Bosch Tassimo Vivy Hot Drinks and Coffee Machine, 1300 W - Black

Thought it was about time I bought something to make nice coffee and hot drinks with. I'm always so disappointed with my instant coffee but love my Starbucks coffee. This is a real doddle to set up and use, but the confusing instructions leave much to be desired. Here is my quick set up guide:1) Once everything is unpacked, remove the plastic water container located on the left side of the drinks machine. Give it a good wash and fill it up with cold water (to the maximum mark), and place it back into the drinks machine. Fit the drip tray as shown in the instructions.2) Plug the machine in and switch on at the plug socket and the power switch (located bottom right).3) Look at the bottom left of the machine. Below where the water holder is you'll see a yellow cleaning disk and tiny instruction booklet poking out. Remove the yellow cleaning disk, open the top of the machine and place the disk (bar code down) into the machine as shown in the instructions. Close the lid.4) Place a cup under the liquid dispenser. Now press the main button (where the orange light is). The machine will make a bit of a noise and dispense hot clear liquid which ends with a cloud of steam. Repeat this step three times to clean the machine ready for first use. You may need to top the water back up to complete three cleaning cycles.5) Remove the cleaning disk and place back in the holder (bottom left of the machine).You are now ready to use the drinks machine for the first time. Choose your beverage pod and place the pod in the machine as shown in the instructions. A firm press down of the lid is often needed as this also pierces the pods foil covering. Make sure you have the pod in the right way (upside down with the bar codes facing down).If you use a larger cup or mug and need more water to top it up then wait until the machine has fully dispensed, then hold the main button in (near the orange light) for a few seconds and the machine will dispense more water. Repeat again if needed.This is a small and stylish looking machine that will grace any kitchen. The cord is quite short so it'll need to sit near a power socket. It's easy to use and clean, and makes drinks in quick time. I've tried the Costa Americano, Kenco Columbian and the Cadburys hot chocolate and all were very good. If you've not had a machine like this before and want to step up from your instant drinks using a kettle, then this is an excellent choice. But this is also a great choice for anyone at this price (£32.99 when I bought it). RRP is £99.00 and it does feel like a quality machine worth paying more for.Tip: Compare the price of the pods in your local supermarkets to the price online. Greater savings can be made by buying online in bulk.

Wonderful bit of kit and makes a really nice coffee.Not as loud as I thought it was going to be but makes a clicking noise when you use it but nothing too loud and not loud enough to wake the neighbours.So far I have tried the latte and the Cadburys chocolate and both are so very nice and the aroma of the coffee when you make this is wonderful.The unit is very compact and looks very modern for the modern kitchens but will add class to the older kitchens.Easy to use and easy to clean. To clean you just pop in the water pod which is just in a slot on the bottom left of the unit.I cannot understand why some people have complained about the chocolate being watery?? I found it to be just right and such a lovely flavour.In my honest opinion it is well worth the money and if you are a coffee lover like myself then this is a must for you.The pods can be a little expensive for what they are but shop around and you will see some bargains.I do like the way it reads the bar code on the pods because this communicates with the unit and lets it know how much water to use for each type of coffee.For a relatively small unit this is a big machine but I do have one tiny gripe,,,,,,, The water tank is not very big and if you have a big family all liking coffee then maybe you should think about the bigger models but this si good enough for me being alone now.You will see on the front of the unit is has a slot for the tray to be moved up for smaller coffee cups. You can take the whole thing out for the taller cups too and Bosch have thought of everything and cannot be faltered.The Cadburys Chocolate is really nice but you only get a small amount but you could put the pod in again to give you more but this will make it watery. The best way is to use 2 chocolate pods in a large cup or mug but this tends to be a wee bit expensive and would be cheaper to buy a tin on Cadburys Drinking Chocolate.All in all it is a good looking machine and I think rather like a printer for your computer,,,, Buy it cheap and pay the earth for the ink.

I would give this 1 star due to i can't stop having the coffee from it (i normally drink tea).....However on a serious note i would give it 4.5 stars.why 4.5 this is due to one thing and that's if you do one drink and then clean it with the yellow cleaning disk it doesn't clean it out that well but that's not too much of a problem to me as i mainly drink coffee from it..This is a good machine and makes a decent cup of coffee (shame you have to purchase some when you buy the machine as no testers are included),Easy to use just place in the pod, close the lid and put cup under the metal tube and then press button hey presto hot cup of drink.Good points.Small enough machineDoes good drinkGood temperature of drink.Drinks almost all come out at the same strength (e.g Costa coffee is almost the same as the last).Bad points.Water vessel too small only does 2 drinks with milk and four espresso shots before needing to top up.Tea not so good (personal taste)the milk not so nice (personal taste)Price of pods a bit on the expensive side (this is out-wade by the fact that a Costa coffee is more expensive in the shop)I have not tried any other machine that makes coffee from pods so i can't compare to say a nescafe or other make. If i do then i will update this review.Would i buy again.I would have to think about it but probably yes.