Return of the (coffee) pod people

[chipotle]

Okay, I’ve been using the Senseo I wrote about for three months at work… mostly. As time has gone on I’ve been making more time to brew better coffee at home, or even stopping for coffee at coffee shops on the way in–the very thing that having the Senseo was supposed to prevent me from doing. Clearly, there is trouble in Podville.

Part of the problem is that the Senseo’s damnable fake crema–foam it produces on top of the coffee–deadens the flavor. The rest of the problem is that even many of the “good” pod coffees, well, aren’t good. I lucked out by trying BetterPods first; of their two big competitors, PodHead is hit and miss, and CoolBeans–not cool at all.

In addition to the pods, there’s another system from Keurig called the “K-Cup” (and most recently a new system from Kraft that uses “T-Discs,” for the “Tassimo” brewer). In the picture to the right, the little cups there are K-cups: single servings of coffee, and the plastic cup there is actually the filter.The Keurig is an entirely closed ecosystem: they’re the only people who make K-Cup coffee makers and only people who get licenses from them can make K-Cup coffee. This is the main reason I didn’t look too much at it, initially. However, I’ve noticed two things since then that made me reconsider it:

• Keurig has a clue when it comes to licensees. If you’re stuck with a few brands, having them be Green Mountain, Gloria Jean’s, Van Houte, and Celestial Seasonings isn’t that bad. (Diedrich I’m dubious about, and I haven’t tried Timothy’s yet at all.)
• You aren’t stuck with a few brands. Unlike the other systems, theirs is designed in a way that makes a little coffee filter for your own coffee pretty easy to pull off. The high-end Keurig that Williams-Sonoma sells comes with such a filter, and it’ll be available separately for the other machines shortly.

But, heck, I can’t afford another “coffee torture device,” as tugrik has dubbed my collection. (Given that the Keurig machines actually have blades that puncture the K-Cup from top and bottom, it may apply well in this case.) Sure, my birthday is coming up, but… well, I tell myself that I’ll only get one if I can do it entirely with money from the change jar.

Sadly, tragically, I can. Even the tax.

(It’s a big change jar, you see.)

So, at lunchtime, I go to Fry’s and pick up the machine in the picture above, the B40. This is the no-frills version–no timers, no programmable cup sizes, no pimped-out blue backlighting. It has a power button and a “make coffee” button.

The first thing I notice compared to the Senseo is that the Keurig is built like a tank. It weighs more empty than the Senseo does full of water. Even so, it’s not louder brewing–although it’s not quieter, either, which I’d hoped it might be. Even though the machine isn’t taller, the spout is considerably higher than the Senseo, which had trouble handling normal-sized coffee mugs; this one could probably handle a travel mug (although it’d still only do eight ounces of coffee). The Senseo is cute enough, but this machine looks like it means business.

So how’s the coffee? Well, I’ve only tried two of the sample packs it came with, and naturally, some of the varieties I’m most interested in aren’t among the ones they include. Green Mountain’s “Nantucket Blend” is a mild–really too mild–breakfast blend type coffee, but it’s still head and shoulders over more than half the pods that I’ve had. No fake crema, and it actually tastes like, well, coffee. The paper filter in the K-Cup (c’mon, of course I took one apart) looks more like Chemex paper than Mr. Coffee, and the grounds are completely saturated. I also tried a flavored coffee, Gloria Jean’s “Butter Toffee.” I’m only slightly ashamed to admit I liked it–it reminded me a lot of “Toffee Coffee,” a drink that a Florida-based coffee chain makes with toffee syrup and whipped cream.

Is it worth the price? Hey, for spare change, I can’t argue too much.

Comments

[twentythoughts.livejournal.com]

Hey, you could always just sell the ones you're not using on Ebay or something :)

[ja-ren.livejournal.com]

Indeed. Sign them though. I bet people in the know would pay more for a coffee maker owned by the coffe'yote herself. ;)

[ja-ren.livejournal.com]

The plastic cup is the filter? How well do the cups keep? Do yuou need to ziploc them and freeze them, or, are they sealed enough already?

