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!
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
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doh!
well, it is a fair bit quicker than the microwave. It would be interesting to compare electricity consumption between all the devices though…
Thats one hi-tech kettle
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I’m still luvin it!
Twitter: lottomad
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
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thanks Dave!
good luck for the new year, may your elottery be prosperous!
I wouldn’t recommend boiling water in a microwave. It is a good way to burn yourself.
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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stuart: I saw on mythbusters how they microwaved distilled water and it became super heated, if you put a cold fork in a superheated glass of distilled water then it will explode!
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
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
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?
thanks for your question Graham, see the post for the answer and video
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.
the filters aren’t required if you don’t want them. I used to use a britta filter to fill my normal kettle so I continue to do that so I don’t need to keep changing filters. If you live in an area that has a good tap water supply then there’s no need!
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.
wow! what a long comment, I can tell you’re not pleased with it. personally, I find it very useful and much quicker than the normal kettle for making a single cup. I agree with you on the 3 seconds thing though. I’ll keep it though, it’s good enough for the job. Thanks for your opinion!
Its definitely not worked out very economical if you still went for that kettle….
Why did you not opt for a coffee maker instead..you could have easily found one for that kind of price, boil water and will even make you a good cup of coffee when you feel like…just my 2pence…not worth much these days…let me make it my 50pence…ummm
is a great item but there are a few design faults with it. body vibrates so is very noisy, water splashes and spits from nozzle, should be a built-in cup stand to catch drips (i have one from a coffee maker which works well). is otherwise a useful machine. you don’t have to use filters if you already have a filter water jug .
If you are expecting boiling water in your cup you will not be pleased.
I like a nice hot cuppa so for me I now have to give it 20 seconds in the microwave. I have only had this product for 2 weeks; I use bottled water so I know it is not full of lime scale.
I have taken to holding my mug as close to the outlet as possible so as to cut down the loss of heat as much as possible.
It also claims to take 3 seconds to pour a cup of hot water. I have just timed this with a stop watch and it took 24 seconds.
Overall I have to say I am not as happy as I had hoped considering the cost.
yogi: well that is a very targeted comment if ever I’ve seen one! where are your affiliate links? I looked but couldn’t find one to click on!
chris, technology guide: you make good points, my friend had one that broke and he got an exchange, the new one is far quieter and quicker and splashes less. He says now it is one constant stream of hot water.
maybe I might find mine ‘broken’ later
am i allowed a targeted comment too !
For what it’s worth it looks awesome – hot water in three seconds whenever i want it !
BUT …..there seems to be mixed opinions from amazon website though – 46 gave it five stars and 76 gave it one star !!!!
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yes it has mixed reviews but I think people are expecting something out of star trek. I know I like it and it does what it’s supposed to do and that’s make a single cuppa quickly. That’s all I want!
I was guna buy one, but later changed my mind.
Instead I bought a new kettle from Tesco for £5.
When I make a cuppa, I fill the cup with water from the tap, then throw that water into the empty kettle, flick the switch and hey presto boils very quickly.
I make sure there’s no water left in the kettle afterwards, I believe it reduces limescale build-up. I also leave the kettle off the stand to reduce chance of heating up with no water.
I’m guna hold off buying one (tefal quick cup) for now.
I have to concur with the first poster but it is certainly a bit clever.
N.
I think it can be misleading to just compare energy consumption between a kettle and this unit. The cost of making all of the filters which are required needs to also be factored in, not to mention the environmental cost of disposing of the filters.
Would also love to see how long it takes the limescale in London’s water to clog the machine up!
I bought my quick cup back in June this year and i loved it so easy to use, but now it has gone wrong, it turns its self on and carrys on until you turn it off at the mains. Taken it back to argos but i have lost my recepit so they wont do anything, so now im back to the old kettle it works doesnt leak water all over my side and floor, it just doesnt look as good though.
Bought this in July for my Mother. A brilliant idea. She lives on her own and is in her 80′s and with arthritis finds holding a kettle difficult and dangerous. At the most she made 2 cups of coffee a day and thought that it was marvelous, sadly by mid August it had stopped heating up! It was replaced immediately by the retailer but by mid September we had the same fault on the new machine. It was replaced immediately by the retailer but by mid October SAME FAULT. It is now the end of October and I have just taken back machine number 5 and had my money refunded. Very sad as when it was working it was brilliant – what is worse, is that Tefal continually ignore my emails when I write to them!!!! ALL FAITH LOST – HAVE GIVEN UP.
