Coffee machines using pods for occasional use...

srichards

srichards

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I don't drink coffee. Visitors do sometimes and I can't make anything other than a vile brew with usually gone off instant. Last lot looked mouldy having been open for a few months.

Instead of poisoning them with my efforts I wondered about one of the pod machines assuming the shelf life of the pods is probably 12-18 months?

I was looking at the Philips senseo one as it is on Amazon for about £50. That's top whack. Ideally I'd like something cheaper :)

It needs to make an acceptable brew, easy to use & involve minimal cleaning. Are they all similar so I may as well just get whatever is on offer locally and with cheap pods available?

I'm not bothered about other drinks that can be made with them as the fairtrade chocolate I use is really nice and the sachet type chocolates are usually horribly sweet.

What can you coffee drinkers advise?
 
I have a Tassimo machine, works well, 3 packs for £10 in most supermarkets at the moment and a good choice of drinks
 
I have a Tassimo too.
Lovely, but doesn't exactly fill a mug.
 
We have a Tassimo (Suchards chocolate is very good) and a Lavazza. Both seem to work well, the latter is very small and two packs of sixteen pods are currently six quid in Waitrose
 
Tassimo is cheaper. I think it'll be that somehow unless you can get a bobby no name from Aldi for £20 that does the same :)
 
Tassimo or Lavazza for me, we have a Tassimo in the bedroom and a Lavazza in the conservatory.

Suchard are excellent and they are one pod per drink so good value, the other hot chocs are 2 pods per drink and I find them a bit sickly sweet.. Costa Americanos are decent too if you want a long drink and the teas are also good.

Lavazza are a bit of a one trick pony but IMO the nicest and I am more of a short sharp shot person, we replaced a Nespresso with it and glad we did.. pods are a bit harder to get hold of.

Tassimo has an ace up its sleeve which will suit you I think.

https://www.tassimo.co.uk/Accessories/TASSIMO Hot Water DISC Green?eshopProduct=951094

remember when you get a Tassimo register it online and you will get 2 x £10 vouchers to spend on Tassimo website.
 
I've tried one cup hot water dispensers before and they make revolting tea if the water doesn't properly reach boiling point and stay there long enough. If they've perfected that then that would be very handy :)
 
We use a Senseo but have a Coffee Duck thingy which lets you use any ground coffee in it, its a god-send. I buy the Percol Black from Home Bargains at £1 a packet, half a mug and half microwaved milk makes as good a cup of coffee as I've ever had out of a shop.
 
I drink a fair amount of coffee and normally use a press or a filter machine. I'm not keen on having to buy special pods, but I can see how it might work if you only want to make coffee occasionally. Coffee beans keep fairly well though, just grind them before use instead of buying ready ground.
 
MartynK said:
I drink a fair amount of coffee and normally use a press or a filter machine. I'm not keen on having to buy special pods, but I can see how it might work if you only want to make coffee occasionally. Coffee beans keep fairly well though, just grind them before use instead of buying ready ground.
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I've been wanting a coffee machine for ages but I'm the same, I drink a lot of coffee and think it'd cost me a fortune in pods! They do some good priced filter thingies on Amazon which would probably be better for me :)
 
strumstrum said:
Lavazza are a bit of a one trick pony but IMO the nicest and I am more of a short sharp shot person, we replaced a Nespresso with it and glad we did.. pods are a bit harder to get hold of.
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Nespresso pods are stupidly hard to get hold of (short version: practically mail order only) but the coffee is rather good. Mate who is a very heavy Tassimo user reckons the Nespresso is better coffee but Tassimo easier to live with and cheaper if you drink a lot.

ETA: Nespresso always have a deal on at Christmas - if they don't yet then wait for the New Year. I bet Tassimo do the same.
 
I just use a cafetiere as the mood takes me.
With fresh ground coffee (in bags from supermarkets)
They seem to have a very long shelf life,
and hardly any more effort than making instant.
 
JonathanRyan said:
Nespresso pods are stupidly hard to get hold of (short version: practically mail order only) but the coffee is rather good. Mate who is a very heavy Tassimo user reckons the Nespresso is better coffee but Tassimo easier to live with and cheaper if you drink a lot.
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Lavazza is better than Nespresso, both are better than Tassimo, Tassimo is more versatile and still an okay auto drink.

Gaggia or Moka with a bag of Jailbreak from Hasbean trumps everything else but when I am in bed and fancy a coffee a pod will do.
 
Cobra said:
I just use a cafetiere as the mood takes me.
With fresh ground coffee (in bags from supermarkets)
They seem to have a very long shelf life,
and hardly any more effort than making instant.
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Once opened it would have to be used quite quickly wouldn't it? That's part of the problem. I'd be chucking fresh ground coffee away every couple of months rather than the cheapest instant I could find.
 
srichards said:
Once opened it would have to be used quite quickly wouldn't it? That's part of the problem. I'd be chucking fresh ground coffee away every couple of months rather than the cheapest instant I could find.
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I just reseal the bag and it seems to last forever.
I tend to drink mostly instant,
but a bag of "fresh" lasts me 6+ months.
I never noticed any ill effects, as long as its stored cool and the bag is (re) sealed after use.

