You might lust after the very latest in technological
wonderment this Christmas, buying as you do whatever tablet, smartphone and
swartwatch your bank account will allow. But spare a thought for your dear old
kitchen, won't you? The kitchen can take quite a hammering over the festive
period, what with the extra time you have off work, all those family members
piling in, and not to mention the large amount of "figgy pudding"
carol singers will demand of you (whatever the hell that is). And so, here's
some kitchen gadgets to make your foody-room that little bit more awesome.
Are you thinking what we're thinking? CHRISTMAS COCKTAILS! Well,
if not... maybe just some punch? Whatever you're drinking this holiday season,
nothing says 'effort made' quite like freshly squeezed juice. And nothing says 'freshly
squeezed juice' quite like the Braun Spin Juicer J500.
Designed to completely pulverise whatever fruit you put into
it in under 15 seconds, the Braun Spin Juicer J500 features a few nice little touches
which makes it really stand out from other juicers we've used before. Firstly
there is an extra wide feed tube on the top, meaning you can drop in fruit whole,
such as complete apples and peeled oranges. The spout also features an
innovative little anti-drip device, meaning that once slapped back into the
body of the juicer it won't be dripping all over your kitchen counter for the
rest of the morning.
The included jug is pretty great as it not only can be
filled with several glasses worth of juice, but it also features an anti-foam
lip to make sure only the juiciest of juice escapes. All told, this is a great
device to have around the house during Christmas... and yes, the parts are dishwasher
proof. Double score!
Around £100
Kenwood kMix Pop Art Collective
For when a functional,
clean and well-ordered kitchen just isn't enough, the Kenwood kMix Pop Art
Collective lets you colour-coordinate as well. The range includes a kettle,
toaster, blender, food processor, coffee machine, and hand mixer; with each
coming in one of several pretty bright and very noticeable colours.
To test the range we
were sent the kettle and the toaster in bright red, and despite the whole range
seeming to be quite small and cheap (maybe its the bright colours - to us they
tend not to announce 'classy') both products are very well made in metal. It
seems that Kenwood wanted to create the opportunity for people to mix and match
the appliances they need for their kitchens, either getting all of the same
colour or mixing colours that go. Either way our fears were dispelled.
The toaster and
kettle certainly do what it says on the tin, and we were very impressed at the
speed at which the kettle boils water and the toaster... erm... toasted. Select
what you want, pick your colours, and you're laughing (or rather Ho-Ho-Ho-ing).
Toaster And Kettle
£59.99 each, rest of range varies up to £399
Bosch Tassimo Vivy
It really wouldn't
be Christmas Eve without staying up super late to see if you can spot the big
man himself flying about overhead. And nothing helps you stay up late better
than a good dosing of coffee. Hot damn, do we love a cup of Joe here at The
Test Pit, and we're glad to have been sent a Tassimo Vivy to test following
last Christmas' Coffee Special.
The Tassimo Vivy is
what you might refer to as a 'Pod' coffee machine, meaning that you add
specially designed coffee pods to it, as opposed to adding ground coffee. What
makes this particular Pod machine different is that each of the pods has a unique
bar code printed on it, informing the machine which drink it is you're making.
That way the Tassimo knows exactly how much water to filter through the pod.
Furthermore, Tassimo have entered into partnership with Costa Coffee so the hot
black stuff that comes from this machine will have a more familiar taste (if
you frequent a Costa. Screw you , Starbucks-ers!).
The convenience of
the pod machine is well documented on this site, and although we would call
ourselves coffee snobs, we do love how easy it is to drop in a pod and hit a
switch. And, as the coffee comes straight from Costa, the taste is pretty
awesome. MERRY CHRISTMAS NO SLEEP FOR US EVER EVER!
£99
Visit www.tassimo.co.uk
BONUS: Costa Ceramic Coffee Cups
Following one Costa
product with another, the coffee giant has released ceramic versions of this
year's festive coffee cups. The range, which to all intents and purposes looks
very much like their cardboard cousins, includes a reindeer, a snowman, an elf
and a cheeky wee Santa.
A perfect gift for
coffee lovers (hint hint), these cups are greatly insulating and include a
rubber top which also looks just like the plastic top of a takeaway cup. We
really love these things and it lets you recreate the Costa experience when at
home. All you need now is some easy listening piped throughout your house and someone
asking you if you'd like any cakes or muffins with your coffee.
Dream. Come. True.
£7.99