Coffee Gear at Home -

BUNN BX vs. NHS, Is There a Difference?

In previous posts, we’ve compared a number of BUNN brewers like: Velocity Brew ST vs. BT, BUNN Phase HG vs. HT, and Velocity Brew GRB vs. BXB. There’s also our comparison between BUNN Velocity Brew vs. Speed Brew and BUNN vs. Bonavita. Continuing on with our comparisons, today we’re having a look at two of Velocity Brew’s models: BX vs. NHS and if there’s any real difference between them.

Features of BUNN Velocity Brew:

Both the BX and NHS models belong to the BUNN Velocity product line, so they have the same features:

Brews 4 to 10 cups of coffee.
50 oz capacity.
Sprayhead ensures that coffee ground is fully and evenly saturated with water for the best extraction.
Internal water tank keeps water constantly heated to optimal temperature.
Quick brew time, takes about 3 to 4 minutes.
Pour-o-matic, drip-free glass carafe that eliminates mess and dripping.
Porcelain coated warming plate.

Click here to learn more about the BUNN Velocity Brew BX, read the customer reviews and buy it. Click here for BUNN NHS.

What Is The Difference Between BUNN Velocity NHS vs BX?

Image
Title	BUNN BXB Velocity Brew 10-Cup Home Coffee Brewer, Black	BUNN NHS Velocity Brew 10-Cup Home Coffee Brewer
Feature	Brews 4 to 10 cups (20 to 50 oz) in about 3 minutes Glass carafe and porcelain-coated warming plate with lighted on/off switch Unique sprayhead ensures even, complete coffee flavor extraction Stainless steel internal hot water tank keeps water heated to optimal brewing temperature of 200 degrees F Product Built to North American Electrical Standards	50 oz. (10-cups) batch Unique spray head ensures even, complete coffee flavor extraction Designed to remain on to keep the stainless steel internal hot water tank heated and ready to go Swivel lid to easy water pour-in Porcelain-coated warming plate with lighted on/off switch Product Built to North American Electrical Standards
Reviews	Read Reviews	Read Reviews
Link	More Info	More Info

Features wise, there is no difference at all in how the BUNN NHS and BX work. They have the exact same features.
Design wise, the two products have slight differences. These difference also don’t affect how the machines brew your coffee. They simply just look a little different.
BUNN NHS is the older model and BX was released after it.
If there’s one real difference between these two models, it’s where they’re made:
- BUNN states that their brewers models BX, GR and BT are all Assembled in the USA. What this means is that some components were imported from different origins of the world, but they were assembled in Creston, Iowa. On the other hand, model NHS was made in China.

BUNN BX vs. BX-D, What’s The Difference?

Velocity Brew BX-D is made especially for use at high-altitude areas. This means that it is designed to include a special thermostat for use at 4,000 feet and above to boil the water at high temperature and keeps coffee hot enough. This model can be used at lower altitude, but other models are not suited to be used at higher altitudes. So if you live in a high altitude area, the BX-D model is the best choice for you.

Click here to learn more about the BUNN BX-D, read the customer reviews and buy it.

Which One To Choose?

Obviously, picking one of these models isn’t going to be about features since both are identical, in that sense. If you care about where your coffee brewer has been assembled and prefer something that was not made in China (you can see a bunch of NOT made in China coffee makers here), then definitely pick model BX over NHS. Otherwise simply choose whichever design looks best to you.

Where To Buy Recyclable K-Cup Pods? Here’s One Brand To Try!

If there’s one downside to Keurig’s K-Cups, it’s the fact that it can turn into a big plastic waste. Unfortunately, most K-Cups are still non-recyclable. But luckily, there are some brands that are working towards providing a great selection of K-Cups that are eco-friendly and recyclable. One of these brands is Intelligent Blends.

Intelligent Blends offers coffee and tea K-cup pods that are packed in Eco-friendly recyclable pods. That’s not the only great part, though. Intelligent Blends’ pods are also factory-direct, which means, you’re getting them for the cheapest price possible.

What Kind of Recyclable K-Cup Pods Can I Buy?

Intelligent Blends offer coffee pods, tea pods, variety packs, samplers and subscriptions.

What Keurig Machines Are These Pods Compatible With?

They’re compatible with Keurig, Keurig 2.0 and any K-Cup brewer from any brand. For Keurig 2.0 compatibility, confirm with the package before buying.

