Welp, someone gave me the Senseo coffee pod system for Christmas. My
first thoughts after pulling the machine out of the box - it's very well
made. No flimsy parts to speak of. The stock resevoir holds enough water
for about 4 (8 ounce) cups of coffee. 8 ounces takes 2 pods so the
coffee definitely isn't cheap. But the convenience is more than worth it
as there is NO mess. You simply toss the pod in the trash and you're
good for another cup. No need to wipe a thing down. Now for the taste.
With the Senseo brand pods that came with the unit, it produced a coffee
that was definitely better than my parents fairly expensive 12 Cup Bunn
drip machine but no where near the body of a press pot. (But my parents
also use preground folgers [yuck]). I'm hoping with better quality pods
the unit will produce a bolder cup of joe. So in summary - if you're
used to the fairly mild office coffee and need a machine that is quick
and virtually mess free, then I do recommend the unit.

~john

Levelwave© wrote:

I forgot to mention... it produces a very rich layer of crema about 1/4
of an inch high. The coffee was also very hot.

~john

Bubbabob wrote:

Not REAl crema, just foam. The coffee in the pods is far too stale (and
made from the vilest of Vietnamese robusta beans) to create any crema
worthy of the name. They contaminate the coffee with a percentage of
instant coffee that causes the faux crema effect.


Yeah, I'll prolly order the bettery quality pods when I get back home.
Vile Vitenamese robusta beans or not, the machine is on to something if
you're single an only want one cup and don't feel like breaking out the
press pot and burr mill.

~john

Bubbabob wrote:

Not REAl crema, just foam. The coffee in the pods is far too stale (and
made from the vilest of Vietnamese robusta beans) to create any crema
worthy of the name. They contaminate the coffee with a percentage of
instant coffee that causes the faux crema effect.


Yeah, I'll prolly order the bettery quality pods when I get back home.
Vile Vitenamese robusta beans or not, the machine is on to something if
you're single an only want one cup and don't feel like breaking out the
press pot and burr mill.

~john

In article ,
Levelwave(C) wrote:

Yeah, I'll prolly order the bettery quality pods when I get back home.
Vile Vitenamese robusta beans or not, the machine is on to something if
you're single an only want one cup and don't feel like breaking out the
press pot and burr mill.


Which better quality pods? I thought the Senseo was limited to a three
or four choices of Douwe Egbert coffee?

--
to respond (OT only), change "spamless.invalid" to "optonline.net"

http://www.thecoffeefaq.com/

In article ,
Bubbabob wrote:

Not REAl crema, just foam. The coffee in the pods is far too stale (and
made from the vilest of Vietnamese robusta beans) to create any crema
worthy of the name. They contaminate the coffee with a percentage of
instant coffee that causes the faux crema effect.

The Mild Roast, Medium Roast and Decaffeinated are 100% Arabica beans.
The Dark Roast HAS some Robusta, but the origin isn't given.

And what is the source of your statement that it contains some instant
coffee? According to Philips, "The frothy coffee layer on top is a
result of the low pressure brewing method." They explicitly state that
"The SENSEO coffee is not the same as an espresso. Espresso is a strong
coffee brewed by quickly forcing hot water through darkly roasted,
finely ground, coffee beans."

--
to respond (OT only), change "spamless.invalid" to "optonline.net"

http://www.thecoffeefaq.com/

On Sat, 25 Dec 2004 22:47:00 -0500, Levelwave©
wrote:

Welp, someone gave me the Senseo coffee pod system for Christmas. My
first thoughts after pulling the machine out of the box - it's very well
made. No flimsy parts to speak of. The stock resevoir holds enough water
for about 4 (8 ounce) cups of coffee. 8 ounces takes 2 pods so the
coffee definitely isn't cheap. But the convenience is more than worth it
as there is NO mess. You simply toss the pod in the trash and you're
good for another cup. No need to wipe a thing down. Now for the taste.
With the Senseo brand pods that came with the unit, it produced a coffee
that was definitely better than my parents fairly expensive 12 Cup Bunn
drip machine but no where near the body of a press pot. (But my parents
also use preground folgers [yuck]). I'm hoping with better quality pods
the unit will produce a bolder cup of joe. So in summary - if you're
used to the fairly mild office coffee and need a machine that is quick
and virtually mess free, then I do recommend the unit.

~john


You can buy a reusable pod to fill with the coffee of your choice.
When last I checked, you still had to buy them on eBay as there was no
one in the US selling them.

