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A year following introducing a steam-based drip espresso maker, Remingtons iCoffee brand name is back that has a new single-serve brewer designed to compete with Keurig. Selling SpinBrew technology, the iCoffee Opus Single-Serve Coffee machine promises pod-based caffeine with less of your bitter aftertaste, as well as the freedom to brew whatever label of K-style pod you want.

The emphasis in that last touch stems from the fact that the latest technology of Keurig systems, dubbed "Keurig a couple of. 0, " wont brew anything besides Keurig-branded pods. That positions iCoffees cup-blind brewer as being a Keurig 2. 0 substitute, but with plenty of other alternatives in which also wont discriminate between K-Cups and Knockoff-Cups -- such as existing batch regarding Keurig 1. 0 brewers -- it isnt alone in in which regard.

That puts the actual pressure on iCoffees performance to set itself apart, and after taste-testing a lot more coffee than My spouse and i care to confess, Im not convinced which it does. At $140, its actually a perfectly fine single-serve brewer, but not an excellent one. Shop about, and youll find better value and more feature-rich types.

The iCoffee Opus is a glossy, slick-looking brewer that has a black, boxy build and stainless steel accents. Blue LEDs shine up through the 75-oz. water reservoir -- and down into your mug over the brew process. The design is less homey than it really is techie. From a new distance, you might mistake the one thing for a gambling PC.

It isnt a bad look for a coffee maker through any stretch, however for some, it could possibly be a touch ostentatious. Itd be right at invest a dorm room, but I have trouble imagining it blending together in with many kitchen decor.

The tech that iCoffee is attempting to highlight is its SpinBrew technology. Put simply, the Opus will shoot a 360-degree spray of water in the K-Cup during the actual brew cycle. Their claim is until this agitates the good grounds, allowing the h2o to permeate all of them more evenly. According to iCoffee, this generates a less poisonous brew.

The different feature thats entry and center is Dial-a-Brew, which is merely a rubbery knob that you could turn to adjust how big is your beverage. This is nothing at all groundbreaking -- basically any single-serve brewer will help you select the specific size of ones drink -- but I did appreciate iCoffees strategy here. The dedicated button and LED display look a lttle bit luxurious, and have the part, too. Turning a button just makes a lot more sense than continuously jabbing your finger into a touchscreen.

SpinBrew and Dial-a-Brew aside, the iCoffee Opus isnt going to actually offer much using features. Theres absolutely no way to adjust water temperature, nor any kind of presets for items like iced beverages. This doesnt happen come with its very own reusable cup, much like the Cuisinart SS-700 will. You cant brew entire pots from your single pod, the method that you can with a new Keurig 2. 0 brewer much like the K500. It wont "pulse" the actual brew process to get a slower, stronger brew, much like the Editors Choice-winning Bunn The Cafe MCU will.

Still, theres something for being said for simpleness. If all you want is a countertop machine thatll speedily brew an acceptable mug of coffee each morning, you will likely be perfectly delighted by the iCoffee Opus. Those wanting more control in the brew process, on the other hand, might want to take a look elsewhere.

Functionality and usability

With no unique features, the actual pressure falls in iCoffees performance, how the company hails because "game changing" in its website. However, our taste testers begged to differ with that claim.

At 1st sip, coffee made from the iCoffee Opus tasted approximately like any different single-serve brew, which is to say weak, and somewhat watery. I did, on the other hand, find that a new mug of iCoffee espresso did taste a little less bitter than a mug of the identical coffee brewed because of the Bunn My Cafe MCU, which isnt everything bitter-tasting firstly. Right off the actual bat, that at the very least lent some credence in order to iCoffees SpinBrew effectiveness claims.

Subjective tastes testing isnt enough, though, so I coppied the refractometer in which my colleagues John Bennett and Jared Hannah are already using for their particular in-depth reviews regarding high-end drip caffeine makers. With the actual refractometer, were in a position to take a close, objective look at whats going on in each cup we brew.

The chart preceding plots out coffee quality determined by strength and extraction percentage. Using our own refractometer, we can find when a particular mug of coffee falls on the actual spectrum. Ideally, itll land as orange square, which serves as kind of a Goldilocks zone -- not far too weak, but additionally not too powerful. Not too poisonous, but also definitely not too bland.

Single-serving coffee makers wont brew anything strong enough hitting that target (believe me personally, if we find one that does, well show you all about the idea. ) Even which consists of Editors Choice Award distinction, the Bunn The Cafe MCU lands low on the chart, well into the weak the main spectrum. However, the iCoffee Opus have scored even weaker -- and as well scored as a new slightly more bitter-tasting brew, despite what my own taste buds had laughed and said. So, why wasnt I tasting the excess hit of resentment? The answer was actually fairly easy. With weaker, a lot more watery flavor, the actual iCoffees bitterness basically wasnt coming by means of as strong.

The Dial-a-Brew feature also ended up being a bit of your culprit here. With some closer overview, we realized which it wasnt terribly precise, dispensing about 1. 7 oz . more water compared to we were requesting with each cup. Perhaps this is a calculation on iCoffees part to compensate for the fact that some of water will get absorbed to the grounds (more however gets lost in order to evaporation), but at the least, we were dealing with more water in this mugs than all of us wanted.

That meant we had to dial it lower. For an 8-ounce mug of coffee, the closest Dial-a-Brew setting was actually 6. 5 oz .. That produced a cup that had been more on par using what Bunn was adding out, but the actual refractometer still found it as far inferior. You can begin to see the results for on your own -- the blue "iCoffee" dot on the chart above represents a cup brewed in that 6. 5-ounce setting. Cups brewed from the 8-ounce setting ended up too watery to join up, falling well below the underside axis with a new TDS score regarding 0. 68.

The clubhouse for single-serve caffeine isnt terribly substantial. Even the very best brewers weve screened wont brew anything everything strong. What youre really leaving these appliances is convenience, and as regard, the iCoffee Opus Single Serve Brewer does a superb job. If youll need a quick cup of coffee in the morning, itll dish one out on the press of a button inside of a minute.

Even now, this is a new brewer that promises game-changing single-serve caffeine quality, and neither our preferences nor our refractometer could actually detect anything from the sort. If you are considering a Keurig substitute, and you much like the way iCoffee looks, feel free to invest $140 on the idea, but dont expect a better-tasting brew, and dont expect the kind of features youll find with worthy competitors much like the Bunn My Cafe MCU or the actual Cuisinart SS-700. Pertaining to my money, I believe Id rather have either of people.