How Much Do Intelligent Blends Recyclable K-Cup Pods Cost?

Like we said, one of the great things about Intelligent Blends is that there is no middle-man, you’re buying factory-direct. The pods are available for as low as 39¢ to 49¢ per pod.

Which Pods To Buy? Here Are Our Recommendations:

If this is your first time trying out Intelligent Blends, here are our recommendations to start with:

Variety Packs:

Dark Roast Variety Pack:

This pack has 3 different blends of the darkest roasts. Roast profiles go from 8 (Darker roast) to 10 (Darkest Roast). If you like your coffee strong, this is going to be your favorite pack. If you prefer a milder taste, there are also variety packs for light and medium roasts.

Click here to learn more about this pack and buy it.

Organic Single-Origin Variety Pack:

This pack has 4 type of single-origin, organic and fair-trade certified coffee. These pods also contain 30% more coffee in each pod. The coffee origins are: Colombian, Guatemala, Sumatran and Ethiopian.

Click here to learn more about this pack and buy it

Flavored Coffee Collection:

For those with a sweet tooth, this variety pack contains 6 different blends of medium roast flavored coffee. The flavors are quite intriguing, and we imagine adding a hint of milk with bring out these flavors even better:

French Toast Roast: cinnamon with a taste of maple syrup and butter.
Sister Hazelnut: smooth flavor of toasted hazelnut and vanilla.
Gone Banana’s Fosters: Subtle notes of banana and vanilla ice cream with buttery brown sugar, cinnamon and dark rum.
Raspberry Choco-Latte: taste of raspberry blended with chocolate flavor and powdered sugar.
Hottie Biscotti Vanilla Almond: notes of Vanilla Ice cream with toasted almonds.
Jamaican Rum Yum: Notes of sweet molasses, caramel coconut and vanilla.

Click here to learn more about this pack and buy it

Organic Tea Pods Variety Pack:

Our tea loving friends, we have not forgotten you! This variety pack includes 4 tea blends:

English Breakfast, Passion Green Envy, Earl Grey, Peppermint Tea.

Click here to learn more about this pack and buy it

Sampler Packs:

If you’re not sure you want to buy in large quantities just yet, buying a sampler pack is the way to go. Sampler packs contain 8 pods of each kind, and you only pay for shipping and handling. This way, you get a taste of the coffee and tea pods before buying large quantities.

Click here to learn more about this pack and buy it

Of course, you can buy each type of blend individually and you can select from other variety packs as well. Visit Intelligent Blend’s website to see all available pods.

How To Choose the Best Coffee Makers For Students and Dorm Rooms

Like most of us coffee drinkers, college students run on Coffee. As a student, having a coffee maker at your dorm room is a must. It saves you a lot of money and it ensures you get your coffee whenever you need it. The issue is that most dorm rooms are small in size, so a compact coffee maker is a requirement. How do you choose the best coffee maker for the job, then?

Let’s have a look at your options for making a cup of coffee at a dorm room, assuming you will brew for one person:

Manual Brewing:

Manual coffee makers like French Press, Pour-overs or Chemex are the most compact and easiest way to make coffee anywhere. These manual tools sit at any counter top or cupboard, taking almost no space, so they make a great option for a college student. On the other side, preparing coffee manually takes more time than automatic coffee makers (especially pour over and Chemex), which might not be very convenient for a college student who’s always on the run.

Automatic Single-serve Brewing:

The best thing about single serve brewers is the convenience they offer any busy coffee drinker. All you have to do is press a button and you get your cup in less than a minute or two. And the best part, most of them don’t require immediate clean up. Which is why we recommend this method for college students and even office users who don’t have the time to prepare coffee the traditional way. There’s also a number of compact single serve brewers giving you many options without worrying about the space it’s going to take.

Although single-serve brewers are great, many people complain that over time, the pods that these single serve coffee makers use to brew coffee can get costly, which we understand can be an issue for a college student on a strict budget. The good news is, there are many workarounds to enjoy single-serve brewing without having to worry about purchasing pods. We’ll write some tips on this below.

Best Picks for Coffee Makers for College Students/Dorms:

Keurig K15 K-Cup Coffee Maker:

Compact single-serve coffee maker.
Brews cup sizes 6 oz, 8 oz and 10 oz.
No water reservoir. simply fill the water tank with a fresh cup at every use.
Removable drip tray allows you to accommodate cups up to 5.2” tall.
Brews a cup in under 2 minutes.
Brews anything from coffee, tea, hot chocolate and more. Compatible with all K-Cup pods.
You can also use refillable K-Cup filters to brew your own choice of coffee.

