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  • Introduction

  • Design Overview

  • Brewing Chamber

  • Controls

  • Reservoir

  • In the Box

  • Brewing

  • Time to Brew

  • Quantity

  • Brewing Process

  • Step 1

  • Step 2

  • Step 3

  • Cleaning & Maintenance

  • Other Features

  • Comparison Overview

  • Comparison Overview

  • Comparison Overview

  • Conclusion

  • Introduction
  • Design Overview
  • Brewing Chamber
  • Controls
  • Reservoir
  • In the Box
  • Brewing
  • Time to Brew
  • Quantity
  • Brewing Process
  • Step 1
  • Step 2
  • Step 3
  • Cleaning & Maintenance
  • Other Features
  • Comparison Overview
  • Comparison Overview
  • Comparison Overview
  • Conclusion

Introduction

Design Overview

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The {{product.name}} looks pretty similar to other Tassimo products. The overall aesthetics remain unchanged, with the silver outline to the brewing chamber lid, the drip catcher that can lift and lower your cup, and the handle-equipped water reservoir in the back. The device's controls light up with different colors, which definitely helps since the diagrams on the controls are somewhat hard to read.

Brewing Chamber

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The brewing chamber is functional, but we had a few concerns. The main concern is how to properly close the chamber. If you try to push down on the silver rim first, it won't properly close the device. You need to push down on the darker gray portion of the lid first. Once it's closed, the silver rim locks it in place. The secondary concern we had was with some of the elements within the brewing chamber. Below the platform where you insert the T-disc is a little bit of plastic that pierces the disc and holds it in place. This piece isn't attached to the machine, which is both good and bad: it's easy to remove for cleaning, but it's also to just accidentally knock out of place.

Controls

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The control button is located on the front of the device, to the right. It has a few pictures on it that are hard to see, but you can probably guess what the machine is trying to tell you by the color it uses to illuminate that area. Orange generally means you need to fix something and green means you're ready to brew.

Reservoir

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You'll find the water reservoir on the back side of the machine.

The {{product.name}}'s water reservoir tank has two different compartments: one you fill with water, and one to hold the filtered water. The entire reservoir can hold about 52 fl. oz. (1550 ml) in total, which is a good amount. You can get about seven cups out of the tank before you'll need to add more water. While the filter is a nice feature, it does mean you might have to wait a minute or two for newly-added water to drain through. Additionally, we don't like the reservoir's placement: it means you have to reach over the device to remove and replace it. The reservoir's handle helps, but doesn't totally fix the situation.

In the Box

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The {{product.name}} comes with a filter packed in, but not much else. Unlike most K-cup devices, the {{product.name}} doesn't come with any T-discs in the box.

Brewing

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Our refractometer measured the {{product.name}}'s brew with a total dissolved solids (TDS) measurement of 1.21. This is significantly stronger than you'll find in most other one-cup devices. The {{product.model}} is still slightly towards the weak and bitter corner of the standard, but the average K-cup machine would be almost off the chart to the lower left. If you value a strong cup of coffee, the {{product.name}} will be happy to oblige. More on how we test the brewing process.

Time to Brew

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If you're looking for a quick cup, the {{product.model}} isn't the best. It takes about 90 seconds for a cup to finish brewing, but we found that can vary quite a bit depending on when those last few drips stop. The average Keurig in this price range can make about two and a half cups in about that time. Still, if you're willing to wait the minute, you'll net a much stronger cup of coffee with the {{product.model}}.

Quantity

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The {{product.model}} can only produce one quantity of coffee, about 7.61 fl. oz. (225 ml). While other one-cup devices give users a bit more freedom to choose how much coffee they want, this restriction allows the machine to produce a strong cup of coffee every time.

Brewing Process

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The brewing process on the {{product.name}} is remarkably straight forward, since there's really no user-controlled options. The one minor downside is the T-disc system itself. There were a few times during testing when the internal mirror got a bit fogged up and couldn't register the pod's bar code. Fortunately, the system's menu screen quickly informed us what the problem was.

Step 1

The first step is to make sure there's enough water in the device's water reservoir.

Step 2

The next step is to place the T-disc into the device. The T-disc fits face down on the interior shelf, with its bill fitting in the opening along the shelf's rim. It's not as quick and easy as inserting a K-cup, but it's not too difficult to figure out. Once the T-disc is inside the brewing chamber, close the lid first, then push down on its outside rim to lock the lid in place.

Step 3

At this point the machine will start brewing your coffee. If you hear some strange thumping sounds, that's just the machine doing it's thing.

Cleaning & Maintenance

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Cleaning the machine is easy since most of the pertinent parts can be quickly removed and are dishwasher safe. The drip stand and water reservoir can be removed and disassembled. The bit in the brewing chamber is also very easy to remove.

Other Features

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The {{product.model}} has a water filter to insure a good water quality. You'll find a filter packaged in with the device.

On the lid of the water reservoir is a simple timer to remind you to change the water filter. It's nothing fancy, but it does the job.

Comparison Overview

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According to our test results, these two brewers are nearly identical. Both provided very strong brews: according to our tests the {{product.model}} produced a slightly weaker cup on average, but not by a huge margin. The {{product.model}} also doesn't have a menu screen. While it's definitely a nice feature—especially when something goes wrong and all the {{product.model}} gives you is a light—we're not sure it's worth the $30 price difference.

Comparison Overview

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This is the battle of the at-home and in-office titans. The {{product.name}} lets you customize a cup, brews it quickly, and can brew cups pretty much continuously until the reservoir runs out. The {{product.model}} takes a longer time to brew, has only one cup size, and makes a strong cup of coffee. Both are good devices, but both have a realm in which they excel.

Comparison Overview

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The {{product.name}} is a lot less expensive than the {{product.name}}, but it underperforms across the board. While the {{product.model}} is slower than some Keurig machines, the {{product.name}} takes almost twice as long to brew a significantly weaker cup. If you're looking for a bargain, the {{product.name}} will provide the baseline pod coffee experience. If you want a strong cup, you should check out the {{product.model}}.

Conclusion

The {{product.name}} has some great features, makes a strong brew, and has some slightly awkward aspects. We liked the water filtration system and its ability to brew a strong cup of coffee. We also liked its menu screen, as it helped clear up some of the more nebulous issues (like a fogged sensor) we ran into with the Tassimo T45.

We didn't like how unnatural closing its lid felt and needing to reach over the machine to access the water reservoir. The machine can also be a bit on the slow side, which makes us hesitant to recommend this product for a small office where multiple people will be looking for cups of coffee in quick succession. We would recommend the {{product.model}} for the home user who only needs to brew one strong cup of coffee at a time.

Meet the tester

Mark Brezinski

Mark Brezinski

Senior Writer

@markbrezinski

Mark Brezinski works on the Home Team, reviewing refrigerators, minifridges, dishwashers, washing machines, dryers, air conditioners, air purifiers, and fans.

See all of Mark Brezinski's reviews

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