the machine through with boiling hot water. Then you are all ready to start making hot drinks.
To make our first drink you lift the round dome on the top of the machine. Inside there is a space for your T-disc which can only fit in one way so there is no confusion. Each flavour of T-Disc has a unique barcode which tells the Tassimo how much water to send through to deliver the perfect drink each time. You start the Tassimo using the big round button on the front. This lights up the green light which tells you that it is working properly. It starts by making a popping noise which is quite loud but not unbearable, this move on to the water coming through and a whiring noise. Steam gets pumped out of the top of the machine but doesn't seem to be hot enough to burn even though the drink is piping hot. The whole process takes about 30 - 45 seconds depending on the flavour (some drinks need to have a milk pod put through the machine as well), which adds up if you have a few drinks to make but is quicker than boiling a kettle just for me! After the drink is made you just need to pop the lid up and dispose of the empty disk. I have found that sometimes if the pods get a bit cold they tend to leave some residue in the pod. This is easily rectified by giving them a quick rinse under the hot tap before popping in the machine.
One of the big draws of the machine is the vast variety of drinks it makes. There are four varieties of hot chocolate alone (my favourite is the Suchards!) You need to check the front of the packaging to see how big the drink is as some of them are very small. For my hot chocolate I can get two portions in my mug which I did not think was particularly big, but the Costa Lattes make a huge mug full. If you do use a very big mug you can remove the cup rest from the Tassimo if you have trouble making it fit, but I have not had trouble fitting any of my mugs using the cup rest.
When I registered my machine online I was issued with a £20 voucher to use in their online shop which was fab as it gave me the chance to try lots of different drinks for my machine. I did my first shop with them in January and found the service very good - it was all delivered within 5 days of ordering and they take Paypal, although I have heard there has been on and off supply problems since. The Pods vary from £3.50 - £5 for a pack of between 8 - 16 drinks. You can also get them in all the supermarkets and I tend to buy mine from Amazon now, as they do some good bulk order deals there.
Am really pleased I bought my Tassimo - I use it pretty much every day. Although the drinks work out more expensive than a normal tea or coffee, it has saved me money in comparison to what I was spending in Costa! I bought myself the black machine as it was the colour that went best with my kitchen. The machine is approximately 30cm squared so it doesn't take up too much room on the side. It has a glossy finish so is easy to wipe down and keep clean, and the only bit I find get a bit mucky is the ledge under where the pods sit, and this cleans up easy with a damp cloth. I would recommend this to anyone who likes hot drinks, and it is definitely not just for coffee drinkers.
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