OK, so the Tefal Quick Cup maybe isn’t everyone idea of the perfect birthday present, and to be honest I did have a few moments of doubt myself after I ripped off the wrapping paper expecting to find some fancy ipod speakers. It does have a button though, and it does have a light, so it didn’t take long to come round to thinking that I should give this gadget a chance before growling. As the name suggests, the Tefal Quick Cup will give you instant hot water at the press of a button. No more waiting for kettles to boil.
Out of the box: The packaging was easily removed to reveal the base unit and removeable water reservoir. The water filter was obviously meant to click into the water reservoir somehow but we were forced to refer to the instructions before we could work out how to attach it. Having to refer to instructions can take the edge off a new toy but the pictures were easy to follow and we were soon back on track. The unit is a little smaller than a kettle and sits easily on a kitchen worktop.
Pro: Simple design with no fiddly bits. The water reservoir holds 1.5 litres of water and lifts off the base easily for refilling. Returning it to the base is equally straight forward; with the curved sides of the reservoir leading it down onto it’s attachment. Press the button and within 3 seconds you have either cool filtered water or filtered hot water. The crescent shaped reservoir has a lid to prevent dust, flies etc from contaminating the water. Again, it is simple to remove and fit. A light on the button flashes when the filter needs to be replaced… they say approx every 6 weeks. Replacement filters are around £5 each and are available from many outlets.
Con: It’s not the quietest gadget in the kitchen. The noise came as quite a surprise as for some reason I expected it to be almost silent. I tend to prowl the house at strange times of the night and I did wonder if the noise would be enough to wake up the family in the early hours of the morning. So far so good. Nobody has complained about loud chuntering sounds. There is no reservoir water level sensor. If you don’t have enough water, the system continues to try to draw water up through the filter, increasing the noise levels even further.
Summary: The auto mode measure is just right for a mug but it’s easy to top up in manual mode, but f you’re making coffee for more than a couple of folk then you probably want to fall back on the old fashioned kettle. Not recommended for anyone trying to cut back on their tea or coffee intake… it’s too quick and easy! I think it’s proved useful enough to justify the £2000 HydroTap for next years birthday 
| Price | £49.95 |
| Pro | quick, easy, energy saving |
| Con | quite noisy |
| Comment | it found an unlikely need but now I do need an instant hot water gadget |
| ‘Need’ Rating |  |
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