Breville VKJ318

Breville

The Breville Hot Cup is (as Breville put it), the “next generation of the hot cup”. Now I have never previously owned a hot cup or any other dispensing machine like it so my opinion can only be based on my experience of this alone. The machine is meant to be used in place of a kettle and dispenses boiling hot water at the required size.

The Machine

Breville have created a hot water dispensing machine that is meant to be an energy saver, and has variable cup sizes as well as a large 2 litre capacity. Not only that, but the machine looks pretty stylish too. It comes in a nice compact size, as it is the same height as my current kettle and only slightly wider (Height=28.0cm Depth=27.7cm Width=17.0cm). It has a long cord that wraps underneath the base which is handy of your plug point is a little farther away than you would like. The Breville comes in two parts really; you have the base of the hot cup which looks much the same as a cordless kettle and the unit itself. You place the dispensing unit on top of the base and then place the drip tray at the front which slots on top of a fixed ridge. Plug it in and away you go. One of the first things you should do is fill the machine to the maximum level and dispense the two litres (one whole unit) before you use it for hot drinks.

My First Attempt

Typically I thought “it can’t be that difficult, just fill it up and press the button2. Sadly (as usual) I was wrong. My first attempt saw me fill the unit up and press the button at the top for the machine to do nothing. After sensibly reading the book I realised that once the power is on, you need to press the black button at the top to start the system boiling, the indicator that the machine is working is that the clear section at the back is illuminated blue (as in the picture).

I had stuck down the first mug that I got my hands on and gave no thought to the amount dispensed. Once the power is on you will hear the machine boil up the set amount of water and then slowly it will start to dispense into the cup placed on the drip tray. The noise it makes it no louder than a kettle but it does emit a strange hiss at the end of the process. Whilst I looked on amazed at the speed (around 25-30) seconds it took me a moment to realise that the cup was overflowing. I grabbed the cup and within seconds dropped it again as the water had scalded my hand. Don’t ask? To be honest I knew that this boiled water but for some reason I thought that it wouldn’t be as scalding hot as a kettle. I can assure you that the water out of the Breville is just as hot as that out of your ordinary kettle (I had the burn to prove it).

I again went back to the manual that came with the machine and re-read the book. Just above the black power switch at the top is a silver button that slides from left to right with a picture of a small cup on the left and a large cup on the right. The measurements I think vary between 175ml and 300ml so it should cater to most cup sizes. There is also a manual stop button on the top of the machine so that if you only want a small amount of water that is also possible.

If you are doing more than one cup, the wait between cups is minimal, I would say less than an extra 5 seconds although I wouldn’t relish sitting there making 8 cups in a row. I would suggest that a teapot would be a good idea if making 3 or more cups.

The drip tray is removable and any excess water can be poured down the drain. If you have something that requires a bit more room under the water dispenser then you can remove the tray before placing it there so fitting a Pot Noodle under there is a piece of cake!

Any Disadvantages?

The Breville Hot Cup certainly doesn’t come cheap. When comparing it to a standard kettle it isn’t really a necessity, more of a luxury. Prices vary slightly depending on where you buy it from but you are looking at around the £60 mark. When you weigh up that a good kettle can be a third of that price it can be a little bit of a shock. I however, like the lazy option with this one cup dispenser. The only other disadvantage that some people may not like is the weight of the unit itself. To refill the unit you lift it off the base and press the release button and the top lifts up much like a kettle. However this unit is considerably heavier than your bog standard kettle. I cannot tell you exactly how much it weighs but it is 2.7kg boxed.

Overall Opinion

I am one happy bunny with my Breville Hot Cup. It says it is Energy Efficient (although I am not entirely au-fait with it) but from what I can understand you only boil the amount of water you need as opposed to continually re-boiling a kettle. It looks lovely on my kitchen side, to the point of making my other appliances look old. It is quick and easy to use and I think it was money well spent.

P.S Excuse the photos, Ciao stated they were not loaded, and now I cannot delete the duplicates or the blank screen!