Breville Coffee Maker
Breville BKC600XL & Breville BKC700XL
Breville BKC600XL and BKC700XL are one of the best single cup coffee machines around and they have very good customer reviews. Since these two models are very similar, I will first talk about BKC600XL before going into features available only in the new BKC700XL version.
The Breville coffee makers brew coffee in the same way as the Keurig coffee brewers.
In fact, you can think of Breville BKC600XL as an upgrade from Keurig B70.
To make coffee, you open the lid, insert a K-cup, shut the lid, press a button and in less than a minute your cup of coffee is ready for you. There is such a variety of K-cups available that you should not have ane problem to find many different flavors that suit your taste.
You can also use your own ground coffee. The Breville coffee maker comes with a reusable container called My K-Cup. Just put your favorite ground coffee into My K-cup and insert it into the coffee maker instead of an ordinary K-cup.
You can also use this coffee maker as a hot water dispenser. That is handy when you want to make tea or instant soup.
Main features of Breville BKC600XL
- Four different brewing sizes: 5.25, 7.25, 9.25 and 11.25oz. You can set one of these to be your default brewing size so that it will be automatically preselected for you.
- A built-in water filter: the unit includes a water filter which removes some of the impurities found in tap water. You don't have to use it if you don't want to. But for most people filtering the water does make the coffee taste even better.
- A container for using your own ground coffee: My K-cup and a measuring scoop are stored away in a nice storage area at the top of the machine.
- Removable water reservoir on the side of the unit which makes refilling really easy. It's a decent size - it holds 60oz of water.
- Removable drip tray: removing the drip tray allows you to brew coffee directly into a travel mug. The drip tray also has an indicator that will alert you when you need to empty it.
- Adjustable brewing temperature: you can set the temperature to anywhere between 187°F and 192°F.
- Programmable ON and OFF time: you can program the machine to switch itself on and off at a pre-set time. But if you are using the coffee maker a lot it's best to leave it always on.
- Quiet brew technology: Breville coffee maker BKC600XL is relatively quiet. It still makes some noise - especially when pumping water from the water reservoir through the water filter into the boiler, but it is quieter than most single cup coffee machines.
- Easy to use LCD display. This is where you select the coffee size, the brewing temperature, the automatic on and off times etc.
- Stunning looks: the machine is all covered in stainless steel with some chrome accents which makes it feel really upmarket. There are some nice touches like the blue light shining through the water tank. The light actually starts flashing when the water is running low.
Keurig vs Breville
The Breville coffee maker is using the same brewing technology as Keurig B70. It is is about $100 more expensive than Keurig B70. So what do you get for your money?- A built in water filter.
- My K-Cup and a measuring scoop which fits neatly in the storage area at the top of the machine.
- Classy stainless steel looks.
- Easier to read LCD display.
- Less vibrations and quieter brewing.
- Only a part of the top has to be opened when you are inserting the K-cup. With Keurig B70 you have to open the whole top - so if you have low cupboards you may need to pull the whole machine forward to be able to insert the K-cup. You don't have to do that with Breville BKC600XL.
Difference between Breville BKC600XL and BKC700XL
BKC700XL is the latest version of the Breville single serve coffee maker. The most important feature that is new in BKC700XL is the ability to make iced coffee. There is new "iced beverage" setting that brews 3.25oz of strong coffee. To make your iced coffee you brew your coffee directly into a glass filled with ice. This is a handy feature to have.
Another difference is that BKC700XL uses new pump technology which means that it is considerably quieter than the old model. There is much less vibration and noise when the machine pumps water - something that users appreciate a lot.
Apart from these two things, the two models are almost identical. There is however one difference that has annoyed several users. The old model (BKC600XL on the left) had a very nice blue-lit LCD display that most people really liked. Now, with the BKC700XL (on the right), the display light is white rather than blue. A number of customers are not happy about this change, so it might have been a bad move on Breville's part.
All in all, Breville BKC600XL and Breville BKC700XL are excellent single serve coffee makers - especially if you consider Breville's reputation for making high-quality, durable products. Have a look this video to see the Breville coffee maker in action.
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