Review of my Quick Cup from Tefal
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Here’s my way cool new hot water maker-er!
I love this thing. I am always blarting on about how much electricity is used to boil a half full kettle for just one cup so I jumped at the chance to buy this the other day during an entire outing to the middle of Oxford street to buy a new kettle.
It takes water from rest to hot enough for a cuppa almost instantly, just fill the reservoir with water and it gets filtered by the additional water filter that screws into place inside. Press the button and out comes steaming hot water straight into the cup.
You can see the Tefal Quick Cup
Function
Programming it to output the correct amount of water is easy, just press both buttons until it flashes and then press and hold the hot water button until the desired amount is reached and let go. Press both buttons again and that’s it. Just press the button once from then on and it’ll fill to that amount.
You can also keep the button pressed for hot water and stop it by releasing the button.
The internal filter works just like a normal water filter for Britta and the like, you can let the Quick Cup know that you’ve changed the filter so the light will flash when it’s time to change it
Price
The Unit
The Tefal Quickcup Filters
I think this will save money in electric bills too.
Opinion
I like the idea of being able to make a quick cup of tea or coffee, no more waiting around for a kettle to boil. It pretty much fills the cup with water that is sufficiently hot enough. I thought it was going to output a temperature something like that of a self service coffee maker but it was hotter even than that.
It does work but it tends to splash a little bit, the gap between the nozzle and the cup opening is quite big so when water streams out, some of it splashes out when it hits the liquid inside the cup. One solution I have found is to leave the spoon in the cup at an angle so the water hits the spoon handle, that spreads the water out before it splashes down.
Overall, I would say it was worth the money and works well enough. My missus says she still needs a kettle for when she wants to fill the sink up or other dark rituals that she does in the kitchen. 
4/5
Response to comments:
Graham Hanson: ….It costs me about half a pence per mug.
I’d like to do the same sums on this thing, so we can compare and verify their claims of up to 65% energy saving.
What I need to know is this…1. when you use it in manual mode, how long in seconds do you keep your finger on the button for to fill a mug ~350ml
2. what is the power rating? does it say on the bottom?
This sounded like a great excuse to make a cup of coffee, I checked the bottom of the device and the power rating on the bottom says 2500-3000W. The time to fill a full mug was just shy of 25 seconds. Here’s a video I made on my phone …(it sounds a lot louder on the video than it actually is)
Hope this helps!
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Tags: hot water, kettle, quickcup, review, tefal
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December 19th, 2007 at 9:54 pm
ok, i got to admit, it looks cool.
But it’s seems pricey, how about just using the microwave and just boil one cup?
thats just my 2 cents. lol
raymondm’s last blog post..Just another day in the City
December 19th, 2007 at 11:35 pm
December 20th, 2007 at 7:49 pm
Thats one hi-tech kettle
RAC’s last blog post..Having Fun with ?The Force?
December 20th, 2007 at 9:57 pm
December 21st, 2007 at 2:13 pm
Looks kool that Andy, may have to get me one for these long nites online.
Anyway matey just to say Happy Christmas to you, and catch you at a T&R in the new years.
All the best buddy
Dave
Dave’s last blog post..Elottery in 2008 What will it hold for me.
December 21st, 2007 at 3:29 pm
good luck for the new year, may your elottery be prosperous!
January 10th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
I wouldn’t recommend boiling water in a microwave. It is a good way to burn yourself.
January 10th, 2008 at 6:08 pm
I was looking at buying one of these a while back but didnt get round to it in the end. Your post has rekindled my interest, might have to make a trip to Argos at the weekend !
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January 10th, 2008 at 11:11 pm
Scott: I’m pleased with it, it definitely is convenient for 2 cups of tea or less made at one time. If you’re making tea for the whole family then it’s a pain in the arse to make each one separately
January 24th, 2008 at 1:10 pm
Looks cool, well…
I’m thinking of buying one with energy prices set to increase I’m looking to save the odd penny or 2.
What is the power rating of it?
My current kettle takes 1 min to boil a mug of water.
It has 10A stamped on the base, and UK mains is 230V,
using the formula Power = Volts x Amps my kettle’s power rating is 2300 watt or 2.3kW
(I can do sighunce me :D)
2.3/60 = 0.038 that’s how many units of electricity it takes to cook up one mug.
I pay about 13 pence per unit atm, so
13 x 0.038 = 0.498
It costs me about half a pence per mug.
I’d like to do the same sums on this thing, so we can compare and verify their claims of up to 65% energy saving.
What I need to know is this…
1. when you use it in manual mode, how long in seconds do you keep your finger on the button for to fill a mug ~350ml
2. what is the power rating? does it say on the bottom?
January 24th, 2008 at 1:43 pm
February 15th, 2008 at 11:19 am
every where i’ve read say’s you have to change filter every 6 weeks.so at £4.00 a time what you save on energy your spending on filters thats almost £35.oo a year.
February 15th, 2008 at 11:35 am
May 14th, 2008 at 10:35 pm
This is a classic case of a product not living up to its hype. It’s *almost* a great product, but very badly designed. When I first got mine, it spurted and spluttered so badly, you either had to hold the cup up next to the nozzle and risk getting scalded, or start it, stand well back to avoid being splashed, and wipe up the bench after each use. The distributor sent me a differently designed nozzle (the fact that a different nozzle was available indicated they are well aware of a problem, but hope that most people won’t complain) which did alleviate the splashing somewhat, but the operation is still nowhere near what is shown in commercials.
In Australia and New Zealand it’s marketed with the implied claim that it will give you a cup of hot water in 3 seconds. (Actually there’s an internet ad that specifically makes this claim at http://www.quickcup.com.au/tvc.html) This is quite obviously a case of deliberately deceptive advertising. When I called the distributors they indignantly told me they never claimed to produce a whole cup in seconds, only that it would “give you hot water in 3 seconds” Yeah right. You can have a cup of tea in 3 seconds, as long as it’s in a thimble. My mug takes anywhere between 30~50 seconds to fill. The fact that it’s inconsistent seems to imply the unit isn’t working properly, but the distributors tell me it’s normal.
As to the claim of energy efficiency, I can’t be sure. But it does occur to me that the financial and energy costs of producing and continually replacing a small dedicated throwaway filter would probably far outweigh any savings in power. I assume the filter is necessary to reduce the buildup of scale, rather than for any health concerns.
Overall, this is a real disappointment. A possibly great product but so poorly executed that it’s really not worth the money. Maybe the next model will fix some of these shortcomings.
May 15th, 2008 at 11:07 am