[chipotle.livejournal.com]

They're vacuum-sealed, and don't need to be given special storage treatment. In theory they last about six months after production -- most of them are stamped with a "use by" date. The quasi-gourmet snob in me that's used to the idea of coffee getting stale within hours after it's ground is dubious, but so far I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

[tikaani.livejournal.com]

We happen to have gotten a Tassimo machine here, for the fact that it makes Cappuccino by itself (someone is addicted to the stuff). The T-Discs are also the brewing location, as the hot water is forced up into the discs and then flows down into the cup. There doesn't seem to be any way a filter could be designed for this machine though, and the discs are limited to licensees as well. Launch brands are Gevalia, Maxwell House, Carte Noire, Kenco, and Mastro Lorenzo for coffees, Gevalia (again, :<) and Twinings for teas, and Suchard for chocolate. The chocolate is quite interesting, as the disc contains liquid chocolate. The build quality of the machine could be better too. The reservoir could fit a little firmer on the back, and the lid pops off of it when you squeeze it while carrying it.

[chipotle.livejournal.com]

The Tassimo's system is actually pretty cool in how adaptable it is to different beverages. Keurig is going to license a special blend of Ghiradelli hot chocolate, but it's actually going to be a mix you put in the cup and just use the Keurig machine as a hot water dispenser for.

I saw Tassimo's brands of coffees and my reaction was like: Gevalia, okay; Maxwell House, eh; Carte Noire, Kenco, Mastro Lorenzo, I don't know who they are. (Sort of like Timothy's for Keurig.) That isn't necessarily bad, of course; I just recognized more Keurig names. (Gloria Jean's is also apparently famous for having strange seasonal coffees appear in K-Cup format, like Coconut and Wild Mountain Blueberry. I'm dubious, but they get points for creativity. Or something.) Keurig's build seems pretty solid, although of course, I've owned it all of eight hours, so it's admittedly premature to pronounce it truly tank-like. It just has a bit of that "plastic over metal" feel that Bunns do.

[tikaani.livejournal.com]

Those latter 3 coffee brands are apparently primarily European ones (though still Kraft brands). Carte Noire is french-produced. Kenco is a UK brand that uses Kenyan coffee, and Mastro Lorenzo is a Swiss brand.

[prickvixen.livejournal.com]

I can't help but think there must've been a Consumer Reports article that would've sorted all this out for you from the start...

[tikaani.livejournal.com]

Kind of off-topic but Consumer Reports has been real poor compared to the past. I've noticed a lot of almost annual articles on some topics while others (that I would like to see) haven't been visited in years, coupled with massive shifting of review information to their web site, which after a short time of an issue's being out, becomes web-subscriber only, at an outrageous fee (about equal to what you're paying for the magazine). They only recently started offering what I consider near a "proper" magazine subscriber discount of $1 a month for web access (most of the content was generated for the magazine after all - and that's what paid for it in the first place) but that's advertised as a limited time offer.

[chipotle.livejournal.com]

Well, probably more digging around coffee forums would have helped, at least the ones that don't have people who run screaming from single serve coffee machines in the first place. I think my initial thought that the Melitta system was kinda fading and the Senseo is doing better was correct, but the Melitta apparently makes better coffee (and is probably the best in its price range). Also, a lot of the buzz seemed to be about the pod machines -- they have a lot of big names behind them, whereas Keurig is a relatively new startup that does absolutely nothing but make Keurig machines.

Consumer Reports, from my experience, is best when they're talking about objective and fairly pedestrian measures -- build quality and whether the blender can crack ice or the washing machine does well with cardigan sweaters. When they're in a field that requires a certain level of subject expertise, like audio equipment performance or coffee flavor, they tend to go off base. (I suspect for these coffee machines they'd only look at the coffee that was readily available, which would actually give the Keurig a significant edge -- even though I only see three or four types of the five dozen or so available on shelves, those are much better than the crap sold under the Senseo, Home Cafe and Melitta brand names (the different pod manufacturers).

[raventail2.livejournal.com]

With all these coffee pod brewers, I can't help but wonder how long it'll be before someone can simply walk up to one and say, "Tea, Earl Grey, hot." :)

[megadog.livejournal.com]

These machines are truly evil - they stifle choice and are - per shot - vastly overpriced. You should consider a professional machine - something like one of these (http://www.gaggia.uk.com/productindex2.htm) - then you can make your own choice of beans at a significant saving over the cost of stupid 'pods' and other affronts to caffeinated individual liberty.