Click here to learn more about Keurig K15, read the customer reviews and buy it.

KitchenAid Personal Coffee Maker:

Slim and compact design.
Single serve coffee maker that uses ground coffee. No need for pods.
Can brew cup sizes up to 18 oz and accommodates travel mugs.
An 18 oz thermal travel mug is included with the machine.
Simple one-touch brewing.
Available in 4 colors.

Click here to learn more about KitchenAid Personal Coffee Maker, read the customer reviews and buy it.

BUNN MCU Single Serve Coffee Maker:

A versatile, multi-use coffee maker.
Allows you to brew K-Cups, ground coffee, tea pods or loose tea in under a minute.
Brews cup sizes from 4 oz to 14 oz.
Includes 4 attachments: cup, ground coffee, pod and hot water drawers.
Pulse Brew option extracts a bolder cup of coffee.

Click here to learn more about BUNN MCU Coffee Maker, read the customer reviews and buy it.

Nespresso Inissia Espresso Maker:

A single serve Espresso maker.
Compact in size, available in different colors.
Brews Nespresso OriginalLine capsules.
You can use Nespresso-compatible pods (cheaper alternative) or refillable Nespresso pods.
2 programmable cup sizes: Espresso or Lungo
Removable 24 oz water reservoir.
Used capsule container holds up to 11 used capsules.
You can make other coffee drinks like Cappuccino or Latte by including an Aeroccino milk frother (or using any other milk frother).
Available in many colors

Click here to learn more about Nespresso Inissia, read the customer reviews and buy it.

How To Save On Coffee Pods While Using Single Serve Coffee Makers:

First thing to note is, not all single serve coffee makers use pods. Many models, like the KitchenAid Personal coffee maker and BUNN MCU listed above, use coffee ground just like a traditional drip coffee maker. But if you want to keep your options open and use a machine like Keurig or Nespresso, here’s how you can save on your pod/capsule purchases.

Saving on Keurig K-Cups:

The great thing about Keurig brewers is that they can accommodate refillable K-Cup pods. These pods allow you to use your own coffee ground and reuse them over and over again. They’re much like a gold tone coffee filter that drip machines use. So you can buy one or two of these filters, buy your usual bag of coffee ground and brew them using the Keurig brewer. This method saves you tons of cash on coffee pods and it is the most environmental-friendly way to use a single-cup brewer. Pictured above is a Keurig Reusable filter by SoloFill

Saving on Nespresso Capsules:

In the same way, you can buy refillable capsules for your Nespresso (OriginalLine) machine, too. These refillable capsules are not available from Nespresso officially, but from other brands, and they work perfectly. SealPod is one of the best rated reusable capsule for Nespresso.

Another way to save on Nespresso capsules is by buying Nespresso-compatible capsules. These are capsules that are made by companies other than Nespresso, but for Nespresso machines (again, this works with Nespresso OriginalLine machines only). One of the cheapest brands we’ve come across is Gourmesso.

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What Is The Easiest Way To Clean and Maintain Your Keurig Machine?

If you use your Keurig brewer often, maintaining and cleaning the needle, nozzle and internal parts of your Keurig is a must to ensure that your coffee taste the same. As you use more K-Cups, especially if you’re switching between drinks (hot chocolate, tea, apple cider…), some of that brew’s residue will remain in the machine.

The obvious way to clean that residue will be to run a cycle without inserting the pod to run hot water through the nozzle. But overtime, that will not be enough as oils and residue continue to build up.

How To Clean Your Keurig Needle and Nozzle The Easy Way:

Cleaning kits that include descaling solutions and water filtration tabs are great for filtering water and cleaning the machine’s heater/water reservoir. But descaling is done every few months, and you’ll need to keep the needle/nozzle clean more often than that, especially if you use your machine daily.

For such a task, there are Cleaning Pods. These pods, which look exactly like a K-Cup pod, are inserted and “brewed” in the exact same way. The cleaning cups, which include cleaning solution, will mix with the hot water and run through the needle and nozzle for a thorough clean.

