The Keurig Rivo Cappuccino and Latte System
The Keurig Rivo Cappuccino and Latte System
- Automatic On/Off Function; Energy-Saving Mode
- 15 bars of pressure; Brews under 1 minute
- Convenient design allows you to brew espresso on one side and froth milk on the other side
- Three frothing modes: Cappuccino, Latte, and Cold Froth
- Two espresso size options: Short (1.4 oz.) and Lungo (2.8 oz.)
The Keurig Rivo System is named after the Italian word for revolutionary. The simplicity of Keurig technology enables you to brew espresso and froth any type of fresh milk at the touch of a button at home. Add Lavazza espresso — with over a century of roasting experience — and you have the perfect cappuccinos, lattes and more. Simple. Quick. Easy. That’s revolutionary!
List Price: $ 199.99
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Rivo R500 Owner Review,
First off, I must say I did not purchase this from Amazon. My wife alerted me to the TV deal at $229.00 and I went onto YouTube and watched it and decided that deal was too good to pass on. That’s my confession. I have made a great many purchases of many, many things here but, not this. That said, my path to the Rivo was a long one.
Let me explain a bit. I was prepared to plunk down a couple grand more than this machine costs for a “gourmet home espresso machine” I love espresso. I travel quite a bit. Been to Italy many, many times. Naples, Venice, Palermo, I lived on Sicily for a time, etc… In addition, I have lived in the Seattle area for 4 years. So, with that bit of background, I have grown tired of having to leave the house every time I want a good espresso or cappuccino. So, I began to research home systems. I was at a mall that featured Nespresso systems and was impressed by the quality of their mid level systems. Specifically, the Lattissima systems. I also tried the Citiz and Milk. And, truthfully, if I was on a budget I would choose that over Lattissima.
Then, as I said, my wife saw the Rivo infomercial. Told me about the partnership with Lavazza, whose coffee we both Love. And, I went to their YouTube video to watch their infomercial. We both decided to give the 30 days no questions asked money back guarantee a shot. At $229.00 with all the Lavazza coffee samples they include we thought what do we have to lose. So, we took Keurig / Lavazza up on their offer.
The thing about capsule systems is the consistency of coffee or espresso from batch to batch. The Rivo is not the best espresso you can possibly get from a talented barista. But, even from the best espresso cafe’s you get variance in each serving. You go there one day and “wow”, another day and it’s very good, not “wow”. From the Rivo you get consistently very good espresso. The espresso I tasted from the Nespresso cafe at the malls we visited were good. But, not the same as the Lavazza. As I said, the wife and I grew to love Lavazza while in Italy. So, we are prejudiced in this area.
The Rivo produces a consistently very good espresso. The milk frother works exceptionally well when you take the time to experiment with milk levels. If you like a lot of foam, we have found that you need to fill to just a hair under the min fill line. If you like a bit less froth just a hair over is best. The milk and espresso temps are good. Preheating the cup is best for those that want a real hot cup. I like my coffee hot. The wife likes the temp as is from the machine without pre-heating the cup.
Lastly, aesthetics. The Rivo is not going to impress anyone aesthetically. If this is an important aspect for your machine you will not even consider the Rivo. If you are an espresso control freak, ditto. But, if you want an authentic tasting, consistently good cup of espresso or cappuccino in your home at a very ,very affordable price, give the Rivo a chance. 30 day money back trial gives you that chance. Oh, do absolutely bypass the Keurig, flavored syrups. They suck. Buy Monin from Amazon in the 750ml sizes with add-on pumps. Fantastic flavor. Bargain price. I hopes this helps a bit in your search for an espresso machine for your home. Sorry Starbucks. I don’t need you anymore. Unless I’m on a business trip in the USA and can’t make my own that is.
Update: I have read some other posts stating that the espresso is not hot enough or it’s too weak in flavor. If you’re used to drinking very strong American coffee roasts which are really very over roasted beans, and you like that, then the Italian roasts from Lavazza won’t satisfy you. This over roasted beans thing is an American thing and IS NOT Italian in any way. Lavazza is an Italian roaster in business since 1895 and, The Most Popular roaster in the country. As for the temperature, it is hot enough right out of the brewer. As I state above if you pre-heat your cup this is not an issue. Pre-heating is common practice in Italy. One thing I have discovered is, Bodum dual walled insulated glass cups. These things do a fantastic job of maintaining the espresso / cappuccino temps for those who like it Hot and who also like to sip the drink instead of drinking it down in short order. They are not inexpensive. If you don’t want to spend the money for the Bodum glass simply put some water in your cup, heat it in your microwave, pour it out and use it for your espresso / cappuccino. I have also started drinking brewed coffee with hot frothed milk from the Rivo frother. This is a major improvement over drinking brewed coffee with cold milk from the refrigerator. I brew a smaller and stronger cup and then pour the heated and frothed milk into a regular brewed coffee. So much better. As you can guess we did not return the Rivo after the 30 days expired. For the money nothing else comes close to giving you a consistently good…
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|It’s All About Expectations!,
Let me start out by saying I have been a home coffee roaster for well over ten years, I have been drinking espresso for over 40 years, my normal coffee in the morning is a French press, and I also have a Faema commercial espresso machine in my home. I’m not saying this to make myself look like some sort of coffee snob, just to say I know both ends of the coffee tasting spectrum.
