Breville Hot Cup review

Will this make you a proper cuppa?

27 April 2009 13:24 GMT / By Chris Haslam

Boil water at the touch of a button - can the new Breville Hot Cup really deliver a proper cuppa in an instant while saving energy and shrinking your carbon footprint?

Here’s the deal, if everyone in the UK gave up hot drinks we’d instantly save a quarter of our total electricity consumption: that’s 229 million drinks a day. Ok so that’s just not going to happen, but if we only boiled the right amount of water instead of filling the kettle to the brim we’d save enough power to light every street light in the UK.

And that’s where the Breville Hot Cup comes in: fill the main 1.5 litre compartment just like a regular kettle, slot into the base, place your mug under the spout, push the button and in a couple of seconds you’ve got 250ml of piping hot water.

The Hot Cup uses a small pump and 3000W electric heating element in the base to rapidly boil the water. It isn’t quite instant, taking just under 30 seconds to boil and pump out 250ml, but it’s still significantly quicker than a regular kettle.

We love the concept, especially for tea addicts and small offices where the kettle is constantly on the boil, but it’s not without niggles. We hate being limited to exactly 250ml. There is no way to stop or extend the flow so if you only have small mugs you’ll be overflowing and you won’t be able to use it easily to boil water for cooking.
The Hot Cup isn’t very stylish, and just doesn’t compare to many other kettles, especially in the £60 price bracket.

This kettle is designed to save the planet by reducing the amount of electricity we use, but Breville have included a garish blue LED that illuminates the water as it boils. Very funky if you like that sort of thing, and only uses very little energy, but we can’t help thinking it’s sending mixed messages. The pump and boiling element makes one hell of a racket, far noisier than a standard kettle, or small mower for that matter.

Niggles aside this reviewer was really impressed by how hot the water got, especially compared to the Tefal Quick Cup (the first of its kind to market) which only manages around 80ºC. It’s more than hot enough to brew a good cup of tea.

Verdict

We suspect instant hot water boilers like the Breville Hot Cup will be dominating the kettle market in a few years. It’s such a simple idea that conserves water and energy, but also takes the guess work out of boiling the right amount of water and saves time waiting for water to boil.

The Hot Cup does an admirable job serving up 250ml of piping hot water in just a few seconds and although it’s noisy and doesn’t look all that special it works well and is easy for all to use. It’s just a pity we can’t control the amount of water it dispenses making it a chore to use when cooking.

Score

Review Recap

Made by: Breville
Price as reviewed: £58.69
The good: Boiling water on tap, energy saving, ideal for small offices or tea addicts
The bad: Clunky design, noisy pump and only dispenses 250ml measures
Quick verdict: A great idea that will save you energy, water and time, but it isn’t very practical if you need water for cooking.
Score