Keurig B40Keurig B40 Review

The Keurig B40 Elite Gourmet Single-cup Home Brewing system is one of the most popular coffee-makers on the market today.

For under $120, the Keurig B40 brewing system gives you the ability to make a fresh cup of gourmet coffee or tea, in less than a minute. All at the press of a button.

There are some great features of the Keurig B40 Elite Brewing System, which help explain why it is so popular with people. Some of these are as follows:

  • The ability to choose from 2 cup sizes: either a regular cup size (i.e. 7-1/4-ounce cup), and a larger 9-1/4-ounce mug (e.g. your standard travel mug);
  • It can make both coffee and tea;
  • It uses Keurig’s patented ‘K-cups’, which means that there is no need for messy grinding or cleaning up;
  • The B40 has a 48-ounce removable water reservoir, which provides up to 6 standard size cups before you need to refill it;
  • There is a removable drip tray, for easy cleaning (and you can remove this drip tray to allow the filling up of travel mugs);
  • With one-touch technology, you have precise control over your brewing (and there is no grinding or messy cleaning up afterwards).

Who Is The Keurig B40 Elite Home Brewing System suitable for?

The Keurig B40 is suitable for anyone who wants a delicious, gourmet cup of coffee or tea in the morning (or anytime of the day), all at the press of a button. It is easy to use, and very affordable.

What do you need to consider before buying a Keurig B40 Elite Home Brewing System?

The main thing you need to be aware of is that in order to use the Keurig B40, you will need to buy Keurig ‘K-cups’.  A ‘K-cup’ is a plastic cup filled with coffee/tea, that you place into the B40. The B40 then punctures the lid, and the bottom of the cup, and forces the hot water down through the cup.

The result is a very tasty cup of coffee or tea. However, each time you have a cup of coffee/tea, you need to put in a K-cup (containing the coffee/tea). As at May 2011, a box of 24 K-cups cost around $14 (from Keurig.com), which is around 58 cents  per cup!

However, there are some ways to keep the cost down:

1)  You can buy K-cups through Amazon.com, which works out cheaper than buying them through Keurig.com. If you sign up with their subscriber plan, you can get the K-cups at around 47 cents per cup.

2)  You can buy some little attachments, which allow you to recycle the K-cups. You can see what this looks like at this you-tube clip here (she gets to the point after a minute introduction):

You can also check out two of the online stores that sell these K-cup attachments,  namely My Kap, and Solofill. Alternatively, you could use the Keurig My K cup reusuable coffee filter.  If you recycle in this way, you can dramatically decrease the price of your coffee (and also make for less landfill!).

If you are happy to either keep buying K-cups, or recycling them, then you will find that the B40 will give you the coffee or tea that you are after!

Are there any negatives to the Keurig B40 Elite Home Brewing system?

If you look at independent websites such as amazon.com, you will see that the average rating for the B40 is a massive 4 stars – and that’s after around 500 people posting their reviews!

However, some people have posted negative reviews, and these are focussed on the following:

  • The need to use the plastic Keurig K-cups. The concern that people raised was the expense over time, and the waste this produces. However, as discussed above, there is a way to get round this, by recycling your K-cups;
  • Some people complained about the noise. But, as one reviewer put it, ‘Granted it’s a bit noisy, especially at 5 AM, but it only lasts a few seconds’.
  • When you turn the machine on in the morning, it takes 4 minutes to heat the water before you can use it. Not only so, but it does take 15 seconds to heat the water again between cups. Not a big deal for most people, to be sure, but good to be aware of this;
  • Durability. Whilst it was only the minority of people that had this problem, a couple of people did complain of their machine breaking/not working properly within the first year of buying it. Keurig does have a limited 1 year warranty of their machines, and so they were able to get new ones delivered.

As at May 2011, of the 500 or so reviews on Amazon.com, 400 (i.e. 80%) were in the extremely positive 4-5 star range. It would seem that those who experienced problems with the machine were in the minority.

What are people saying about the Keurig B40?

Here are what some people are saying about the B40:

‘As a former coffee house Assistant Manager and an avid fan of “gourmet” coffee, I highly recommend this coffee machine. Probably the best $100 I have spent in at least five years.’ (Peace Frog Aktur).

‘I was introduced to the Keurig while deployed in Afghanistan. When working late hours, it can be cumbersome to have to brew up a pot of coffee. This machine makes it easy and really makes the perfect cup every time (so cliche, I know).’ (Roy C. Nickerson)

‘However, I gave the Keurig B40 to my husband as a gift, and not a single day has gone by that we have not enjoyed it! It is so easy – just pop in the k-cup, press the brew button, and you have a great cup of coffee or tea. It is perfect for us – we drink about two cups each day with no mess or fuss… If you are a true coffee fan, and want a professionally styled machine that makes it simple and fast to make, then the Keurig B40 is for you!’ (LibraryPiper)

In conclusion.

The Keurig B40 Elite Home Brewing System is one of the best value coffee makers on the market today, and will give you a gourmet cup of coffee or tea in the convenience of your own home or office.

(Note: In the near future I hope to put up live links to online a variety of online stores that sell the item, for easy comparison and purchase).