Keurig B60 Single Serve Coffee Maker Review

The Keurig B60 is designed to make single serving hot beverages using the Keurig K-cup system. The B-60 makes it easy to brew single cups of coffee, tea and hot chocolate with no muss and no fuss. The 48 ounce reservoir makes up to 8 cups of coffee without refilling, and is removable for easy filling and cleaning. The B-60 offers a couple of features that aren’t available on the lower cost B20 and B40, including the choice of three cup sizes for your coffee – the 9.25 serving size is ideal for travel mugs – and an adjustable temperature setting that lets you set the water temperature from 187 degrees to 192 degrees in one degree increments. In addition, you have full control over brewing time so that you can have your coffee just the way you like it.

The Keurig B60 also features a removable drip tray for easy cleaning, and a programmable blue backlit LCD display with digital clock and an on/off timer to set the Keurig to brew on your schedule. The machine is stylish and sleek, with a black body, steel drip tray and chrome face plate and handle. The sleek design will fit right in to any contemporary or modern style kitchen – but don’t let that deter you from getting one if your kitchen is more homespun or traditional.

Using the Keurig B60 couldn’t be simpler. You simply fill the coffee reservoir, reattach it to the body and turn the machine on. When the blue display reads “Ready to Brew”, you lift the chrome handle, drop a Keurig K-cup in and close the lid. In just about one minute, you’ll have a fresh, steaming cup of hot coffee, ready to drink.

Specifications:
Product: Keurig B-60 Single Serve Coffee Maker
Type: 1500 watt brewing system for hot beverages
Size: 13 1/4″ by 10″ by 13″
Weight: 16 lbs

Features:
Programmable backlit display, removable drip tray, removable 48 ounce water reservoir; Three cup sizes for brewing; Customizable temperature settings
Uses: K-cups and My K-cup reusable coffee filter
Includes: 18 pack variety K-cups; My K-cup coffee filter

Pros:
The Keurig B-60 has a lot to recommend it. The temperature control allows you to set the coffee brewing temperature to your desired setting – which can make a surprising difference in the flavor of the coffee. The three brew sizes allow you to make anywhere from a teacup size serving to a travel mug full of coffee. Since the amount of water affects the strength of the brew, you’ll find that the flavor varies with the size, but other than that, you can expect a consistently good cup of coffee from the Keurig B-60.

One of the biggest pros for the Keurig B-60 is the wide variety of K-cups available to use with it. Keurig features well over 100 varieties of coffee, tea and hot chocolate for use with their coffee brewing system including such stellar names as Starbucks, Green Mountain Roasters, Timothy’s and Gloria Jean. Even better, the My K-cup reusable coffee filter can be used with your favorite brand of coffee so you’re not confined to the K-cup choices.

One of the nicer small pros for the Keurig B60 is the height of the brew platform. There’s enough clearance under the brew spout to fit most travel cups, which is a nice plus. Other single cup machines with lower clearance require that you brew your coffee into a regular mug and then pour it into your travel mug.

And finally, the Keurig B60 is the ultimate in convenience. There’s very little cleanup – no pot, no carafe, no coffee filter, unless you opt for the My K-cup which rinses clean easily. The machine itself will tell you when it needs to be descaled – and descaling is as simple as running a brew cycle with vinegar to remove an limescale or calcification from the machine’s innards.

Cons:
The coffee may be a little weak for those who prefer espresso or dark roast coffees. The solution? Keurig’s Dark Magic from Green Mountain Roasters or another dark roast coffee makes a strong, rich cup of coffee.

The Final Verdict:
The Keurig B-60 is an ideal coffee maker for a family that likes its coffee one cup at a time. The wide variety of K-cups available means that everyone in the family can have the hot beverage that they like best in as little as a minute.

LEGO is Fun

This was a gift for my daughter's fourth birthday. The box of LEGOs comes with loads of basic building blocks plus a horse, person, wheels, and several other components to build cars, houses, flowers, etc. There is also an instruction booklet to help your child get building.

Even my daughter can look at the pictures and figure out what pieces she needs although she may not always get them put together correctly. There is one flat, building platform included but I think LEGO should have included a couple more of the building platforms. I really like that the lid snaps closed as there are a lot of small pieces that can easily spill everywhere if the box is knocked over.

This is a great gift to get your child's imagination going and to foster creativity. At first, she didn't really know where to start as there are so many pieces but we sat down and started building and now she can build tons of things on her own. She will pull the box out on her own (without any suggestion on my part) and get to work. She delights in showing me what she has made.

Overall, I think this is a basic, great gift that will help your child develop her spatial concepts and a further understanding of how the concepts of symmetry and gravity work (e.g., a table needs 4 legs to stay standing, a house needs 4 walls to build a roof across the top, etc.). If anything, it will augment your child's fine motor skill coordination. Overall, this is a winner toy.

from Lego Castle Sets

Lego Toy dollars well spent

No they are not cheap. No the box isn't full to even half capacity. But these toys are still around for a reason: they rock. More specifically, they are indestructible, offer immense replay value, encourage creative quiet and thoughtful play, promote fine motor skill development, and they are just plain fun.

Think about the countless cheap $3.99 and $4.99 soft plastic throw away toys you've bought over the years: invariably imported and with unknown lead content, cost pennies to make, including the polly pockets, fairies, mermaids, bratz, little ponies, strawberry shortcakes, littlest petz, etc. All of those toys are very restrictive in the type of play they permit, fall apart, and lose your child's interest after a few days.. until you buy another worthless set for their next "fix."

In the case of legos i would argue that if you just refrain from buying those cheap blister packed toys for a few months you will have saved more than enough to get this or another "flexible" set of legos. I don't care for the elaborate lego sets that have you follow intricate instructions to build a pirate ship, or harry potters house, or a star wars backdrop,etc. Those are just as restrictive and inflexible in their play.

So get this set or something similar as soon as you are sure your kid won't choke on a brick. It is something they will play with now and in the future. You'll beat inflation, you'll have it for future kids you might have, or those who might visit, and it will always have excellent resale value on e_bay.

As for the merits and value of this particular set, i think it is fairly reasonable relative to prices for used, bulk collections you might get on an auction website, or compared to the more expensive, larger, thematic sets - such as the "townhouse", lunar lander, or whatever. It has 4 wheels, 2 axles, 1 figure (a mechanic dude), a set of mini tools for the figure, 1 door, 2 windows, some clear pieces for windshields or windows, a propellor/windmill piece, a radiator grille, a cute mini steering wheel, and assorted bricks including some long ones. The base unfortunately isn't even standard height, but sort of a cheap 1/5 or 1/4 height. So that's a little lame. So it isn't perfect but i can't find a better variety pack for the price. Although the Lego 4+ Basic Bulk Set might be a good second set to consider.

We got this set to augment the pink little girls set with the jump rope on the box. Together they are a reasonable set but its still a small collection. I would contend that similar to the defense department maintaining an army that can fight a war in 2 theatres at once, you should have enough legos to build 2 houses at once. That is unless you have more than 2 kids...