single serving coffee makers

has anyone tried of have experience w/ the single serving coffee makers that brew into a cup, in roughly one minute's time? like the melitta onene or the new cafe home (?) by black and decker? no one else in my house favors coffee--heck even i like to make myself nice cups of tea, but i'd like to try some nice coffees, and dont want to get the regular drip makers, the smallest of which is 4 cups, and usually low end at that.

these single servers use "pods" which i dont want to get locked into either, so i dunno if it would be a good buy. anyone?

These are very popular here, and supposedly make a very nice cup of coffee. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
( don't drink the stuff, so I can't comment...)

Senseo

I've been using a Black and Decker single cup coffee maker for a couple of years. I use it about once a week at the most. It works great, and uses a fine screen insert instead of disposable filters. The coffee comes out hot in just a minute or two.

(I don't know what a "pod" is.)

Scott

I use the ones with the metal screens, and they work great. Simple, fast and easy to rinse out when you're done. Don't see the need for anything more complicated.

I didn't know they had them with screens. I thought one had to buy their little proprietary pods and that's why I didn't buy one. I may look into one if I can use a screen though?

What brands use the screens? That way one can make a weak or strong cup of coffee and not be limited by the premeasured amount in their expensive pods! Maybe they aren't that expensive? However, what do you do if they quit selling the pods?

Gotta go with a screen model!

bart, leaning towards the senseo (pricey though! ~70$) scott, pods are little bags, like tea bags, w/ premeasured amount of coffee and sized to fit that particular brand. limits your choice in what you can drink and of course, it is more expensive to buy pods than ground coffee.

sith, are you talking about the larger pot type coffee makers w/ mesh stainless steel (sometimes gold plated) screens instead of a paper filter? those are too large, i'm tlaking about single serving makers, which i've found only to be available in "pod" form. there are various articles online how to make your own pods but requires too much trouble. someone did also mention being able to get a metal screen type thing in a pod maker, but no follow ups on how.

Iddi, most people I know that have one rave about it, and there are lots of coffee flavors available. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

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iddibhai said:
has anyone tried of have experience w/ the single serving coffee makers that brew into a cup, in roughly one minute's time?

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I find that a regular size "Mr Coffee" maker that has the 10 "cup" carafe does a fine job of brewing a single cup of what I call a "cup" which is about 12 oz. I see no need for a separate smaller machine.

The ones with metal screens come in many different sizes. I use one that makes 1 cup, but there are larger ones too. Any Starbucks should have them. It looks like a glass cup with a metal lid on top. The lid has a plunger that pushes down the metal screen, when you're ready to pour the coffee out to drink.

The cup should be maybe $15-20. Definitely not $70. That's insane.

Why go with a pod/system? With the metal mesh cup you can use any coffee/tee, and any amount (stronger/weaker coffee). All you do is use a spoon to scoop out the amount of coffee you need, add hot water, put on the lid, and let it sit for a few minutes. Then push the plunger down and pour coffee into a cup.

Hope that helps.

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scott said:
I've been using a Black and Decker single cup coffee maker for a couple of years. I use it about once a week at the most. It works great, and uses a fine screen insert instead of disposable filters. The coffee comes out hot in just a minute or two.

(I don't know what a "pod" is.)

Scott

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I had the Black & Decker as well to use every day I wasn't at work (basically 2 days a week). For your purposes, it's perfect, and I recommend it. I was very satisfied with it -- easy and quick to set up and use & clean up. It lasted about 2 years, then it went kaput just a few weeks ago. I intend to replace it (it's only about $20 or so if I recall) but in the meantime I have been making coffee the old fashioned way, using a French press, which has been fun and makes tasty coffee.

Cheers,

Dave

Yes, French press. Thanks Dave, that's what it's called. Best of all, it's easy to clean, just rinse it out when it cools off. I don't think coffee machines are very sanitary.

My Black and Decker makes a single cup of coffee, and uses a screen (not a "pod".)

It was inexpensive, and it works.

Scott

ah french press, that's an idea... any recs on those?

Hard to go wrong with Bodum. HERE'S
a good selection.

I use 4 cup coffee makers (might as well have 2-3 cups) or else I use the somewhat expensive 'coffee singles'. One 16-20 oz. cup with a coffee single takes 2.5 minutes in the microwave. I'll have to take a look at these. I really do like to start with unground (but roasted) beans.

Edit to add: I also found a mesh screen (all plastic) type thing that fits a cup and is intended to work in the microwave. Or with boiling water. What did they call these things for brewing tea?

Mine is Bodum too.

I use a filtercone on weekends and grind and brew each cup when I want it. I place a Meleta #4 filter in the plastic cone, warm my premeasured water in the microwave to almost boiling, then pour the water over the grounds. I probably make it sound like a lot of work, but it is really quick and painless.
Sweetmaria's has the filtercones for a whoping $4.00.
http://www.sweetmarias.com/prod.brewers.shtml#filtercones
They are probably available elswhere, but This is where mine came from.
Hope this idea helps,
javafool

thanks for the idea of french press, and bodum, looking at those now, might run out in the evening and pick one up, and then to the grocery for some millstone perhaps.

No matter what machine you decide to check out...EVERYONE should have a French Press! Indeed Bodum is a good choice! I understand we've had all these coffee discussions here before...but a French Press is a "must have"!!

You need two, since the time will come when you break one and it will be when you REALLY need a strong cup o' joe.