Best home pod machine

[Andrew]

I know many are anti the coffee pod machines but leaving that aside what is the best system? I have had a Lavazza Modo Mia although it is now 6 years old and it is reaching the end of its life. All the reviews seem to put Nespresso top of the list with the machine I have second. I'm thinking of moving and would be interested in any views.

Andrew

[pep.]

E.S.E., if you use a dedicated machine like the SGL Podstar. Regular espresso machines where you just insert a different sieve don't work as well.

Compared to other coffee pod machines, your choice of beans is much wider. In Europe, even some small artisanal roasters are creating E.S.E. pods and you can get freshly roasted pods (a few weeks) quite easily. The downside is that a good E.S.E. machine is much more expensive than a Nespresso machine (unless you buy used).

Edited for typos.

Edited February 25, 2012 by pep. (log)

[rotuts]

i roast my own so Im not a Pod-Head but its probably better than CharBucks consider:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/08/dining/single-serve-coffee-brewers-make-convenience-costly.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=coffee%20pods&st=cse

[Andrew]

Great article but from my point of view I only drink coffee at home over the weekend for a few cups a week plus some espressos after a dinner party so the pod system is ideal. The issue is which system and in particular whether to move from the Lavazza Modo Mia.

[rotuts]

consider a look at HomeBarista:

http://www.home-barista.com/advice/best-pod-systems-all-in-one-office-espresso-machine-t20556.html?hilit=pods#p240452

search there. probably not a lot of Pod-Heads there but they have a lot of info on coffee and machines.

but I see your point and as long as you are happy with the "Cup" there it is!

[MaLO]

I use nespresso. I recently bought a new (second) machine. I like them. Good coffee and a decent range. The downside is mail order or 'boutique' only pod availability. The new aericcino dosn't suffer from hot spots like the older models so you don't get hard to clean burnt milk. I have also recently been given an aeropress - excellent for use away from home, hotels and the like, and not bad at home either.

[andiesenji]

I've been using Senseo machines since 2004 and I like that I can make my own pods with home-roasted and ground coffee and a Pod-maker, which works great for me.

However, it seems that Senseo is losing ground in the U.S. and the brewers are not as available as they were a couple of years ago. Fortunately, I have a new, still boxed backup.

Last July I was given a Dolce Gusto Creativa which, because it produces 15 bar pump pressure, operates close to the way an espresso machine works and using the Nescafe Dolce Gusto capsules.

If you don't drink numerous cups of coffee a day, this is not much more expensive than the K-cups and to my taste, the flavor is better.

I buy the Espresso and add my own hot, frothed milk, rather than buy the Latte or Cappuccino drinks.

I also buy the Dark Roast, which I drink for regular coffee.

You can customize and enter into memory the size of the drink portions you prefer and are not limited to pre-controlled sizes as with the Keurig, which operates on much lower pressure. My best friend has a Keurig and I don't care much for any of the several varieties of K-cups she has on hand and some are rated very high. (Green Mountain and Newman's Own, etc.)

I wrote about it in another topic on this forum.

Edited February 25, 2012 by andiesenji (log)

[JeanneCake]

It has been hinted that I am going to get a Valentine's gift of a coffee maker (my child is not good at keeping quiet) since the one I had on the counter isn't working any more. Usually I make coffee if I am home or having guests so while I want something useful, coffee is not a religion in my house so the single cup thing would be ok.. I make coffee at home once or twice a week at most and I'm told that they were looking at the Starbucks one (because they had hot chocolate there today). If I need to do some hinting of my own between a Nespresso, Starbucks Verismo and the Keurig, which one should I start gushing about (because that's what will be in the box . No chocolates for me this year!)

[Girl of Steel]

My boyfriend bought me a Lavazza Favola machine for Christmas (the chocolate brown one since you asked ) and it has worked fine for me so far. Looks cool as well, if not a bit noisy. Finding compatible pods is sometimes a little troublesome, but the coffees themselves taste great. I had been looking at a nespresso machine for a while but they were all a bit pricey and seeing as I am new to the world of coffee, we thought this would be a good starting point.