Although I have a list of reasons I have been living in a cave for the last 6 months, I'm still not sure it's a good enough excuse as to why I had never heard of the new iCoffee single serve brewer. Giving Keurig a run for their money, I found out about them after I saw an ad on my Bed, Bath & Beyond flyer.
Since I lack the female gene for shopping, shoes or purses, I don't peruse stores for the fun of it and thus; another reason this was 'new to me'. But now my eyes are opened, my interest is piqued and after debating the pros and cons, I really think this is next on my 'coffee maker' wish list. (I know, I know... like a really need another coffee brewer!? Who are you, my husband? Yes. Yes I do.)
ICoffee ® Opus Single Serve Brewer 2.0
First stop? The Remington iCoffee site themselves; let's hear what they have to say about their coffee brewer.
"iCoffee® K-Cup compatible single serve brewers feature patent pending SpinBrew™ Technology, which delivers Impossibly Smooth™ coffee taste. SpinBrew™ jets spin, steam and stir right inside the K-Cup, creating a mini French press-like effect that produces a noticeably smoother tasting coffee with a more pleasant aftertaste and aroma."
I only thought they offered the Opus, however, while on their site, I found more options! The Express, Picasso, DaVinci and Mozart.
Next stop? Let's check out some reviews on Amazon. The ICoffee ® Opus Single Serve Brewer 2.0
Product Description
"iCoffee Opus Single Serve Brewer
Next, I popped over to Cnet and although they weren't too crazy about it (3 stars) they didn't have very good reasons for the rating. Their reasoning mostly came down it to how it looks (I'm not sure how old the person writing the article is, but they mentioned how it would look in a college dorm room) and the fact they didn't taste anything 'special' about the brew compared to a few other similar brewers.
They did however have a really good comparison chart.
iCoffee Opus | Keurig K500 | Cuisinart SS-700 | Bunn My Café MCU | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Brew time (8 oz. cup) | 53 seconds | 49 seconds | 46 seconds | 42 seconds |
Drink size range | 4 - 12 oz. | 4 - 10 oz. | 4 - 12 oz. | 6 - 14 oz. |
Brew temperature range (F) | N/A | N/A | 187 - 192 | N/A |
Brews K-Cups | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Brews off-brand cups | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
Brews Vue Packs | No | Yes | No | No |
Brews fresh grounds | Yes (reusable cup sold separately) | No | Yes (reusable cup included) | Yes (brew head included) |
Reservoir size | 75 oz. | 80 oz. | 80 oz. | N/A |
Suggested retail price | $140 | $190 | $200 | $170 |
From my research I like that I can use any brand k-cup or my own coffee.
I like the spinbrew technology - it doesn't just shoot water straight down the k-cup, making a tunnel by the end of the brew cycle, but you get 'more from your beans' this way.
I like that I can choose the size from 4-12 ounces
The only 2 things that are a 'con' to me is the inability to choose the temperature of my cup. I like my coffee hot. Very hot. As in at least 192 degrees hot. And the fact that in order to use your own grounds, apparently you have to use their reusable cup - the eco-cups and other reusable cups I already own for my Keurig won't work.
For me this isn't a deal breaker.
Tonight when my husband gets home from work I'm going to tell him I think I've found the next coffee brewer I want to try....
Do you own one?
What do you think?
Pros? Cons? Do you hate it? Love it?