~Coffee for 8 from Tu?~
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As a previously happy owner of a very smart looking sliver chrome finished Debenhams cafetiere who rather carelessly broke the glass part of the aforementioned silver beauty and couldn't find a replacement glass piece for it, I eventually decided upon a reasonably priced replacement for the entire unit instead. My saviour came in the form of a Sainsburys Tu cafetiere that I thought looked to be a little less prone to damage (pehaps......), due to its neat and compact easy to handle plastic housing around the usual super slim glass pouring jug.

In terms of looks, I feel this particular cafetiere is not in my opinion as flashy and modern looking as the Debenhams product it replaced, nor is it as minimal in its overall form. Whilst the look of the plastic casing that houses the glass serving jug on the Sainsburys Tu model is not as pretty, it did most certainly lure me into thinking it would make it less easy for me to clumsily break the glass jug when using the cafetiere (as I had done with the other one). The style and shape of the neat and smooth plastic outer case is something I found to be easy to get used to when wanting to handle the cafetiere (even when the jug was full of hot water when in use).


~Using the product~
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The handle on the Sainsburys cafietiere (being made of the same plastic material) has an easy to touch and hold texture with a decent shape to it that makes for a safe way to hold and pour from the cafetiere when required. I certainly felt that even when I had filled the cafetiere right up, the handle was more than strong enough to hold the amount of hot liquid it was filled with when lifting the jug. The sturdy feeling base of the cafetiere works well to give a nice flat and even surface to the product, which means that you are able to place the whole thing on to a kitchen surface or place mat and feel it will sit there safely, without slipping or moving once filled with hot water.

The lid of the product is made from the same plastic material and matches well with the rest of the cafetiere and in use the lid managed to stay in place well with a little pressure, as it is attached to the plunger part of the product. I found that I did need to hold on to the top of the lid area and apply a light pressure so as to make sure it stayed on 100% firmly to prevent any leaks or spills when pouring hot coffee from the jug. This is something I have found to be the case with many other similar products though which is why I don't feel it was too much of an issue with this item and is in no way a fault.

The size of the glass jug allows for a good amount of hot water to be placed within it, although my feeling is that the advertised 8 cups of coffee you are meant to be able to get from this product are somewhat over estimated if using standard kitchen style coffee mugs, rather than the smaller expresso type coffee cups and saucers you can buy. If using these smaller cups then perhaps the 8 cup rating is achievable however in my opinion a generous 4 servings of steaming hot coffee in standard type coffee mugs is more what you can expect.

The product is easy to handle and fill with coffee and can be quickly filled with hot water ready for brewing up a jug of fresh coffee with very little effort. Once the jug has been filled with coffee and hot water you simply replace the lid and plunger in to the jug and allow the blend to sit for a short while depending on how you like your coffee to taste. You need only a very light action in order to press down on the plunger so as to trap the coffee particles at the bottom of the jug ready for pouring and I found this to be easy to work with.


~Cleaning and care~
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When cleaning this product you do still need to take care when washing and drying the plastic surround and glass jug, although you don't need to take as much care with the lid and plunger part of the product. I must say that during cleaning times you do need to take a little time to make sure that all traces of used coffee have been removed from the plunger part as they can and do get stuck there. Washing the whole thing with warm clean soapy water straight after use will help to prevent the build up of coffee stains but care should be taken with the inner glass jug as it is very prone to breaking if knocked against your kitchen taps as I found out to my error. On the plus side you can get replacement glass jugs for this product at a good price if needed which was a bonus with the product as I was able to get a replacement for it for just £6.

With the whole thing coming in at £12 it was a fair buy, although when I broke the second glass jug through knocking it by accident I decided to opt for a cheap and cheerful replacement product from Currys that you use with a filter and separate jug, as the cost of having to replace the Tu glass jug alone was not much difference when compared to buying a whole new filter type machine. On the whole this is a fair product and the fact that the original and replacement glass jugs broke was more due to my own clumsiness rather than the actual product, as this certainly wasn't the only time that I broke the glass pouring jug on a cafetiere when washing it out. I do feel this is something to think about when planning a purchase such as this as you do need a careful touch when cleaning the glass part of the product. Having based my rating around the entire experience with this item, I feel it ought to get a 3 star rating.