I have to say im more than happy with mine, i get NO splash back from the water, the water is as hot as i need it, and there is absolutly NO claim on my product or box that says “cup of hot water in 3 seconds” it clearly says “hot water in 3 seconds”
In the last year my family has purchased three of these ,2 eventually tripped the earth leakage circuit breaker and none of them produced a hot cup of tea, just about good enough for coffee.
I intend to get a refund under warrantee.
I got 1 mid october and really like it. Mine does not appear to slash when in use, dont know if this is an old problem that has now been sorted.
Im the sort of person that does not like to wait 15mins for a cup of tea to cool down before you can drink it so the fact that it is cool enough to drink in 5mins is great for me.
I agree with the comment about it being no good if the family come round and you find yourself making 5 cups 1 after the other.
Overall i would have to say it was well worth getting am just hoping i dont have any problems with it in the long run as some on here appear to have had.
Thats all from me am off to make a cup of nearly bolling hot tea.
Hi there, this looks perfect for me – I work in an office on my own so I hate having to fill the water over the element of my kettle so it doesn’t ruin it.
I’m a bit concerned about the comment above where someone said it tripped the “earth leakage circuit breaker”. Not too sure exactly what that means but it sounds bad. I really want this to work but it gets such mixed reviews above.
Anyone willing to convince me by telling me they love theirs and have had it for long enough that they are convinced it works well?
Had one of these since august 08.
I think it’s fantastic (well at first)
less than 30 secs for a mug of black coffee great.
It does splash a bit, but as another poster stated “leave a spoon in the mug”
It is a bit noisy and vibrates a lot when going, but we have it on a small Ttowel and that cut the noise down.
I don’t live in an area where limescale is a problem so no need for filters.
Overall when it works it’s great.
But now it’s stopped heating the water less than 6 months old and it’s stopped heating the water. Tefal not interested, I can’t find the warranty card or reciept so looks like it’s heading for landfill,
Aint green appliances great!!
Had the kettle just over a year. IT was ok until a few weeks ago. Initially the water got less and less . about half a mug.Tried a new filter made no difference. Note we changed the filter every 8 weeks. I noticed water weeping from the bottom and decided to explore more. Inside a simple but fiddly interior I found it covered with moisture. I would be interested in obtaining anyones machine that has stopped working and use one to try to repair the other. At the moment I am using an old kettle but need another non working Quick cup to enable me to put the fiddly parts back in the correct postion and order. alxaat@yahoo.co.uk
high tech kettle , tea will never be the same
That’s a pretty nice review, and an even better way to make sales!
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I do think it would be simple to just microwave the tea.. but then again if you can why not!
I think I’m going to buy one. This is a great gadget, thanks.
Great information! I have been hearing more about this subject matter and thank you for bringing this information to our attention.
wow! awesome hot water maker! I hope this would help in minimizing the time spent in boiling water with the use of a kettle. nice idea! thanks!
Aside from the coffee cups being incredibly expensive, I love my single serving coffee maker too. You can pay as little as $6 to buy 12 coffees at the store, but I’m going to look into buying them in bulk online. Seems like a better deal.
I am now on to my third unit, the first two failed very quickly! Evidently, this product is very badly designed , and unreliable,
and should NOT be considered at all costs!!!!
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Does anyone know the exit temperature of the water and the final water temperature of a full mug? (assuming the water is heated from room temperature of say 20C)
From my calcs, even if the heater was 100% efficient, I would not expect it to be much more than 80C, if a mug is 330ml and the heater is 3KW, with 25 second fill time. Moreover, the thin stream of water is likely to loose more of its heat to air than a kettle and if the mug if cool and chunky…. more loss.
Has anyone had the heater block up? Instant heaters usually pass the water through some sort of thin walled, low bore diameter tube that could become blocked with water scale. How does this work?
Not sure I want to buy the product for a cuppa and a bit pricey just to satisfy curiosity.