Single Serve Coffee Makers: Discovering the World of Coffee by the Cup
by Brad Fruhauff Recently, I was heading to a friend's place for an all-night party when I got a text asking me to grab afew things from the store: some pretzels, some Pam for the grill, and something called "sayco" coffee pods. When I got to the store I realized he meant
Senseo
coffee pods, but I also realized a whole newmarket of coffee makers had been developing beneath my notice, for there was a whole shelf of "pods,""K-cups," and "T Discs" in various roasts and brands. No doubt, I reasoned, there was some new breedof coffee machine for which these strange products were designed.Indeed, the
is probably one of the most exciting things to hit thehome brewing coffee world since the espresso machine fad of 15 years ago. With these nifty and sharp-looking devices you get to brew your coffee by the cup at the push of the button. Brewing one cup at atime means each cup is as fresh as the last, which is good news for those of us who compulsively drink the java juice but don't have time to constantly brew small batches. It's also good news for those of uswho like to keep our taste buds interested, because the single serve coffee maker lets you choose the brand and roast of
each cup
.Most people figured out that to get really good espresso you need to be prepared to spend a littlemoney, and the same is basically true of single serve machines (unless you want to go manual, which presents another set of considerations), but, as with most things, you get what you pay for. As I'veinvestigated the world of the single serve coffee maker, I've determined that in many ways the money is beside the point. That is, what comes first is falling in love with the idea, or the concept, of the particular machine, after which you'll find a way to justify the price. I mean, just imagine: with thesemachines you can think to yourself, "Gee, I'd love a cup of joe about now," and in just over a minuteyou can be taking your first sip. How much would you be willing to pay for that?To help you get your feet wet in the single serve coffee maker world, I've provided a brief primer hereof the basic types that I've run across:
Pod Coffee Makers
Pods are basically coffee grounds already wrapped in their own filter. To brew them, you slip a pod intoa tray and press a button. Pods offer the advantage of being standardized, meaning many differentcompanies can offer their coffee in pod form, from well-known names such as Lavazza or Millstone tonewer entries such as Senseo's Douwe Egberts pods. Not only that, you can buy your own pod-maker,which lets you choose any brand of coffee and make your own ready-to-use pod. This is nice for thequaffer who is prepared to spend a little more time in order to squeeze even more freshness out of hisor her coffee beans.
Keurig Single Serve Coffee Makers & K-Cups
Keurig began to design their machines with the question, "Why brew a pot at a time when you drink coffee by the cup?" Out of this grew their line of single serve coffee makers and their unique K-cupsystem. A K-cup is a self-contained filtration unit that you place directly in your Keurig coffee maker.A spout on the lid punctures the K-cup and soaks the grounds with hot water. Your coffee then dripsthrough a tiny filter within the K-cup and into your mug in about a minute. The really cool thing aboutK-cups is that, since they are self-contained, you can actually brew
multiple different beverages
withouthaving to clean the machine in between. That ought to keep your tea and cocoa friends happy.
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