Coffee & Espresso Makers Tips

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We’re on our second Tassimo single-cup espresso machine here at my office. I had been considering them for home, in part because of the brand selection and the auto-programming features. The cost was a barrier though; they come down to $100 but not much further in local stores. Luckily, I started a new job and they had just acquired a Tassimo, so I got to try it out before I bought one.

The Tassimo’s programming is one of its most unique features, so I’ll address that first. Each T-disc (pod) has a barcode on it, and the coffee maker knows how to make the beverage based on that barcode. How much water, how fast to push the water through, etc. This means you’ll get more beverage from a “coffee” T-disc than an “espresso” T-disc, without having to remember to set a setting on the machine. You can add more hot water using the “manual” phase of the brew cycle, if you want a weaker drink.

The T-disc selection is pretty good too, with many leading names available in discs. We get Twinings tea, coffee from Seattle’s Best and Maxwell House and Gevalia, and cocoa from Suchard. Yes, it makes cocoa from a syrup pod. It also makes milk/latte from a milk concentrate pod. As far as I know, this is the only single-cup coffeemaker that has the option to use the syrup pods.

The reason for this is the way the coffee is brewed. You lift the hatch to reveal the coffeepod holder and barcode reader. Place a pod face (label) down on the hinged holder, and push the hatch down again. You’ll hear a crunch or snap sound. That’s the pod being punctured on one side.

When you press the big round brew button (the only button on the machine), the barcode reader reads the code and starts pushing water through the plastic pod according to the program for that code. For coffee, it will push a bit of water through to moisten the grounds, wait a bit, and then push the rest. For cocoa or milk, this would not be necessary.

When the brewing is done, the manual light blinks, to let you know you can add more water by pressing and holding the brew button. If you’re making a drink with the foamed milk, you pop out the coffee cartridge (lift the hatch, pull the t-disc out) and put the milk cartridge in, and run the cycle again.

Now the detail I didn’t include above is one of the worst things about this coffeemaker. The water takes a long time to heat. I haven’t timed it with any precision, but it can take over five minutes. The pod makers I’ve reviewed take a minute, maybe two at most for a double-cup, but this machine takes forever. This may be partly because it is used in an office and the water doesn’t get time to heat in advance, but I don’t think so.

Those of you who read my reviews will know that I have to mention bottled or filtered water… it will make your drinks taste better and make the device need cleaning less often. I’m not sure about the cleaning on this machine yet, but we’ll probably need to do that soon.

And speaking of water, the other issue I have with this machine is that it seems to dribble more than others. The cup holder will fill up after a few cups, and it’s not infrequent that I come in and find water pooled around the base of the machine.

The T-discs are a bit harder to find than coffee pods, but most major grocery stores and places that sell coffeemakers will have them. Expect to pay 50 cents per disc on average; Amazon carries them, and Target has them pretty cheaply as well. The coffee doesn’t taste quite as good as ground coffee from the same brands (Seattle’s Best breakfast blend and Gevalia signature blend in particular) but it doesn’t taste *bad*. And there is no way that I know of to make your own T-discs. Keurig has user-fillable K-cups, and there are little presses to make pods.

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