Coffee in a flash

With house hunting, packing, moving and now renovations, Mr. Speedy and I have been having a hard time keeping caffeinated. We love our coffee and tea, but it takes a lot of time and counter space to make it. 

Luckily, I got a chance to try out a Keurig single-serve brewer, sent to us by Breville, which makes a cup of coffee, tea or hot chocolate in about a minute.

It's based on the Keurig office model, and, while far from the cheapest coffee maker I've tried at $170, the Breville Single-Cup Brewer really does turn out a quick hot beverage.

It uses K-Cups, which are little plastic cups filled with your brew of choice (the company says there are 150 varieties to choose from) and topped with a foil lid.

As with all things, some varieties taste better than others, so if you were going this route, you might want to start off with a sampler pack to avoid buying a full box of a bean you don't like. It's also not cheap, at about $13 for an 18 pack, or about $0.72 a cup (Editor's note: The price has been changed to correct a previously published error.). If you prefer grinding your own beans you can purchase a reusable "My K-Cup" filter, sold separately for about $15.

While I certainly appreciate the speed, I do feel a little bit of eco-guilt when I use it. While the individually packaged cups means Mr. Speedy can instantly have his a.m. java jolt while I go for a classic Earl Grey, it also feels more wasteful than the good old tea bag and beans and coffee grinder combos.