The Esio Hot & Cold Beverage System is one of the most exciting items I've gotten to review all year! There are a lot of things I love about it. First of all, its really easy to use. All you have to do it fill it up with water. It holds a 1.75 gallons at one time. As you pour it in, its distributed into two tanks of either side of the machine. One side heats the water while the other keeps it chilled. So now, with a touch of a button, you have hot or cold water anytime you like! It takes about half an hour for the water to get cold and only five minutes for the water to heat. There are separate buttons for both hot and cold water, and lights that indicate when its ready to go. This water can be used with the condensed drinks designed for the system, but also come in handy if your making baby formula, hot chocolate, or any other beverages that require hot water. The system is quick and convenient.
Check out our video to see just how easy the system is to use.
The only down side of the system itself is that its really big and a little heavy. It takes up a lot of counter space and its not easy to move it around when its fill. This is a pain when you want to clean around it. Cleaning around it regularly will be necessary because it does have a tendency to splash if you're not careful to hold the cup underneath of the dispenser just right. It took me a few tries to get the angle right, but now it doesn't splash out of the cup/glass anymore when I dispense the drinks.
When you're making your drinks, you can easily switch back and forth between one type and another. The packages come out clean so there is no cross over in the taste. You can also adjust the dial to your preferred strength. This is great for my husband who loves his coffee espresso style while I prefer more of a medium roast. It also works well for my little ones since I tend to water down their juices. I just set it on the weakest level and its already watered down for them.
Now, lets talk a little about the drinks. We received a variety of different flavors to try out. I'd have to say our favorite so far was the Countrytime Lemonade. It tasted just like fresh squeezed. The Apple and Eve Apple Juice was wonderful as well. It tastes exactly like the bottled juice we buy all the time. For the hot drinks, we tried both a Maxwell House and a Barista Brothers coffee. These I was a little less impressed with. It doesn't taste anything like the fresh brewed coffee I was hoping for. Even most of the instant coffees I've tried tasted far better.
I am just now looking at the prices of the refills packages for the first time, and here I am finding myself a little disappointed as well. Refills range from around $5.99 to $6.49 depending on the variety you choose. Each package makes up to fourteen 8 oz glasses. I'd estimate that to be the equivalent of two bottles for the juice. I don't feel like that's a savings. Granted, I stock up when things are on sale, but even buying two bottles at regular price, the cost is still the same for the cold drinks. For the coffee, its definitely not a savings, whether I'm looking at ground coffee or instant. I was really hoping that I would be able to stock pile these packages and save a ton of money on drinks, but its looking like either way, I'm spending the same and sometimes more. Sure, I like the convenience of having a drink at my fingertips, but if I'm not getting a great cup of coffee and its costing me more money, I don't think I'll be buying refills unless I catch a big sale. On the up side, I love the environmental benefits of using the refills. It creates less waste than buying the big bottles.
All in all, the Esio isn't the five star experience I was hoping for, but its still a pretty nifty device. I honestly think this system would be a better product for smaller families. With six people, we tear though a package or two in one day and the cost of the refills could get out of hand. For smaller families though, it might be worth it. If you would like to learn more about the Esio System, please visit their website. To keep up with the latest promotions, be sure to follow them on face book or twitter. Esio is available at select Walmarts and EsioBev.com.
***Please note that I received no form of monetary compensation for this post. I did receive a sample of the product to try in order to write a fair and honest review. The opinions expressed in this review are my own and were not influenced in any way.***
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