When looking for a new kettle, two of my tea drinking friends suggested that I looked at hot water dispensers and both recommended the Breville Hot Cup range and in particular the breville vkj318 model purely for making hot drinks.

I added it to my list as a potential option because there seemed to be distinct benefits which included saving electricity, ease of use and above all convenience from what they said!

This is a review of the Breville Hot Cup range and the research I did. I had used one before at a customer’s house and tried one again at a friend’s home. I was impressed and bought one.

A good decision even with hindsight.

The Breville Hot Cup range

The Breville Hot Cup range of hot water dispensers are an alternative to the traditional kettle for preparing hot drinks.

Having said that, I use mine for preparing things like tamarind for marinades amongst other things. There is enough room under the dispenser to fill small bowls and jugs with steaming hot water.

So to say it is only for making hot drinks is a bit misleading and does not do the product justice.

There are three main models in the Breville Hot Cup range:

• Breville VKJ318 Hot Cup with Variable Dispense
• Breville VKJ367 Brita Filter Hot Cup with Variable Dispense
• Breville VKJ142 Hot Cup

They all do pretty much the same thing. Dispense steaming hot water that has been boiled but have different facilities and capacities. The range also includes different generations of Breville Hot Cup products.

Breville VKJ142 Hot Cup

The Breville VKJ142 is a first generation Breville Hot Cup machine. It doesn’t provide the precise control you get with later models but still has a valid place in the Hot Cup range.

It is the lowest cost option in the Hot Cup range and doesn’t have the variable dispense and stop button.

The main criticism of the VKJ142 seems to be that it produces 250ml of scalding hot water which is the average mug size, but that is what it is designed to do!

If you don’t use cups and saucers as many people don’t nowadays, you should seriously consider it. For many people it is just the ticket and it has no end of 5 star customer reviews! It is also available in white though not many in this colour seem to be sold.

Read the full specifications and customer reviews.

Breville VKJ318 Hot Cup with Variable Dispense

The Breville VKJ318 Hot Cup is a second generation machine and has the variable dispense and manual water stop facilities. It looks slightly different from the Breville VKJ318 and has a 2 litre water capacity providing up to 8 mugs full of hot water.

You can select up to 9 different cup sizes that vary between 170ml to 340ml using the variable dispense dial on the top of the machine which is easy to operate.

The manual water stop lets you control the flow of hot water if you think a cup is going to overflow because you use more than one teabag as a friend of mine does or you only want half a cup. Very useful if want a really milky coffee or are preparing food and need less water.

The Breville VKJ318 Hot Cup is most popular model in the Hot Cup range. A full description and customer reviews can be read here.

Breville VKJ367 Brita Filter Hot Cup with Variable Dispense

The Breville VKJ367 Brita Filter Hot Cup with Variable Dispense is virtually the same as the VKJ318 Hot Cup but with the addition of a Brita Maxtra Filter cartridge that filters both chlorine and limescale. It operates while the water is boiling.

The water tank capacity is slightly smaller at 1.8 litres.

If you want filtered water then this is the machine. The Brita cartridges last approximately 4 weeks and can be re-cycled.

The full specifications of the Breville VKJ367 Brita Filter Hot Cup and customer reviews can be read here.

Other models in the Breville Hot Cup range

There are other models in the Breville Hot Cup range but they are not in the main stream of those that are popular and sold regularly.

They also have very few if any customer reviews and I found it quite difficult to see what advantages they offered over the three models listed above which is why I haven’t include them.

This link Lists all models in the breville hot cup range if you would like to see them.

Living with a Breville Hot Cup

This section is a Hot Cup review of how I have found using the Hot Cup on a daily basis with some points about how to look after it.

Every day use. A review of the Breville Hot Cup

The Breville Hot Cup model I bought is one of the simplest kitchen appliances to use that I have ever come across and was soon taken for granted becoming part of the kitchen furniture in every respect.

It just works!