And of course a cafetiere is far cheaper than buying a "machine"
 
I have both a Tassimo and a cafetiere, The Tassimo is good but as Ruth says it doesn't fill a mug. I prefer the cafeteria along with fresh ground coffee (also have a grinder) as I can make it to whatever strength I like. However I think santa is buying me one of these for Xmas :D
 
JonathanRyan said:
And then you'll be on the slippery slope to this.....

http://www.aeropress.co.uk/

And you'll have to comply with the law that says you have to post your method of using it on Youtube......
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Must Admit I'm a bit of a coffee-holic - to the tune of having a monster Rancilio Epoca (that I picked up from a bankrupt cafe auction for less than the cost of some piece of junk Gaggia domestic unit) plumbed in in the kitchen (yes, plumbed in, it needs a dedicated water supply and hard wired power!)... but, for camping trips and the odd overnighter I picked up one of those aeropress things, and frankly with fresh ground beans it makes better coffee than pretty much anything you'd get in a cafe outside of Italy...
 
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TheBigYin said:
Must Admit I'm a bit of a coffee-holic - to the tune of having a monster Rancilio Epoca (that I picked up from a bankrupt cafe auction) plumbed in in the kitchen (yes, plumbed in, it needs a dedicated water supply and hard wired power!)... but, for camping trips and the odd overnighter I picked up one of those aeropress things, and frankly with fresh ground beans it makes better coffee than pretty much anything you'd get in a cafe outside of Italy...
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Oh my...:love::love::love:
 
srichards said:
I did look at that. With a name like mini-me it amused as well (y)
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I have the larger one and have to say just for use now and then it is ok. why send a bomb on something you are not going to use.. lol
 
OK Coffee aficionados, plug your ears for a minute:

If the coffee is just for guests, you could pop into Poundland and get a pack of 7 Nescafe 3-1 coffee sachets (with sugar) and/or 5 Nescafe 2-1 sachets (without sugar) for a pound a pack!! ;). I've taken these on holiday and they taste ok. I've just checked their website and they are now doing 8 Nescafe gold blend sachets, so I might have to try those next time I'm going on holiday.
 
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Nick65 said:
OK Coffee aficionados, plug your ears for a minute:

If the coffee is just for guests, you could pop into Poundland and get a pack of 7 Nescafe 3-1 coffee sachets (with sugar) and/or 5 Nescafe 2-1 sachets (without sugar) for a pound a pack!! ;). I've taken these on holiday and they taste ok. I've just checked their website and they are now doing 8 Nescafe gold blend sachets, so I might have to try those next time I'm going on holiday.
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BURN HIM!!!!!!
 
Another vote for the Tassimo machine. While some of the pods won't fill a mug, others will overflow it! I like the Costa latte and Mrs Nod alternates between the Costa Americano and the Café Noir crema intense (with an occasional CN espresso as an early morning boost before a class!). We also like the Suchards hot chocolate and I like the Twinings English breakfast tea. IIRC Currys have a deal on the baby Tassimo machine at the moment. FWIW, Tesco usually have a better choice of pods than Sainsbury's but Sainsbury's stock our favourites (other than tea, so that comes from wherever we see it!)
 
Aeropress for the win!!

Although just recently been using a hario v60 pour over with Rave coffee's Italian a job beans, freshly ground on my la cimbali cadet grinder.. Daaaaam smooth. I also have a few moks pots and they make w good brew, just takes to long to brew for my liking.

I also have an nespresso, which my wife bought as she couldn't use my gaggia espresso machine, and I'll be honest, I haven't use the gaggia since either. The nespresso is so easy and the coffee tastes fine. I don't drink straight espresso, I prefer an Americano or piccolo, so the nespresso is great for that.
I also have a jug of filter on the go pretty much all day. Never a shortage of coffee in this house!
 
I'm quite taken with the idea of individually wrapped coffee bags and the rombouts filtery thingies you stick on a normal cup. Should be nicer tasting than instant which so far I can't make anything other than toiler cleaner with. I'm not sure I'd fare much better with the teeny sachet things!
 
Cobra said:
Considering Suz is trying to keep the price down, for the
occasional visitor, I'd actually say that's actually not a bad idea of Nicks. :)
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They might have the added bonus of keeping those occasional visitors from returning as well ;)
 
srichards said:
I'm quite taken with the idea of individually wrapped coffee bags and the rombouts filtery thingies you stick on a normal cup. Should be nicer tasting than instant which so far I can't make anything other than toiler cleaner with. I'm not sure I'd fare much better with the teeny sachet things!
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Those cup filter things are nice actually. I took some camping, although I did double them up to get a stronger cup. Pretty sure lidl have some like the rombouts but cheaper.
 
gumbo-67 said:
http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/househ...-drinks-machine-white-black-21487120-pdt.html

If it is just for guests then i would say one of these would be ok and not too much if you manage to get one in the sale.. and the pods are easy to get hold of.
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Got a spare one of these in the house that I used at my last place of work. I love the Dolce Gusto coffee and that machine will make 2 decent cups per tank full.
The Senseo has the advantage of using coffee bags so you get to pick your own coffee but once opened if you don't use them they'll go stale. The DG pods are sealed and would probably last for years.
 
TheBigYin said:
Must Admit I'm a bit of a coffee-holic - to the tune of having a monster Rancilio Epoca (that I picked up from a bankrupt cafe auction for less than the cost of some piece of junk Gaggia domestic unit) plumbed in in the kitchen (yes, plumbed in, it needs a dedicated water supply and hard wired power!)... but, for camping trips and the odd overnighter I picked up one of those aeropress things, and frankly with fresh ground beans it makes better coffee than pretty much anything you'd get in a cafe outside of Italy...
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Erm...where do you live again?:sneaky:
 
This reminds me of the Nikon - v - Canon thread !

Interesting read thanks, been contemplating getting one for a while I spend far to much in Costabucks !
 
With any luck home bargains might have some of the bags or fancy little filters :)
 
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