The PR machinery is running full tilt! It’s single-cup coffee machines — or, pod machines — everywhere you look… Phillips’ Senseo, Melitta One, Black & Decker Home Cafe, and the Keurig Brewer, to name those most buzzed about at the moment.
The Senseo reigns at the top of the buzzheap by a large margin, and you can easily find reviews of all stripes, from the usual tech “news” flaks, to geeks with laser-guided temperature probes… even fellow coffee blogger Randy Glass gets in on the game with his own hands-on review.
Given the mass-marketed hype, and being a skeptic, I was fully prepared to dislike the Senseo. A lot.
Turns out, I don’t dislike it all that much. But keep reading.
The Senseo is a smartly-designed and smart-looking home coffee machine. It’s fabulously simple to use, and it appears to be built to stand up to frequent use [the same can not be said of some of its competitors].
I have lingering concerns about its brew temperature. While Randy notes a brew temp of a respectable 190 degrees F. the folks at GadgetMadness record brew temps of a mere 138 to 140 degrees F. which is nowhere near acceptable. I have no particular reason to doubt either report, so I’m left to wonder if there might be a really high temperature variance from machine to machine… that would be a serious problem.
Temperature issues aside, it’s not the machine I have a problem with at all. It’s the quality of the coffee — and the source of that coffee — that leaves a bitter taste.
Currently, the only coffee pods for the Senseo available in the U.S. are those made by Douwe Egberts [whom you may know better as Sarah Lee] which developed the machine with Phillips. Sarah Lee is one of the Big Four, and together with Kraft, Nestle and Proctor & Gamble, they buy and sell half the coffee in the world.
These organizations are not known for the caliber of their coffee, but instead for their volume, and, more unfortunately, for their collective efforts to reap the benefits of historically low coffee prices, further contributing to the continuing coffee crisis.
So far as I can tell, there are no Fair Trade coffee pods for the Senseo. No organics. No shade-grown coffees, either. If you’re considering the Senseo, and you also want to consider sustainability, you’re in a bit of a bind. You might try to make your own coffee pods, or buy a reusable coffee pod adapter.
If these devices take hold, there will certainly be a number of independent roasters who will produce pods for them… and it’s just as certain that some of those roasters will offer coffee that’s more palatable all ’round.
Meanwhile, if you want to brew a single cup at a time, try some fresh beans, a grinder, and a Melitta filter cone.
Author’s Update: You may also be interested in reading The Senseo Crema Mystery which explores some of the more finicky issues of pod coffee makers… and the Senseo in particular.
August 28, 2006 at 12:56 pm
Hi Doug,
Hey, have you bought a bag of senseo pods lately ? Has the clear adhesive strip that normally is on top of the pouch missing ?
In the Chicagoland area, they have been missing for about 3 weeks now…. Is this an attempt by Senseo/Sara Lee to save money ??
Chuck.
September 19, 2006 at 11:14 am
Have used the Melita One for a couple of years. Now having a problem with it leaking all over the counter. In the market for another machine that can use Home Cafe and Senseo pods.
November 12, 2006 at 7:50 pm
PLEASE HELP!!! I received a Senseo machine for my birthday and I love it. The only problem is I live in Windsor, Ontario and cannot find pods of any brand anywhere. I really don’t want to have to order them online or travel across the border, just for a measly bag of coffee. I simply want to buy my pods in a grocery store with the rest of my essentials on a weekly basis. Funnily enough, Wal-mart, Costco, Canadian Tire and numerous other local stores carry several pod brewers. You’d think they would also stock the product the machine uses.
April 22, 2007 at 7:01 am
I fully enjoy teh senseo coffee to the max! However, recently I upgraded my coffeemaker to a Kenwood ES547 expresso maker. It comes with an adapter for pods, but this adapter only accepts ESE compatible podsA >S it happens, senseo pods are a different size, so I cannot use these pods.
There are now three options I can chose from as a solution:
1) Get a new senseo machine (easy, but defeats the purpose of having this kenwood expresso maker, plus it’s probably the most expensive solution)
2) Start using ESE compatible pods: My question here is, is the coffee just as good as senseo coffee? Will I get that cream”y foam layer on top? Are there enough different types of ESE pods available? (haven’t found many yet…)
3) Get an adapter that allows me to either use the standard expresso maker filter holder from the kenwood, or get an adpater that replaces the filter holder for the kenwood model. From this point of view I wonder if expresso makers all have a stadard size filter holder, or if they vary per make and model ofthe machine. If they are a standard size, I would have though it is possible to create filter holders for senseo pods for any expresso maker. Is anyone aware of such an adapter/filterholder?
April 22, 2007 at 12:20 pm
Hi, Kryn –
Your message caused me a double-take… on this side of the pond the Kenwood name is known as a maker of car stereos and the like, not coffee appliances. ;)
I think you’re in a spot. Espresso machines and their ESE pods simply don’t match up in shape or size — or even purpose, really — with Senseo (or other single-cup machines) and their pods. Only you know if what you really want is espresso, or brewed coffee. Only you’ll know if you like what you get if you make an espresso with an ESE pod and add water (a la Americano) for a 6 or 8-oz cup.
