Hi Paul, Most of these one shot coffee makers worked quit well and I totally agree about the waste of these stupid pods.

With pods you are not only wasting aluminum plastic and the used coffee itself becomes difficult to recycle. The boxes these pods come in are far larger packaging and you are paying 2-3 times as much for the same amount of coffee, the government should impose an environment waste tax on such wasteful crap.

PS , Paul what's this retired nonsense you are 10 years younger than me, I hope you are finding fun productive things to do in your retirement. You could go to Michigan and help Kevin with his Cavalcade mususem project or come and spend some time working on vintage stuff here in Beltsville.

John L.

I have one of the newer ones. They work great. Perfect for tea drinkers , instant coffee  lovers  and lots of other instant beverage things. They're still available on Amazon, although they're not as cool-looking as yours.

Paul, I know where you're coming from.  I had to retire at 54 due to Dave's massive stroke.  I became a 24/7 caregiver for the ensuing ten years.  Last spring it was clear that I could no longer manage him.  He had always been a fall risk but it had gotten to the point where he couldn't follow instructions when I was trying to help him off the floor.  I'd have to wait for help to arrive, sometimes leaving him on the floor for up to two hours. 

He's in an assisted living facility now, and I'm starting a new life that once again includes travel, entertainment, and dining out.  I'm pondering over volunteering but haven't decided on where.  Meanwhile, I've lost weight, I'm exercising somewhat regularly, and in many ways I'm feeling like a new person.

Your situation isn't exactly the same, but I'm sure you'll find ways to enjoy your newfound freedom.

And I agree that this Sunbeam system is much more responsible than today's pod method for single servings.

189F seems to be perfect.  When we had an instant hot water dispenser, it would produce 190F.

Users need to keep in mind that the 212F figure for boiling water only applies in a STP (standard temperature and pressure) environment.  I'm at around 100' above sea level, and 200F is about where water boils here.  I think a Hot Shot II would be ideal for Thomas's situation.

Was there ever a Hot Shot I?

You can buy a new Sunbeam Hot Shot at Target for $19.99.

Eddie

https://www.target.com/p/sunbeam-hot-shot-hot-water-dispenser-black/-/A-10210654

The new Sunbeam Hot Shot may be ugly to some, but I wouldn’t consider the vintage ones to exactly be works of art either, and at $19.99 if it gets the job done it sure beats spending $50 to $100 for something more esthetically  appealing, but that just me.

 Personally, it looks pretty simple to me, and small enough to not exactly stick out like a sore thumb.

Eddie

These would have been useful in the days before MWOs became cheap and ubiquitous.

I suppose it does have an advantage in that it consistently heats water to the same temperature but that wouldn't be enough for me to justify another appliance taking up space.

Matt if you use a low profile cup and a 1 cup Melitta Pour over filter it would probably work just fine with the HS2, as long as the total height of both the cup and filter didn’t exceed 4.5 inches.  I’ve thought about this too, but I like to use a larger 12oz. mug and with the filter it would be too high to fit the HS2.

If you really want to get off the Keurig pods give the Melitta 1 cup a try.  I use my stove top kettle and only boil the amount needed for 1 cup  of coffee if its just me having coffee (keep a plastic 2 cup measuring cup handy) and 12 oz of water comes to a boil in 2 mins or less, almost as fast as the Hot Shot, and no more counter clutter.  And with the Melitta you can make your coffee as strong as you like, and much cheaper than the pods.  I store the Melitta filter inside the measuring cup in the cupboard next to the stove and I like not having so much  clutter on the counter.

Eddie

I use it many times every day truly instant hot water, takes less than 5 seconds to fill a large coffee mug with 100% Reheating Efficiency, MWOs only convert about of the power they consume into hot water or food.

Nice filtered hot water, up to 1/2 gallon always available and if you run it out it is hot again in less than 10 minutes.

John L.

I would love to have an instant hot water dispenser again.   They are easy and there's nothing to clean, and they don't take up much space other than about a 3" diameter circular area on the top of your sink's deck.

I used to have a Black & Decker 1-cup coffee maker on my desk at work (it's been boxed up for years).  It appears the Hot Shot is similar, but holds more water.  The B&D comes with a basket that takes a Melitta #1 size cone filter to make one mug of coffee, or it will dispense plain hot water.  There is no hot plate.  Dispense/brew & enjoy.

It has the required simulated woodgrain upper scale finish for the 1970s.  Mrs. Brady would be proud and so am I.

Mine is not so fortunate to have the woodgrain but it heats water.

My mother has a refillable/reusable Keurig pod thingy.  She says it works fine.  I don't drink coffee so I can't say yay or nay.