UK Best Price & Read Reviews on Discount Kitchen Appliances for Sale

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Mrs. S. M. Catchpole –

  

This is a wonderful machine. I agree with all the comment made by the previous reviewer, although you CAN in fact make a drink at any time, just press the dispense button till it turns red.
HOWEVER – when water is left in the machine overnight, by morning it has taken on a distinctly strange chemical taste which makes the morning cuppa almost undrinkable. We contacted customer services who suggested that it might be residue from the manufacturing process and recommended using a bicarbonate of soda solution in the water for several hours and then rinsing out. I’ve done this twice, leaving it in all day the second time. It has improved but isn’t right yet which is a great pity because in all other respects it is a great machine. But ultimately, the taste of the end product is the important thing and if it means using fresh water in the morning in order to avoid the tast, then it somewhat defeats the object.

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This is an interesting modern take on the classic teasmade. It’s very compact and boils quietly and quickly – around 2mins for a single cup; 4mins for 2 cups. It’s much more efficient than the old-style teasmade, as you can boil exactly the amount of water that you need for your morning cuppa(s), rather than always having to boil a full pot (plus a little more that they always required to keep the element covered). It’s also a lot less hassle to set up in the evening – just fill the measuring jug (which hides neatly inside the unit when not in use) and pour into the boiling chamber, and stick your cup(s) in place – there’s no teapot to wash each day. Plus you can make two different drinks if one of you prefers tea and the other prefers coffee. Another nice touch is the supplied vacuum flask, which is large enough to hold milk for your tea and even a bowl of cereal for that full breakfast-in-bed experience!

I’m not really convinced that the “dawn simulator” is terribly effective; it’s so quick and ends up with still quite a dim glow, so it’s hard to see how it could ever help you wake up, gradually or otherwise. The light is certainly not enough to read by, but it’s quite pleasant for sitting and drinking your tea by in the morning, as your eyes gradually get accustomed to the light, rather than being instantly dazzled by a brighter one.

Good though it is, there are a couple of flaws with this product, however. Firstly, the alarm always goes off before the water is boiled rather than afterwards (which would seem to make more sense), and there’s no way to have the tea made automatically without the alarm. In practice, I got used to this fairly quickly. Secondly, the clock display (and the light on the “dispense” button) is a bit too bright – it would be nice if this could be manually dimmed or turned off. I have to have the unit facing towards the foot of the bed rather than towards me, which rather limits the usefulness of having the clock display in the first place.

All-in-all, I’m pretty pleased with my purchase – this is an efficient and easy-to-use unit, despite a couple of minor flaws.

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J. S. Hardman “Consultant software developer … (Near London, UK) –

  

  

  

I’ve always liked the idea of having a hot drink maker (teasmaid/teasmade) next to the bed so that I could wake up to a freshly made tea or coffee. Now that I have a “Breville VCF042 Wake Cup Hot Water Dispenser” I have actually had the chance to see how this idea works in reality.

For the most part, the Breville VCF042 is actually quite good. It does reliably deliver hot water into one or two mugs, so if you’ve put tea or coffee in the mugs you do end up with the drink that you want. It even comes with a nice flask for milk for those who like their tea/coffee white. So, it does do the job it is intended for.

However, there are some minor annoyances:

(1) The alarm and the delivery of drinks are not synchronised. So the alarm goes off, wakes you up, then you have to wait a few minutes before the drinks are made (about 4 minutes for two mugs). Personally, I would like the alarm to go off when the drink is made, or no more than a minute prior to the drink being made. That gives you time to stir from your sleep, sit up, make yourself comfy and reach for the drink. With a machine that takes a few minutes to deliver the drink after the alarm goes off, I’m sitting around waiting, getting annoyed. Given that the machine could work out how much water is going to be delivered and given that the power rating of the machine is known, working out the boiling time should not be difficult (yes, it would be different at the top of Everest, but a pretty good estimate could easily be made).

(2) The drawer for holding your used spoon, old tea-bag(s) etc is way too small and I cannot work out how to remove it for cleaning. As a result you need to keep a saucer next to the machine for this purpose.

(3) The dispensers through which the water is delivered are very close together. That means that if you have two mugs to fill, you have to align them very accurately. In this respect, the picture that you see on Amazon of the Breville VCF042 does not seen to match the reality of the machine that I have.

These may not sound major issues, but they are annoying enough that the Breville has been relegated to our guest room, where it allows our guests to make a drink without trekking to the kitchen. There, we have more space in which we can have the Breville sitting on a tray (with a raised edge in case people don’t line their mugs up correctly), which contains a saucer and spoon, plus the flask (supplied with the Breville) for holding milk for those who want it. In that context, it is rare that the alarm feature of the Breville is used, with guests just pressing the dispense button two-four minutes before they want a drink.

So, to summarise – the Breville is a good device, but some minor annoyances mean that it doesn’t get used in the way that I had originally intended (i.e. the guests get to use it rather than us). Recommended, but with caveats.

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