I also own a Kuerig K-Cup machine for over 5 years and use that daily, along with a vac-pot and Cappresso drip machine. My point being, you need to put each method of making coffee into it’s proper perspective. For me, what I use to make my morning coffee has mostly to do with how much time I have. If I’m out very early, I grab a travel mug and put in 2 k-cups worth of coffee. If I have more time, French press. When I entertain, I grind up some beans and make a pot of drip or fire up the Faema to make espresso & cappuccinos, etc. Again, my point being, have the proper expectations of each way of making coffee and base your opinions on the taste of that method.
I’ve had the Rivo for about 2 weeks now and I think I have a handle on it’s strong & weak points.
First off, the method by which they have designed the capsules to create the pressure is just short of genius. Piercing the top to inject the hot water into the capsule, to build up pressure, and then have it expand in size to then pierce the bottom prongs to then release that pressure to start the brewing process and create the crema is really something. Look at a spent capsule to see all the holes on the top and bottom. Numerous holes on top to make sure all the grinds are utilized and then releasing that pressure evenly from the bottom with a similar pattern of holes is an engineering marvel. This process is very efficient in extracting as much flavor as possible from the amount of coffee inside the capsule. The only short coming in their brewing process is the water temperature. The best temp I had come out was around 175-180 degrees…and this is why the espresso shots are slightly bitter. Espresso needs to be brewed at between 195-205 degrees…and if you could taste a cup brewed at these two different temps, you’d be amazed at the difference in taste.
BUT, this machine can make an espresso in 3 minutes, including the warm-up time! With my Faema?…20 minutes to heat up and the routine of running water through the brew group to get everything hot for brewing…grinding, tamping, temp surfing, extracting, flushing, and then cleanup! To me, the savings in time is worth the trade-off in taste. Most coffee snobs would string me up for such a statement, but frankly I don’t care..LOL. I’m not willing to go through that long ordeal of the big machine just to get 2ozs of Heaven! Don’t get me wrong, the espresso out of that Italian beast is simply incredible…but at what cost in time?
Which brings me to my second point. This brewer only uses Lavazza coffee and some folks are complaining about that. Well, I looked into the Nespresso line of machines and they have umpteen different varieties. To that I say…”How many choices do you really need?” I roast my own green beans and after all is set and done, I’m probably down to 4 or 5 varieties that I really like…out of the 100’s coffee beans available…I don’t need 15 choices of espresso. Then when you factor in that Lavazza supplies 50% of all the espresso coffee in Italy…need I say more? The 3 versions of their caffeinated coffee are more than enough for most folks. And who would need more than one decaffeinated capsule? Now to the other folks that are complaining about the fact that they got it home only to discover that this machine doesn’t utilize K-Cups…COME ON FOLKS, DO A TINY BIT OF READING BEFORE YOU BUY SOMETHING! I can’t help but shake my head over those whiners.
Third point, and the most important. Your expectations on this machine have to be realistic. You must ask yourself…”Do I want top of the line tasting espresso that can achieve the illusive ‘God Shot’?” If the answer to that question is YES…this machine is not for you. Period.
So what is this brewer good for? The Rivo makes a decent, drinkable shot of espresso in 4 varieties VERY quickly and makes a fantastic tasting cappuccino or latte within a few minutes that will rival ANY coffee house! The truth of the matter is, you don’t NEED a fantastic espresso to make a very good latte or cappuccino. The simplicity of the frother is awesome. Put in some low fat milk (the lower the fat content, the better the froth!) up to the line marked on the container, place the frothing mechanism on top of the cup, slide it into the machine and push a button. In under 2 minutes you have coffee house style streamed milk without hardly lifting a finger. You don’t have to hold a stainless steel cup under a steam wand for 10 minutes until your wrist gets tired! The toughest part of the process is lightly…
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|Pretty good machine BUT the frothing cup is problematic,
I like the Lavazza espresso, and you better too because that’s the only brand that will fit this machine. It my understanding that Lavazza is going to be the only pod supplier. There will be no fill your own pods. The pods for this machine do no not fit most of the K cup or Vue cup racks or drawers well. Hopefully we will see some other storage systems like drawers for the Rivo.
The machine is easy to use, easy to clean, and pretty fast.
The flavored syrups from Keurig are the worst I have ever tasted. I suggest Ghirardelli or Torani.
Pricing here is not as good as Bloomingdales for the machine. But Bloomingdales lately is making online ordering frustrating over credit card verification. I have found that buying pods through Keurig is the best price once you are a club member, promotions make pricing even better. Just make sure you plan far ahead or be prepared to pay for expedited shipping. Slowest shipping ever. Edit 4/21/14 Pricing is now much more competitive both on websites, and bricks and mortar stores. Look for sales.
So why 3 stars? I do have concerns about the plastic frothing cup. Even though I hand wash it, it is developing stress cracks. THESE ARE NOT SCRATCHES, they are stress cracks in the plastic. The plastic is getting cloudy near the bottom. It gets used once a day, its only several months old, and its developing stress cracks and beginning to cloud. My guess is the clouding is from the cavitation of the milk caused by the whip.
On Keurig’s web site they have a “Replacement Frother Vessel and Lid for Rivo® System”. Its the only replacement part listed for the Rivo system. What are they telling us? This system really needs a glass or better plastic cup. These machines sit on the counter and needs to look good. The cup is getting ratty looking. I wonder what is happening to the plastic? Is it being absorbed into the milk?
I will upload a few photos of the cup.
Update 4/21/14
I did upload several photos of the plastic frothing cup. They clearly showed the cracks. Now they are gone. I didn’t remove them. Makes me wonder if someone reported the photos and had them removed. I know there are companies that offer to “clean up” online reviews. I will reload the photos and see how long they stay up. If they get taken down again I will contact Amazon and our local consumer reporter. These reviews are getting to be useless as the vendors manipulate the reviews.
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