Espresso blends are very often altogether different from blends intended for a brewed cup. Sometimes they *do* make a nice cuppa, sometimes they’re miserably awful — bitter or bland — most often with little to no acidity.
‘Course you could always ditch the pod adapter altogther, get some fresh beans from a local coffee roaster and make a lovely single shot. ;)
July 8, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Does anyone know who actually makes the Gevalia pod brewer? They have canceled their coffee pods and I am having a hard time finding compatible pods. None of the online sites lists the Gevalia brewer in their compatibility information.
August 7, 2008 at 4:31 pm
Tassimo has a partnership with Gevalia and they make the pod brewer. As a matter of fact Gevalia refers you to tassimo.com to purchase the brewer.
September 29, 2008 at 7:11 pm
Sue, I have been quite happy with my Gevalia pod machine. I had the Black & Decker but it fell apart after a year. The Gevalia has been going on strong for two years now. I make my own pods with non-bleached filters that I cut myself. I use the coffee I WANT and I’m quite content with it. I want to get a backup machine just in case this one ever dies but knock on wood. we’re still going strong.
April 6, 2009 at 3:42 pm
Im an english guy with a dutch gf, and the dutch swear by the senseo, in most homes apparently. We bought my folks a machine this christmas, and although we had probs with a chemically smell the first few times, that has pretty much gone now (or maybe not, maybe our noses have become more tolerant…) but anyway the main problem is the pods. You can buy supermarket own brands of most of the coffee makers available, however in england senseo seems to have been missed out. In holland albert heijn do their own range rather large and i see as being better than douwe egberts, and most importantly are HALF THE PRICE!!! however this had lead to me bringing back 7 or 8 bags or coffee pods every time i go over to see her (just got my brother in law a senseo for his birthday, it can oinly get worse….). phillips seem to have a racket over here, and tescos or asda oughta just buy the copyright for the pods so they can manufacture their own kind. give us all a hand….
June 8, 2009 at 10:07 pm
I am in the US and reciently bought a Delonghi for $100 that I am quite happy with. It does both pods and fresh ground esspresso. SO it’s ready for whatever I am in the mood for. IT’s brews fast and has great flavor. I have only had this machine for a few moths and no technical problems yet. My last machine lasted almost 10 year so it has very big shoe’s to fill. I wish you luck on your coffee journey.
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April 9, 2010 at 8:35 pm
Kienna Coffee & the Sun Cafe Pod Brewer. This brewer has been developed by a Coffee Roaster. There are 3 key factors to producing the best possible cup of coffee in a single cup system. 1- temperature- we are getting 195 degrees F at the Brew Head. 2- pressure- 2.5 bar-this along with the temp creates the extraction of the oils from the coffee. 3- the Coffee- the right roasts, blends & the grind have to be in balance in order to get the best results in the 35-45 seconds of water contact in any single cup system. We are coffee people first and wanted to design a brewer that showed our coffees in the best way. The reason we choose pods over the Plastic Capsule forms of others is because we believe PODS are the environmentally friendly solution when it comes to single cup coffee. The pods are compostable and the packaging is recylable. The Sun Cafe and 20 Varieties of Kienna Pods are available at Bed Bath and Beyond stores in Canada. We hope to be in the USA very soon so you too can experience all our amazing coffee choices one cup at a time.
April 13, 2010 at 12:01 am
I’ve tried every coffee maker out there including the Melitta, Keurig, Tassimo, and a few commercial machines.
Hands down absolute best coffee is with the Bunn mycafe. I’ve used a few senseo and melitta pods and they have tasted many levels better than if you were to brew them in their respective machines.
Pod making machines are being discontinued. My advice is to buy one while you can. Mine was a present from a friend they paid $14.99 The paper pods are less than .05 each and while a bit high, grinding your own fresh coffee the way you want it or picking up a can of new orleans styled coffee with chicory (add a dash of cocoa, yum) blows away most commercial pods. I generally make a couple dozen at a time, takes about 15 minutes.
I use loose tea and make my own teabags too.
The brewing temperature is hotter than any other machine I’ve used. That and what seems to me to be a bit of pressure in the brewing bring out a much more intense brew.
Not much crema, but some, but the coffee:) Like everyone else here I did the best I could to research, but machine after machine I was disappointed until picking up a Bunn Mycafe, and no I don’t work for them, but given how much I’ve told everyone how much I love mine they should think about comping me one:)
July 22, 2010 at 10:34 am
I’ve owned 2 Bunn Mycafe coffee pod machines. The first one worked great, brewed THE BEST tasting coffee. After about 8 months it stopped pulling water so I had to send it back. The company sent me a new coffee maker and it has worked wonderfully ever since and I’ve had it for about 3 years. It really is the best machine, brews the best for both coffee and tea.