Keurig B30 Mini Brewers
Product Features
Color: Black
- Single-serve brewing system for gourmet coffee or tea
- Uses patented K-Cups; no messy grinding or clean up
- Brews an 8-ounce cup at a time; ready in less than 3 minutes
- 1-touch technology; variety pack of 10 K-Cups included
- Measures 11-1/2 by 10 by 13-1/4 inches; 1-year limited warranty
Amazon.com Product Description
Make a fresh cup of gourmet coffee or tea in less than three minutes with this single-serve brewing system. The unit uses Keurig's patented K-Cups, which offer over 70 varieties of pre-measured gourmet coffee and tea from a variety of premium brands. In addition, its patented one-touch technology ensures precise control over the brewing, without the hassle of grinding beans, measuring coffee, handling filters, or cleaning up. Simply open the lid, insert a K-Cup, close the lid, and push the button. The coffeemaker requires fresh water for each cup and brews one 8-ounce cup at a time. A variety pack of 10 K-Cups comes included. Perfect for the office, vacation home, or college dorm room, the portable single-cup brewing system measures 11-1/2 by 10 by 13-1/4 inches and carries a one-year limited warranty.
Product Description
The Keurig Mini brewer is a great solution for gourmet coffee lovers in locations where a compact size, and minimal features is ideal. It is an excellent companion for vacation homes, cabins, college dorms, boats, RVs, or home office desktops. The Mini is compact, easy to use and brews an 8-ounce cup anywhere you can take it along and plug it in. The mini heats 8 ounces of water in about 3 minutes and then brews just like our regular brewers with no water remaining in the brewer. Now you can enjoy consistently brewed gourmet coffee tea and hot cocoa, virtually anywhere.All Keurig brewers use Keurig's patented K-Cup (dedicated pod-like) single portion packs. K-Cups are "mini-brewers" that eliminate the hassle of grinding beans, measuring coffee, handling filters and messy clean-up while brewing a gourmet cup of coffee or tea in less than one minute. Gourmet coffees, teas and hot cocoa distinguish Keurig from its competition. With over 200 different coffee, tea and hot cocoa varieties from 13 gourmet partners, Keurig is designed to meet the many tastes of hot beverage drinkers.
Customer Reviews
Few tradeoffs for serious convenience
I previously purchased a B40 for my office. The convenience and selection of coffees immediately made it a favorite among co-workers and myself. Of course this meant that I wanted one for home. One problem with the B40 is the noise. Not bad for an office environment but unforgivable first thing in the morning at home. When the B30 was announced and promised to be quieter, that was just what the doctor ordered. This thing is VERY quiet in comparison. I only drink one cup in the morning prior to going to work so the lack of a reservoir is not an issue. If you want multiple cups 30 seconds apart this is not the machine for you. If you don't mind the extra step of dumping a cup of water in a hole and waiting 2 1/2 minutes after you press the brew button (if you own the B40 you were already doing this when you turned the power on) then this machine is great. Oh, and the small footprint means you can be very flexible in where you decide to put it. No major concessions in the countertop usage arena. Bottom line, quiet convenience in a small package makes this a winner.
Great "second" K-cup brewer!
After enjoying my full-size B60 at home for about a year now, I really wanted to get one for my office. However, I didn't see the need to buy another B60, or a B40 for that matter, since I'd only be using it a few times a week (I'm not "in" my office that much). Once I heard about the Mini 30, my curiosity was peaked.
I think most negative reviews will be from people who plan on using this as their main K-cup brewer, and that's a shame, because this most certainly is not meant for that job. Reasons why:
1) It has a long brew time (usually around 2 minutes for the 8 oz it holds) and has to be filled with water for each cup.
2) It has only one cup size (8 oz).
3) It has no adjustable temperature setting (but the default is perfectly fine at about 192 degrees).
It has some odd quirks too. For example, there's a separate "power" button that's located quite distant from the "brew" button, and the unit will automatically turn itself off after brewing a cup. So for multiple cups, you have to turn it on, then after loading the k-cup and water, press brew. For each cup. Additionally, the light on the power button is not easy to see if the machine is below eye-level, so I have to squint to see if I pressed it on or not. A more powerful LED (like the blue ones on the B60) or a beeping noise might be helpful to know if it's on, or at least relocate the power button by the brew button!
While not as heavy as, say, a Kitchen Aid mixer, it is quite well constructed. It doesn't have the metal trim of the B60, but chrome finished plastic for the handle on the head, and the grate for the overflow plate. The machine opens and closes with sturdy hinges, so it seems durable for the future. The size is great and the little beauty sits right on my desk with plenty of room for my computer monitor!
Coffee tastes just as good as with my larger K-cup brewer, though with the smaller water volume the darker roasts have more "punch" - especially darker ones like Coffee People Black Tiger, and Caribou Coffee's Mahogany. I'm sticking mostly with medium roasts like CP Donut Shop and GM Nantucket Blend with good results.
P.S. - While there's black and white versions on Amazon, you can get the cool "fire engine red" one is from Keurig direct :)
Good product for one person - small apt
I have the B40 and have recently purchased the B30. I use the B40 for home and enjoy it with my husband.
The coffee at work is sub-par at best and for some time now wanted to purchase another B40 for my office. I didn't want to share it with the other 30 people in my office by putting it in the shared kitchen. My co-workers are nice people, but considering how the fridge looks, they're not the most considerate in the "shared appliances" world.
So when Keurig people came out with the B30, I was happy to check it out. It has a small footprint -- perfect for my desk. It's a attractive, yet not so flashy so may go un-noticed on my desk area at work.
It makes coffee just as well as my full-sized machine. I plan to use it regularly with a "My K-Cup" that I purchased. I think the design is nice and sleek overall.
There are two ways to turn on the machine. One is to simply push the power button. The other is to simply open up the slot to put the K-Cup pod in, and the machine will automatically turn on when you close it. Once you close it, the cap for the water resevoir opens for you to fill. Once you fill and close, THEN you place your cup. When it senses your cup, you push the brew button, and it silently heats up the water and dispenses in about 2 minutes. Once you take your cup, the machine will automatically shut off. Nice. However, not so nice if for a family - repeating is too time consuming for more than 2 people.
I also have to say that it is silly that the machine turns itself off -- since just after brewing, you'll want to take the K-Cup out to toss. Opening of course, just turns the machine back on. I guess some people just leave the machine with the used K-Cup in until the next brewing. That sounds gross to me, but I understand the logic there.
The brew time of two minutes may sound like an eternity to some people - but it's a lot faster than a trip to Starbucks when you're busy at work. And it's worth the time compared to awful free coffee the have in the kitchen.
For the price difference between the B-30 and B-40, however, if I were a new buyer, I would definately go with the larger B-40 model.
