Tassimo T20 Single-Serve Beverage Maker Review and Giveaway

When we sold our house last year we gave away or sold many of our worldly possessions. And our coffee maker, an under-the-cabinet job, stayed with the home.

In his eagerness to start furnishing our new kitchen, the kitchen in the house we don't yet own, DH jumped at the chance to review a Tassimo T20 "not just a coffee maker" single serve beverage maker. Yes, we get to keep it for our theoretical new home.

And guess what? You can win one for your home, new or old.

Some thoughts on the product from DH:

My boss, bless his heart, provides us with free coffee and snacks all day long. I don’t know if anybody ever cleans the communal coffee pot. (Lord knows I don’t!) Results of said communal coffee vary from pot to pot. We generally drink bitter, acrid, nasty tasting free coffee in the morning, and dump the remainder of a full pot late in the afternoon because somebody wanted just one more cup. Except you have to make a full 12 cups in the brewer in order to get the proportions right.

On two of those counts, single cup brewers like the Bosch Tassimo get it right. Not only does every cup taste consistently like the last one, but you never throw out wasted coffee. And if the next person in line wants something different, they simply put their own mug under the spigot and insert the desired capsule, or T-Disc, of their choice.

It took a while to figure out how to operate the Tassimo. It’s not as intuitive as I’d hoped. The bar code system imprinted on the T-Disc must tell the machine how much water to pass through at what speed. A green plastic tab is inserted to let the machine clean itself, and it took me a while to figure out that the cleaning process (just passing through heated water) is ideal for making tea, though there are T-Discs for tea as well. Whether it's tea, hot cocoa or coffee, it only takes about a minute to make your beverage.

After a few weeks of use, we’ve got it down and use our Tassimo on a regular basis. It doesn’t result in a too-hot-to-handle ceramic mug from the microwave or take nearly as long as boiling water in the old-fashioned tea kettle.

It’s straightforward enough for the kids (tween boys, not tots) to operate safely, although it requires a little more cleanup as a result of some spillage and dripping that happens from time to time. I hate throwing away plastic and prefer to recycle coffee grounds, which is a downside of the disposable T-Discs.

(Kim adds that though she doesn't like the extra waste either, but she's the kind of gal who typically only gets coffee at Starbucks-they put whipped cream on top!- so the cappuccinos from the Tassimo save her an unnecessary car trip.)

The Gevalia coffee capsules that came with our beverage maker were not a hit (too sour for my taste and Kim only drinks her coffee in cappuccino form).

The Tassimo delivers extremely consistent results every time, and once we find the ideal beverages, I’m sure this appliance will hold a reserved spot on our kitchen counter (once we find the ideal house).

The Tassimo T20 retails for $129.00 and is available at major retailers like Bed, Bath and Beyond, as well as on the web.

Win it!

Head to the Tassimo site and comment telling me what beverage you'd like to make in your shiny new Tassimo T20.

Comment prior to 9 PM CST on Friday, January 21, 2011 to be entered to win.

Extra entries, one for each method below

* Tweet about this contest and come back and let me know about it for an extra entry.
Sample tweet: Win a Tassimo T20 from @KimMoldofsky http://tinyurl.com/47phc3s

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* Comment on an episode of Property Sluts, my not-ready-for-HGTV home buying series (I'm not property virgin, yo!) and come back to let me know you did. They are funny, not smutty; I promise.

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Open to U.S. residents only.
I must have a way to contact you based on the comment. Winner must respond within 48 hours.
Winner will be chose via Random.org based on the total number of comments.

Congrats: Commenter #8Congrats to Gayle Weiswasser!