Coffee machines

maltesers_2

Labasheedy wrote: »

I had a Tassimo for a while, but I just couldn't stop thinking about the
environmental aspect, where I was throwing out all these individual plastic pods into the bin.
Seemed such a waste.
Also the coffee choice is very limited & very expensive.

I've seen ecopods available for the SENSEO where you can use your own coffee - eg fair trade

gjchester

Got a DG as a freebie promo item, it was fine, but at the end of the day the coffee worked out too expensive, as we would go through two to three boxes a week. My Kilo of beans from Costco costs about the same as 32 cups of DG coffee, and lasts a lot longer. The Drinks that used two pods also made the cost per drink a lot more than just regular coffee.

The coffee was nice but to be honest i prefer freshly ground filter coffee. You are also tied to the Nescafe range and unless they have changed it recently they don't do a Decaff coffee, which is an oversight, nor any fairtrade coffee's. I also thought the drinks's that had milk pods were too sweet to my taste.

Gave it away in the end to a friend who's not such a coffee fiend and he likes it.

Ben84

davetrousers wrote: »

Why would anyone want a 'Pod' machine for "Push button coffee"?

It doesn't appeal to me either. However, the tassimo machine is a clever design, so I can see the interest.

The pods have a barcode printed on them that the machine reads and uses to adjust the temperature, timing and amount of water. It's instant ground coffee.

Still, those plastic pods are expensive, I've never seen any fairtrade ones and they're not very environmentally friendly either. I'm not liking the patented technology as well, it means nobody else can make the pods. This is really what it's all about.

The coffee maker market needed new technology to encourage sales, and built in obsolescence to keep us tipping our consumer goods in the bin and replacing them. The traditional well made coffee makers just aren't going to drive the profit margins expected in a modern business. We buy them once and use them to make coffee sold by other companies for years. I'm still using an electric percolator from the early 70s.

Selling you heavily marked up coffee in plastic pods with royalties on every cup is one way to keep the profits coming in, and it allows them to undercut the other coffee machine makers as they can sell the machine at lower prices because the profit (and it's potentially a big one) is in the consumables. Also, they'll find a way to make you replace the machine long before it's really ready to throw out. They'll even convince us that we need a new machine. There'll be a new microprocessor inside that makes 'perfect coffee' or the new pods with exciting new flavours won't be 'compatible' with the old style machines and the selection of coffee for them will conveniently dry up due to 'reducing demand' they'll say.

They probably planned their projected life span before the first machine went on sale.

consultant31

Ben84 wrote: »

As for what to get. I'm not a fan of the pod machines. The pods are very expensive, the range is limited compared to ground, and if they ever change the design or stop making the pods then your machine is no use any more. There is also a poor selection (I've not seen any actually) if you want fairtrade coffee pods. Something that uses regular ground coffee seems better, as this will always be available and something to suit any taste can be found. You could buy top of the range ground coffee and it would still be cheaper per cup than the pods.

You can buy reusable coffee pods on eBay which you can refill with your favourite brand of coffee. I have used these with my Senseo for a couple of years now and buy coffee beans which I grind and use. The Senseo is on offer all over the place now and well worth the money IMO

fattyrae1

Labasheedy wrote: »

I had a Tassimo for a while, but I just couldn't stop thinking about the
environmental aspect, where I was throwing out all these individual plastic pods into the bin.
Seemed such a waste.
Also the coffee choice is very limited & very expensive.

I also had the Tassimo and wasn't too fond of the hot chocolate or the cappucino. The cappucino had one pod for the coffee and another for the milk and i always thought there was an odd taste from the milk (maybe because it wasn't fresh). Everytime i think of it now i feel slightly sick:rotfl:

Labasheedy

consultant31 wrote: »

You can buy reusable coffee pods on eBay which you can refill with your favourite brand of coffee. I have used these with my Senseo for a couple of years now and buy coffee beans which I grind and use. The Senseo is on offer all over the place now and well worth the money IMO

I had a look on Ebay..that looks like a great wee gadget allright (selling for £13.65 inc p&p)

Anyone with a Senseo could definitely use one of these.

(Mind you I've reverted back to my plain old cafetiere ...well until I can figure out how to talk someone into buying me a bean to cup Gaggia )

Sui_Generis

Ben84 wrote: »

A coffee maker is much more fun and personal

Fun? Seriously? Its a kitchen appliance. Is there any chance only one person will use it or its output? Nothing personal in this.

Don't get me wrong I can see buying something like this as a gift is acceptable for some situations but in 5 years time will she look back and think "wow what a great 40th birthday present, a coffee maker!" ? Or will she think she should have had it for Xmas?

Violetta_2

But as the op say's it is something she has always fancied I think he'd be better off getting her that than something she doesn't want or need.
It's funny I like coffee and I'd be well chuffed if my oh got me a really good coffee maker. Would not be impressed with a toaster or kettle for some reason a coffee maker's different.
Anyhoo in the meantime I like my senseo coffee maker, the coffee pod's are similar to teabags so not as wasteful as the tassimo type plastic pods, I'm sure they can be chucked on the compost. Lidl are now doing nice coffee pod's they did different ones a while ago that were yuk. But I may invest in those ecopods.
As other's have said it depends what she's into, have you asked her what kind she'd like?

Mrembo

I bought the coffee pod and i also bought coffee duck which means I can use ground coffee instead of the coffee pods.The results are the same if not better and the senseo machine is easier to clean.

I found out with the senseo i have to use hot/warm milk otherwise the coffee ain't hot enough.

skellysgirl

I noticed a thread on one of the boards the other day with a way to get erm.......free dolce pods...might save a bit of cash, have a search