[chipotle.livejournal.com]

Okay. I applaud your concern for bean purity, but two points. No, three. :)

First: Gaggia makes espresso machines. A Keurig machine doesn't make espresso, it makes coffee. It doesn't make a one-ounce shot of espresso, it makes an eight-ounce cup of coffee. It's a brewer, and as I said, functions a lot like a commercial Bunn brewer. These are different animals. I like both espresso and brewed coffee, but I like brewed coffee more, and that's what I want in the cubicle.

Second: "In the cubicle." :) I bought this particular machine for installation in my cubicle, so there are considerations of ease-of-use, convenience, cleaning, and other factors that don't come into play at home or even in an office kitchen. (Although I think you'll be hard-pressed to find an office willing to install an espresso machine that isn't a superautomatic.)

Three: At home I use a French press, a vacuum pot, a moka pot and a Starbucks-branded Saeco espresso machine I modified the portafilter on (to depressurize it, essentially), and often buy beans from a local roaster within a week of roasting -- and on occasion roast beans myself. I know the difference between good and bad coffee. Really.

K-cups aren't going to compete with freshly-roasted, freshly-ground press pot coffee, but they compete surprisingly well with pre-packed whole bean coffee ground and brewed in other drip machines. (As Brer mentioned in another reply, the K-cups are nitrogen-backfilled and stay fresh for several months if kept intact.) And it strikes me as quite likely that the adapter that does let you use your own coffee will make a brewed cup that stands up to a cup any other filtered coffee machine would produce.

[brerandalopex.livejournal.com]

[Brer]I actually interviewed at Keurig in the 90's when they were still making this exact same machine -- only bigger and designed for corporate coffee installations. As you might expect, everyone there acted like they were seriously abusing the fruits of their labors, and we both decided I was looking for a less-jittery environment to work in.

Back then, the office-grade little cups were actually Nitrogen-backfilled so that there was really no spoilage. I wonder if they are still doing that with the home unit?

Glad to see they are still around though, and finally made it into the consumer coffee space like they had been planning. Somewhere in the company archives (maybe) there is still an NDA with my signature on it.

[chipotle.livejournal.com]

As far as I know, they're still using the same cup system, and still doing the nitrogen packing. This year seems to be the one they've aggressively started moving into the home space -- they introduced a "B100" model maybe a year ago that was an expensive home/office one but smaller than the serious corporate one, and now they have three home models and are sneaking into Best Buy, Bed Bath and Beyond and other places.

[ravagefox.livejournal.com]

$20 at Kmart gets you a generic coffee brewer and you can buy whatever ground coffee you want. That's real 'no frills' :P

[chipotle.livejournal.com]

It'd be a bad coffee maker, probably. :) A lot of drip machines aren't really very good -- they don't saturate the coffee grounds very well and they brew at too low a temperature. You'd be better off getting a French press for a similar price.

[kereminde.livejournal.com]

I . . . I do tea? And not the 'good' teas, I have made do with the economy-size, 100 bags. I very rarely had tea out of smaller servings, and even then I'm not sure what they were. I have a terrible memory from not really caring; it always turned out well for me. In so far as a ceramic pot, tap water, and 3-5 tea bags put into the microwave for 5 minutes makes passable tea.

Coffee? Ummm . . . I liked the "Breakfast Blend" from Playhouse Square, which they got in unmarked brown bags. Therefore I don't know what brand it really was. But it was good enough for me. Their cappuccino machines were Gabriella, I know that, but those were being phased out for being too slow to actually make the product (and being exceedingly tempermental, but we really abused those poor machines while we worked.).

[chipotle.livejournal.com]

The Keurig system has teas available, although I haven't tried any yet. This is another advantage it has over the pod systems, actually, in that there appears to be very few tea pods out there, and I'm not sure whether they'd really work in the Senseo very well anyway.

I'm relatively happy with my Starbucks espresso/cappuccino machine for such things, but I don't use it very often, as it's a fair amount of trouble to use -- definitely not a "push the button" kind of machine like the Keurig. (Although if I'm going to have an espresso-based drink, I'd rather do it right, which requires doing it pretty manually.)

[chastmastr.livejournal.com]

I've pondered the idea of a French press again. A cheap one, mind you. It's the cleaning of the metal filter thingy which daunts me.

[chipotle.livejournal.com]

They're not particularly difficult to clean, as long as you don't let them sit around and fester. Just rinse the pieces under the faucet after you brew, and use a soapy dish brush on occasion (or run it all through a dish washer). The plunger generally disassembles easily so you can take the mesh out completely and rinse/scrub it.