Disclosure: iCoffee by Remington sent me a review test unit. Opinions and observations expressed here are my own.
Technology is increasingly making its way into a plethora of consumer products to solve multiple problems, like with traditional coffee makers and the bitter coffee they produce. Enter the iCoffee by Remington with so many improvements over standard drip, French press and single-serving machines that I easily saw why this model was getting so much buzz.
Photo of iCoffee by Remington
At first I was skeptical about an “advanced coffee” machine. I have used some of the best and most expensive coffee makers in the world over the past thirteen years. But this was the first self-contained unit that I could use at home and have fun brewing coffee at the same time. I simply fill the water reservoir with the desired amount of cups and coffee grounds into the easy to clean removable hopper. The first detail that I thought was cool is that when the on button was pressed to start the brewing process, Mozart music began to play.
But before getting into any testing with the iCoffee, I wanted to do some background research about coffee makers available to consumers today. So I visited a few local stores to see what was selling and at what prices. What I found were several rows of drip brewers on one side of the aisle and single serve K-cup machines on the other.
Prices for drip brewers ranged from $35 to $120. The newer K-cup single-serving coffee machines ranged from $40 to $180. The quality of materials used on all of the machines I saw varied widely. And after unboxing the iCoffee, I was happy to see that even though it is mostly made out of plastic, the overall design, included technology and higher end materials used internally, makes it worth its asking price near $170 acceptable.
Video of iCoffee by Remington Unboxing
I did the unboxing with several other people watching and after finishing we discussed about how well it was packed. One person mentioned that she was constantly disappointed by how badly consumer products are packaged for shipping. The iCoffee however, was packed inside of plastic and was completely surrounded by tight Styrofoam.
Video of iCoffee by Remington
It was finally time to brew some coffee. Fresh beans were ground but set aside. I wanted to do a hot water test run first with the iCoffee. I hit the on button and Mozart started playing. Seconds later, steam filled the preview window. Six SteamBrew hot water jets that accompanied the steam burst into action. Those are important because when grounds are added, they get tumbled and stirred to release the best possible flavor from the beans while simultaneously creating coffee crema.
Each cup of coffee brewed with the iCoffee tasted richer than standard drip machines with no bad aftertaste; it was easier to clean than a French press and K-cup brewers only make one cup of coffee.