Urnex Keurig K-Cup Machine Cleaner:

Pack of 5 pods.
Cleans oil buildup and residue inside Keurig coffee machines.
Compatible with Classic Keurig coffee machines only (not compatible with Keurig 2.0)
Phosphate-free and odorless. Biodegradable.

Click here to learn more about Urnex Keurig K-Cup Cleaner, read the customer reviews and buy it.

Descaling and Maintenance Kit for Keurig Brewers:

Set of 10 cleaning pods and two replacement filters (4 months supply).
Brews just like a K-Cup. Works on reducing flavor carry-over between brews, cleaning build-up and residue.
Compatible with Keurig 2.0 and Keurig Classic machines as well as any other K-Cup brewing machines.
Water filters are used to clean your water from chlorine and each filter should last 2 months.

Click here to learn more about this set, read the customer reviews and buy it.

Maxiliano Cleaning Kit for Keurig Brewers:

Two step solution for cleaning and descaling your machine.
First step is a cleaning pod, second step is a descaling tablet.
Effectively removes all stain and limescale.
Works with all Keurig brewers. May not work with SOME Keurig 2.0 brewer, in which case, you can ask for a refund.
Non-toxic and no after taste.
Pack includes 1 cleaning pod and 2 descale tablet.

Click here to learn more about Maxiliano Cleaning Kit, read the customer reviews and buy it.

Common Questions and Answers:

– Can I Just Use Vinegar to Clean My Keurig?

Using vinegar to clean and descale coffee machines, especially Keurigs, is a common thing. But it is not as effective as you might think. Vinegar is a strong enough acid to kill some bacteria and get rid of some calcification, but it is not strong enough to get rid of oil build up from coffee or brew residue. Plus, Vinegar has a very strong smell and taste. It will require you few rinses to get rid of the smell and taste. Otherwise, you risk brewing coffee with vinegar taste in it.

– Is Using a Cleaning Pod The Same as Descaling?

No, it is not the same. A cleaning pod is used to get rid of oil build up and residue and taste transfer caused by brewing different type of pods. It helps in cleaning the needle (which punctures the K-Cup) and the nozzle and it is recommended that you use it on a weekly basis. On the other hand, descaling is done less frequently (over 6 months periods and more) and is done mainly to avoid calcification.

– Is Cleaning My Keurig’s Nozzle/Needle Necessary?

If you want to maintain the quality of your coffee drinks and keep your machine working for a longer time, then yes, frequent cleaning of your Keurig is necessary.

How To Make Coffee Less Bitter? Here Are Some Tips

Coffee is a very subjective thing. It’s a popular drink for sure, but every person enjoys it differently. From sugar, milk, cream or any other additives. Or roasts from light to dark, we like our coffee in many different ways.

If you ask someone who dislikes coffee for a reason why, their answer will most likely be the fact that it is a bitter drink. But is coffee is supposed to be bitter? What contributes to its bitterness? and if you don’t like it, then how can coffee be less bitter?

What Makes Coffee Bitter and How To Fix It

You’re using the wrong roast: when buying coffee ground, you could be buying a dark roast which is known to be on the bitter side. A dark roast is basically coffee beans that are roasted for a longer time. The beans are darker and therefore taste stronger and bitter. If you don’t like this, simply go for a medium or light roast for a more balanced taste.
Coffee Ground Is Not Fresh: If coffee has been roasted long before its use, it will most likely taste bitter. Make sure you buy beans that have been freshly roasted and use them within a month of roasting time.
You’re brewing the coffee for too long: this is especially true if you’re using a manual brewing method (french press for example). If the coffee ground is steeping for longer than 5 minutes, the taste will start getting and more and more bitter. Make sure to use a timer when steeping, the less you steep your coffee, the lighter it will taste.
Coffee Grind Size Is Wrong: Believe it or not, the size of the coffee grind you’re using influences the taste of the coffee brew. Using the wrong grind size, or an inconsistent grind will make the coffee taste either bitter or sour. That’s why investing a good quality grinder is an important thing.
Water Issues: There are two water related issues that you could be doing. First, the water could be too hot (yes, that’s a thing – believe me!) The best water temperature for brewing coffee is 195f to 205F, while boiling water temperature is 212F. So, let your water set for 30 seconds or so to cool down a little before use. The second water related issue is that you might be using less water for the amount of coffee you’re brewing, which results in a very strong brew.

Try one or two of the tweaks above to your next coffee brew and we’re sure you’ll enjoy a delicious and less bitter coffee!