Coffee & Espresso Makers Tips

Braun Tassimo Coffee Maker Product Technical Details165559 Key FeaturesTypeCoffee Maker Technical Fea...

Love My Tassimo 1400 Braun Tassimo Coffee Maker Easy to use and great taste - especially the espresso and cappuccino varieties. The new Starbucks coffees are a g...

Over the holidays I purchased the Tassimo Hot Beverage System for my husband. He loves coffee and previously had been using a Senseo machine to make single cups of coffee here and there. We’d found that if we made a whole pot of coffee then we’d end up wasting more than we drank and the single cup convenience really was great. We’d both seen the Tassimo Hot Beverage System on the Martha - Apprentice show and were intrigued. Sure enough when I looked it up I found that it was for sale in local stores as well as online for around $170 dollars.

I purchased our Tassimo Hot Beverage System at a local Bed, Bath & Beyond and it came bundled with 2 packages of beverages - 1 Gevalia Signature Blend coffee and 1 Twinings Earl Grey tea, plus there was an offer that when you registered it you could get 2 more packages of beverages for FREE. An even more added bonus was that I found a rebate form on the internet that I was able to send in and get 2 special beverage mugs also for FREE, with a copy of my proof of purchase during a certain dated period! Of course, I used one of those 20% off coupons so I saved even more on my purchase of the machine and was able to buy a few more packages of the coffees (I got Latte, Cappucino and Hot Chocolate) and still paid right around the going rate for the machine alone.

How it works

The Tassimo Hot Beverage System is about the size of a coffee maker and very stylish looking on your counter. It uses these cute little plastic disc/cups called T-Discs which each have a barcode on them. When you put the disc into the machine it reads the barcode which tells the machine what kind of drink you are making. Then with the press of a button it prepares your drink! It is so easy that even my 5 year old autistic son can do it, and why the other day he made me 3 cups of Espresso - BECAUSE HE COULD! He knows that the water reservoir in the back needs to be filled up and then to turn the machine on, put a mug under, load the disc into place and then “wait til its green”. When the light turns green, you push the button on the front of the machine and then the drink comes out!

You can also make a drink manually if you are using a larger mug (like a travel mug) or want weaker coffee. To do this you hold and press down on the button instead of just pressing it a single time. The front of the machine has a piece that you can remove so that you can use a taller mug instead of a standard coffee cup.

The Drinks

The following T-DISCS are available at this time and I am sure more varieties will be introduced in the future (I would love flavored coffees, and my husband would like chai!)

- Gevalia Signature Blend T-DISC

- Gevalia Espresso T-DISC

- Gevalia Cappuccino T-DISC

- Gevalia Latte T-DISC

- Gevalia English Breakfast Tea T-DISC

- Twinings Earl Grey T-DISC

- Suchard Hot Chocolate T-DISC

- Carte Noire Expresso T-DISC

- Mastro Lorenzo Crema T-DISC

- Kenco Classic Blend T-DISC

- Maxwell House Cafe Collection House Blend

- Maxwell House Cafe Collection Espresso

- Maxwell House Cafe Collection Cappuccino

- Maxwell House Cafe Collection Latte

- Maxwell House Cafe Collection Crema

We usually purchase our T-Discs at Bed Bath and Beyond using the 20% off and $5 off coupons. But, the selection is sometimes dicey there which can be frustrating. Other stores which carry the coffee are Best Buy, Macy’s and Boscovs. The packages are anywhere from $7.99 to $12.99 depending so it pays to shop around. They are usually like $9.99 at BB&B and after the coupon less than that, plus my BB&B takes expireds and allows you to use multiple coupons so its a great way to stock up and save. The full selection of T-Discs is available online at Tassimo Direct where you can get in on an auto-shipment program but we’ve yet to do that as there is a shipping charge unless you want to order over $35 worth.

My favorite drink from the Tassimo is the Latte that it makes. It also does a really nice cappucino with a bubbly foamy top. Both the Latte and the Cappucino are 2 step drinks, but still easy enough for my 5 year old to do. First you put in an Espresso T-Disc and then next you remove and throw that one away and then you insert a special milk T-disc (it requires no refrigeration). The hot cocoa I also really like but its made with water and not milk, which I think I would prefer. I’ve also had the Gevalia Coffee, the Espresso and the Crema and my husband has made the tea before. (I think its just as easy to make tea using a Tea bag though!) I really like to be able to pick what drink I want and make it quickly. The Lattes are great and just as good as something you’d get at Starbucks or out in a restaurant. Best of all, our 5 year old can make the drinks for us whenever we want them

Update July 2007: Now more than a year later we are still using this machine and very happy with it. 2 major updates.

1) More Flavors and Varieties of T-discs have been introduced! I’m doing the happy dance because not only do they have flavored (vanilla) coffee, they also have vanilla chai latte (my husband’s favorite). Plus they also have several teas, milk foam T-discs, and brands like Seattle’s Best, Mastro Lorenzo, Kenco, Nabob, Jacobs, and more.

2) Purchasing T-Discs is a lot easier now than it was a year ago where I could only find them at select retailers or B&B&B stores. Now, I often find them at Target (usually they have the Maxwell House brand, not Gevalia but that’s OK) for a really good price. Every few months I stock up and place a big order at www.tassimo.com consisting of ‘the favorites’ and a few new varieties to try out. They usually offer where if your order is over $30 there’s no shipping charge, and then have specials that they email out every once in a while.

www.tassimo.com

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