Coffee & Espresso Makers Tips

Right Idea, Wrong Machine: Get a Senseo Salton MES2 1 Cup Coffee Maker The Salton MES2 is essentially the same machine as the Melitta One, and the Juan Valdez JV machine. These m...

BonJour Brew & Touch 1360-70 2-Cup Coffee Maker Key FeaturesTypeCoffee MakerCapacity2 CupOperation SourceElectric Miscellaneous2081...

Introduction

The Salton One is the same unit as the relabeled “Melitta One:One” (what a marketing idea THAT name is! Wow. One one is one enough, donchathink?)

Anyway, I will review this one-shot coffemaker for you insufficiently-caffeinated folks in Epinionland. If you have either the Salton or the Melitta, you will be able to hopefully get some idea of its pros and cons from this review.

What does it look like?

The Salton One (Melitta One:One) is a bullet-shaped unit that sits about 11 inches high on the counter. It is smaller than most coffeemakers (like Mr Coffees or other basket drip units) but perhaps a bit bigger than those hotel-sized mini units. It is at its widest about 7 inches, I estimate. Therefore, we thought this would be JUST the thing for the office, where space in the breakroom is limited.

It comes in various colors like burgundy red with gray, white with gray and black. I have one each of the burgundy and the white. The top of the unit opens with a latch to reveal the pod basket, sitting in an espresso-machine like holder. The back has the tank, which holds about 22 oz of water. The tank pulls off easily and has a depressed lid with a hold wherein you can pour more water. The tank is frosted plastic, so you can see the level of water remaining.

How to use

The first time you use the unit, you have to wipe down the outside packaging dust, rinse the holding tank and prime the internal pump by filling said tank and then holding down both the 5 oz cup (left) and 8 oz cup (right) button on either side of the power button. When the power button goes from blinking slowly to solid “on” (takes 1.5 minutes) you have hot water and can prime the pump. Put a big mug under the spout and press both those buttons. Out comes water. Now the pump is primed.

Open up the unit, dump out residual water and push in a pod, flat side UP into the basked. Close latch.

Now, choose your brew. I like STRONG, so I make a 5 oz (demitasse) cup. (LEFT button.) If you like Americano-style coffee (weaker), choose the right button for the 8 oz mug. Put mug under spout. When the central power light is solidly on, press button and you will see first a slight flow of dark coffee liquid (filter wetted) and then a longer flow of brew (rest of brewing volume.) The halting between wetting and brewing is to be expected.

To make another cup, dump out the pod, start again. If the light goes from SOLID to FAST blinking, your water level is below minimum and you will not get a cup out. In fact, if you run out between WETTING and BREWING, it will stop and you either drink that tablespoon of strong brew (desperados of the caffeine addict sort) or you toss the pod, curse some choice swears and start again after filling.

If you let the unit sit over the weekend, you should reprime the pump. No biggie.

Pods and Taste

The pods for MY unit are supposed to be Melitta brand. And they give you a charming little magnet for your fridge to remind you to order the razor blade, I mean, pods to keep a goodly supply in your breakroom or kitchen. I tore apart the packaging of the new unit for a half an hour, looking for a sample pod. There wasn’t one. (just the cute magnet.) So I hied myself to the grocery store and LO there were NO Melitta brand pods. Ahum.

No loss here; I’ve HAD Melitta coffee. Not entirely to my taste in the can, so I wasn’t fussed. I confidently picked up a pack of (whisper it!) SENSEO pods (for the competing Phillips model of pod brewer) and ran back to the office. Which in itself was surprising as, insufficiently caffeinated as I was, I was able to run and not crawl abjectly. But back to my story…

I opened a pack of what purported to be Sumatran coffee and crammed the fat pod rounded side down into the basket and carefully tamped it in. It was slightly larger than one would have hoped for, seeing as the Salton/Melitta product managers were aiming to have you buy only THEIR brand of razor blade, I mean, coffee pod and not the competing brands out there. But, being I’m my dad’s daughter and he would have done the SAME thing (messed about, I mean, experimented), I pressed on.

The coffee oozed out, then flowed as expected. No problem. After several trial cups (I don’t get up in the morning for less than 10 ounces, after all) I noticed that sloppy positioning of the (wrong) pod led to slight leakage, a small dribble that I could WELL live with not to send away for the “right” pod or have to drink Melitta’s washy brew.

The taste was more than acceptable, in fact, it was pretty darn good. I tried the dark roast (I am sure this doesn’t surprise you, dear reader.) It was less aromatic but perfectly acceptable as a cup of joe. Senseo’s coffee is made by Douwe Egbert, a noted Dutch coffee seller and the coffee is more than acceptable.

I pronounced the unit an unqualified success. Now I can serve coffee to my office guests and not have a murky pot on the burner all day, or struggle to make a pot when someone shows up. And the ONE unit was on sale at BigLots for (ta-DA!) $18 and if I’d shopped on a Sunday, it would have been 20% less than that. I picked up one for a colleague and one for home. Shop around, deals are to be had.

Coffee, Tea or Ice-D?

The Melitta One:One has accessories–different spout/cup combos that can be used with tea pods or even make Ice-D, I mean iced tea. You order these spouts, change them for the brew of choice. Well, I think that’s overkill and while I like tea (I am indiscriminate in my choice of caffeine), brewing that only takes microwaved water and a bag. But for a neatnik office person, this would be quite slick to offer guests a choice of beverage. Nice-to-have, but not necessary in my view.

SUMMARY

If you are a determined shopper, you can find the Salton or Melitta for next to nothing and the pods, well, if you are not silly about which ones you use, you can find them anywhere. If you insist on gen-yoo-wine Melitta, they can be had from mail order online. I am more than pleased with this neat little unit and it is pretty on my breakroom table in the office. Since it is made by Salton, experts in heated-element appliances, it could be durable enough. They seem to have a grip on how to make inexpensive but useful appliance that may not be the “dernier cri” (hottest thing out there) but are serviceable and reasonably priced. I give it two (caffeine-stained) thumbs up.

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