Makes a big diff in the coffee flavor when you choose your own brew.

Boron

In article ,
Boron Elgar wrote:

You can buy a reusable pod to fill with the coffee of your choice.
When last I checked, you still had to buy them on eBay as there was no
one in the US selling them.

Makes a big diff in the coffee flavor when you choose your own brew.

And here's a review:
http://www.quiknet.com/~frcn/Coffee/CafeFilter.html

--
to respond (OT only), change "spamless.invalid" to "optonline.net"

http://www.thecoffeefaq.com/

In article ,
Boron Elgar wrote:

You can buy a reusable pod to fill with the coffee of your choice.
When last I checked, you still had to buy them on eBay as there was no
one in the US selling them.

Makes a big diff in the coffee flavor when you choose your own brew.

And here's a review:
http://www.quiknet.com/~frcn/Coffee/CafeFilter.html

--
to respond (OT only), change "spamless.invalid" to "optonline.net"

http://www.thecoffeefaq.com/

On Sun, 26 Dec 2004 17:00:28 -0500, Scott
wrote:

In article ,
Boron Elgar wrote:

You can buy a reusable pod to fill with the coffee of your choice.
When last I checked, you still had to buy them on eBay as there was no
one in the US selling them.

Makes a big diff in the coffee flavor when you choose your own brew.

And here's a review:
http://www.quiknet.com/~frcn/Coffee/CafeFilter.html


Thanks for the link. I, myself, had seen the review. I did not notice
any water getting around the hand-packed filter as it mention in the
review, but for those who are seeking the speed & convenience of a pod
machine, that does disappear with the add'l filter.

It isn't an espresso machine, by any means, but it can be fun and
tasty for those who like to play around a bit.

Boron

On Sun, 26 Dec 2004 17:00:28 -0500, Scott
wrote:

In article ,
Boron Elgar wrote:

You can buy a reusable pod to fill with the coffee of your choice.
When last I checked, you still had to buy them on eBay as there was no
one in the US selling them.

Makes a big diff in the coffee flavor when you choose your own brew.

And here's a review:
http://www.quiknet.com/~frcn/Coffee/CafeFilter.html


Thanks for the link. I, myself, had seen the review. I did not notice
any water getting around the hand-packed filter as it mention in the
review, but for those who are seeking the speed & convenience of a pod
machine, that does disappear with the add'l filter.

It isn't an espresso machine, by any means, but it can be fun and
tasty for those who like to play around a bit.

Boron

Levelwave© wrote:
for about 4 (8 ounce) cups of coffee. 8 ounces takes 2 pods so the
coffee definitely isn't cheap. But the convenience is more than worth it
as there is NO mess.

Sounds fine, but I have a visceral problem with buying
coffee either made by an electronics company, or from J&R
Music World:

http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.proc...Code=PHI+00701

--Blair
"It's like buying socks at the bakery..."

Scott wrote:
In article ,
Levelwave(C) wrote:

Yeah, I'll prolly order the bettery quality pods when I get back home.
Vile Vitenamese robusta beans or not, the machine is on to something if
you're single an only want one cup and don't feel like breaking out the
press pot and burr mill.


Which better quality pods? I thought the Senseo was limited to a three
or four choices of Douwe Egbert coffee?

Froogle to the rescue:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...232634-1182534

--Blair
"Sales rank: 1."

Bubbabob wrote:
Not REAl crema, just foam. The coffee in the pods is far too stale (and
made from the vilest of Vietnamese robusta beans) to create any crema
worthy of the name. They contaminate the coffee with a percentage of
instant coffee that causes the faux crema effect.

Speaking of which, I tried Medaglia d'Oro Instant Espresso
the other day, because I'm an empiricist, and I have
conclusively falsified the hypothesis that instant espresso
will taste like shit, and codified the theory that it will
taste worse than shit.

--Blair
"I'd rather have one of Baldrick's specials."

BTW, the best price online for Senseo coffee makers is
Wal-Mart, which may or may not match their in-store price.

And here's a link to all the froogle results for pods that don't
mention the word "douwe":

http://froogle.google.com/froogle?as...=0&safe=active

And a tinyurl for those of you like me with text browsers:

http://tinyurl.com/4qsw7

--Blair
"I may just buy one of these and
see how it stacks up to that
Medaglia d'Oro instant espresso..."