Tassimo Brewbot Review and Herman the Brewbot Giveaway

UPDATE: You must comment to enter. It can be a direct comment on either post (the teaser or this post); a tweet using @idearella and referencing #Tassimo or #Brewbot or either blog post; a comment about coffee on the Facebook Fan Page; or a comment on the YouTube video.

Yesterday I posted a video about what makes people like a product. I teased that there was a review on the horizon.

Following the criteria I set up yesterday, here’s what I think about my new toy, the Tassimo T20 Brewbot. Below the review, you’ll see the guidelines for the giveaway. I think you’ll want one of your own!

It satisfies the need and works as expected.

Hot chocolate, coffee, tea. Tassimo is their name, hot beverages is their game. If you’re on a decaf kick, they’ve got you covered there too. Pop in the T DISC and press the giant button. It’s just that simple.

It does what it claims, and does it well.

Tassimo claims that reading the barcode, the Brewbot will know exactly the temperature and amount of water to use for your beverage. After making lots of different beverages I think that indeed Herman does know. (I’ve named my Brewbot Herman.)

Husband asked if we could adjust the amount of water. The Brewbot is designed to take the guesswork out of coffee brewing. Of course, he might argue that taking the guesswork out means taking away control. At 3:45 in the morning when I start the next blog post, I’m not sure I want any guesswork or control.

For husband, and other people in need of control, the instructions indicate on page 8 that you can stop the process early for a stronger cup of coffee. Which leads me to the next point…

The instructions are clear.

The entire manual is 16 pages long (in English) including all the fancy legal stuff. There is a two-page troubleshooting guide, which is wonderful to have. I didn’t need it, but that’s one of the first things I look for in a user’s manual.

The images are clear and make you feel comfortable enough to move forward quickly with your first cup of coffee. Tassimo anticipated people would skip this part, though.

I was so eager to have my first cup of coffee from Herman, I went straight to plugging him in. Luckily, there was a cardboard quick start guide were a coffee mug would go (Tassimo was smart with that one). This allowed me to make my first cup of coffee very quickly.

I was a little confused because another piece of packing material indicated that I should clean the device before use. Being eager to have a cup of coffee, I followed the first two cardboard instructions and ignored the other piece.

When I sat down with my first cup o’ joe to read the instructions, I learned how to clean the device. I also learned that it was essential to clean it before the first use!

I drank the first cup anyway. I’m not dead, and it was a mighty good cup of coffee. (I’m sure Tassimo’s law department will advise against this action.)

It’s also intuitive to use.

Taking a quick peek inside the machine, you can see where the barcode reader is. Once you see that, you never attempt to put the T DISC into the machine incorrectly again.

Yes, the first kick at the cat I tried to put it in wrong. It is idiot proof, though, and won’t go in any way but the right way.

You have to push pretty hard when closing the T disc into the machine. The first time you do this it makes you a little nervous. Resistance like that usually means you’re doing something wrong. My dad used to say, “don’t force it.”

Once you get over that, it’s smooth brewing. The giant button makes running it a no-brainer.

As far as coffeemakers go, it’s a pretty good experience.

It’s hard to have a wonderful experience with the coffee maker. Tassimo handles this challenge well.

The most fun I’ve had so far is pondering the T DISC options at Bed Bath & Beyond. Because the Brewbot knows what to do with each T DISC, you can create your own beverage. Mix an espresso T DISC with a hot chocolate T DISC for a mocha. Mix the mik T DISC with the coffee T DISC for a latte. The experience is in the experiments.

They sell these combos, but that’s no fun. Those of us who made a “suicide” fountain drink in the 80′s are now old enough for a “suicide” coffee.

It surprises me: I can’t figure out how it works.

So how does this thing work? There’s a barcode. And a barcode reader. I got that. But what’s going on inside these T DISCs?

I asked Herman. He’s quiet. So I opened some of them. It’s real coffee. Really. It is finely ground and is packed extremely densely.

I can’t figure out how it works, though. Or where the water comes out. Of course it took me a few months to figure out how the Born Free bottles worked. I expect it to take me a while to figure out the T DISC magic.

But I will do it. It will be part of the experience. And once I figure it out, I’ll share that knowledge at parties and networking events. And I’ll look cool. Very cool.

It’s fairly cost-effective.

I headed to Bed Bath & Beyond last night because I wanted to see what my options were long-term. And I wanted to look at some pricing.

Compared with other single serve coffee makers, the T DISCs are a little higher-priced. I did find a super monster pack of 46 T DISCs that brought the price down to being competitive with the other pod-based brewing systems.

The benefits of Herman the Brewbot over my other single serve brewing system is that Herman knows how much water to use. You don’t have to make a decision on small medium or large.

My dad is in the habit of reusing his single serve pods. I’ve dissected all of my T DISCs, so I haven’t had an opportunity to try that out. I’m sure I’ll have an opportunity in the next couple of days, so I’ll let you know in the comments or in a follow up blog post.

I also don’t see a possibility for Tassimo to invent a “fill your own” T DISC, like some other brewing systems. That’s nice to have because it makes it cheaper, and it’s much greener.

Of course, I’m completely baffled with this technology, so there’s no telling what they’ll come up with.

Want one of your own?

You can head down to Bed Bath & Beyond, Target or Wal-Mart and they should have them. They retail for $129.99. Oh – but wait – before you take off, check out this special offer. You can get $25 off and two T DISCs to start you off.

Or you can win one.

Enter the Herman the Brewbot Giveaway.

UPDATE: You must comment to enter. It can be a direct comment on either post (the teaser or this post); a tweet using @idearella and referencing #Tassimo or #Brewbot or either blog post; a comment about coffee on the Facebook Fan Page; or a comment on the YouTube video.

For each action from the lists below, you get another entry. I’m going to draw from all the entries. The drawing will be on Wednesday, December 15, 2010. I’ll announce the winner via Facebook Fan Page and Twitter at 9pm CST. I’ll also post the winner to the comments section of this post.

For the ‘Rellas:

For ‘Rellas on Facebook:

For tweeting ‘Rellas:

For YouTubing ‘Rellas:

Good luck!

Disclaimer: Tassimo sent a Brewbot and T Discs for me to review. (I named him – they had no part in that.) No other compensation was received. All opinions belong to me or to the voices in my head.