== Why the Hot Cup ==
My boyfriend is a massive tea fan so for his birthday recently, I bought him a Breville Hot Cup. I didn't even know these existed until I was randomly looking at tea related products on Amazon. I was actually looking for one of those coffee making machines where you put in the little sachets but for tea but apparently they don't exist. Anyway, when I saw this on Amazon it was about £35 which does sound quite expensive considering it is basically a kettle but I needed something a bit different as a present.

== What it does ==
As I just said, the Breville Hot Cup is essentially a kettle. The difference, however, is that this boils enough water for one mug at a time. This is supposed to save you both money and energy and as the water gets hotter quicker than a normal kettle, it's supposed to make a better cup of coffee or tea etc. It only takes roughly 10 seconds for the one mug of water to be boiled so it also saves quite a lot of time in comparison to a normal kettle.

== Design ==
The Hot Cup has a silver base on which the main part of the product sits. The base has small holes in the front part which is used to store excess water in case the mug used overflows or like my boyfriend did once, not put a cup underneath at all. This is the only time the drip tray has ever been used and it is really easy to remove so that you can empty out the water.

The main part of the Hot Cup sits nicely on the base and is quite secure once placed there. The kettle part of the Hot Cup is black with a clear part which shows how much water you have left in it. When turned on and in use, this part lights up in a really nice blue colour which was a nice touch I thought. The handle is large and quite thick so picking up the kettle part is nice and easy and not awkward at all.

The most annoying part of this product is where you fill it up with water. The hole is in quite an awkward place and it is also quite small so sometimes, when using the kitchen tap, water does go down the side instead of inside. I have had to wipe down the sides many times before being able to put it back on the base. The Hot Cup holds 5 mugs worth of water which is a nice amount as it means you don't have to refill too often.

The cord for the plug is quite short so we have had to place ours right next to a plug socket. This isn't really a problem for us as the kitchen is pretty small to begin with and ours now fits in snug next to the wall. However, if you have a larger kitchen, you will end up being limited in where you can put this.

== Using the hot cup ==
Once we had taken this out of the box and decided to use it for the first time, I wasn't ready for just how easy everything was. Putting the two parts together was obviously very simple and apart from an awkward moment when filling it up with water, everything went smoothly.

With water in the tank, the Hot Cup turned on and a mug underneath, we were ready to go. To boil the water and to dispense one mugs worth, you only need to press the button on the top. Once you have done this, the machine will make a crazy sound for about 10 seconds and then the water begins to stream out. The noise is quite loud and a bit annoying but seeing as it doesn't last long, I don't mind this too much now. The water streams out in a nice, even flow and every single time, all of it has gone in the mug without it going elsewhere. The water comes out piping hot and hotter than when boiling water in a kettle.

== Cleaning ==
For the most part, this is a really easy machine to clean. To clean the base and the outer parts of the machine, you can use a cloth was soap and water and just wipe it all down. However, like kettles, the inside will need descaling from time to time. I have never descaled anything as I have never really use a kettle much myself. I'm told that you can buy any descaling product and follow the instructions. As this cost a fair bit more than a normal kettle, I think I'll actually be cleaning this one when it needs doing.

== Overall ==
I wasn't expecting to like this product as much as I do. Although I don't use it too much myself, my boyfriend does all the time! It is a really handy product for people who don't make more than one cup at a time or for people who live on their own. This also boils enough water much quicker than a normal kettle so it does actually save a lot of time. I would happily recommend this to anyone and my boyfriend thinks it's one of the best presents he's had for a while!