It is so easy to just put a teabag in a mug, press the button and in no time you have a cup of streaming tea or coffee. Much easier than using a normal kettle and far more energy efficient too because it only boils the amount of water you need!

All you have to do is keep the tank topped up with water which is just like filling a kettle. I top it up two or three times a day because a lot of tea and coffee is drunk in my household! There are very clearly marked minimum and maximum water levels on the water tank window. Just keep the tank water level between the two!

My only criticism of the Hot Cup is that it hisses a bit when it is about to finish dispensing hot water. Having said that, I soon got used to it and it’s not really intrusive anyway. It’s just different from a normal kettle.

One thing I would comment on is that the Hot Cup doesn’t take up much more room if any than a normal kettle has a decent length of cable. A nice feature is that you can wind any excess cable length around the Hot Cup’s base and it keeps things very tidy.

I have a pet hate of long cables on kitchen worktops. It’s so easy to catch one when your busy preparing food and cause an accident!

Preparing a Breville Hot Cup appliance for use

Getting a Breville Hot Cup ready for use is a very simple thing to do.

After removing the packaging, you need to put the drip tray and its grill into the base which only fits one way so its easy.

Fill the water tank under the tap in the same way as you would a kettle and then locate it back on the base and plug it into the wall. That’s all there is to it!

Maintaining a Breville Hot Cup Appliance

Maintenance of your Breville Hot Cup is very simple and consists of three things that you would do with a normal kettle.

De-scaling

Breville recommend that you de-scale every three months and that you use a citric acid based de-scaler.

The de-scaling process is easy and very well documented. Comprehensive instructions come with the product.

Cleaning your Hot Cup

According to the manufacturer, you should only use a damp soft cloth to wipe your Hot Cup down and then dry it with a soft dry cloth.

Although I have only had mine for about a month now, I have followed the instructions to the letter. The appliance looks like new, just as it came out of the box. Which of course it should!

Emptying the Hot Cup

Breville recommend that you empty Hot Cup if you are going away on holiday or for any prolonged period of time.

This is very simple and is really just like emptying a kettle into a sink!

Hot Cup models comparison chart

Please click on the photographs to read the Hot Cup’s individual specification
	Breville VKJ142	Breville VKJ318	Breville VKJ367
General Specifications
Water capacity	1.5 litres	2.0 Litres	1.8 Litres
Power rating	3 Watts	3 Watts	3 Watts
Variable dispense	No	Yes	Yes
Product generation	First	Second	Third
Drip tray	Yes	Yes	Yes
Easy fill	Yes	Yes	Yes
Element type	Concealed	Concealed	Concealed
No of cups per fill	5	Variable	Variable
Manual Water stop	No	Yes	Yes
Brita filter	No	No	Yes
Customer reviews
No of 5 star reviews	93	118	7
No of 4 star reviews	48	56	9
No of 3 star reviews	16	19	1
No of 2 star reviews	10	15	2
No of 1 star reviews	15	15	1

The Breville Hot Cup model that I bought and why!

I started out looking for a replacement kettle, not a hot water dispenser. Two friends suggested that I needed a kettle for cooking and a hot water dispenser for making hot drinks and they both recommended the Breville Hot Cup.

After looking at the Breville range and trying one out, I was sold on the idea because it only heated the water that was needed and effortlessly delivered steaming hot water on demand.

Convenience was another factor. When I though about taking a kettle, filling it with enough water for one mug and then boiling it umpteen times per day, it really is a chore. The Breville Hot Cup does it at the click of a button and you only fill it up a couple of times a day. Not every time.

After reading the many customer reviews and thinking about how a hot water dispenser might be used in my household, I came to the conclusion that I would buy one and a separate kettle for my cooking needs.

I use both cups and mugs for drinks so the variable dispense was a must while the ability to just pour half a cup for the odd cooking chore would be provided by the manual water stop.

So I chose the VKJ318 from the Breville Hot Cup range and have not looked back since!