Great Coffee Pods (and Tassimo T-Discs, too!)

You’re probably asking yourself, how do these coffee pod things work? It must be pretty complicated for it to have taken this long for someone to come up with them, right?

Well, actually, no. Believe it or not, coffee pods are pretty simple in operation, and very similar to your average coffee in the filter solution, although coffee pods are obviously far superior when it comes to single cups of coffee. After all, how else could you be sure that each individual cup of coffee is just as fresh as the last? Or how about having six cups of coffee, all different flavors, one after the other? Try that with your traditional coffee maker.

Keep in mind, brewing instructions will likely vary between each coffee pod machine, the steps of brewing from coffee pods are really pretty generic. Simply open the machine, and drop in one of your coffee pods. Be sure, of course, to first check to be sure all the holes are clear and that the machine is clean on the inside. Although coffee pods are sealed, generally preventing any mess at all, things do happen, as well as mineral deposits which can make your coffee taste bitter. If the pod brewer really needs to be cleaned, try running a few brewing cycles with only white vinegar. Also, you may want to moisten the coffee pod, even if pre-infusion is not necessarily suggested by the maker of your coffee pods. This will create a better seal within the pod brewer, making it easier for the water to pass through. If possible, use only fresh, filtered water, as this will help your coffee taste great.

Then, place your favorite mug under the spout and press your coffee pods brewer’s brew button. Similarly to the old style filter system, you should hear the machine kick on and sort of gurgle. After all, it’s doing nothing more than passing hot water through the pod then out into your cup.

Generally about a minute later, you’ll have your coffee! Since coffee pods are sealed, clean-up generally involves simply dumping the used pod in the trash.

Is your coffee not strong enough? Most coffee pods brewers are capable of housing two pods. This will give you the benefit of twice the coffee beans to the same amount of water, creating a much stronger cup of coffee. Also, be sure not to re-use coffee pods. They are intended for one use each, and you probably won’t like the result.

Before you can begin making coffee with coffee pods, and before you should even think about purchasing your coffee pods, you’ll want to acquire a coffee pod brewer. Some research on your part will be necessary as not all coffee pods are exactly the same. There are various different sizes of pods, and some brewers allow more than one pod to be used at once. The best way to determine the correct pod for your brewer, or brewer for your coffee pods, is to check your brewer’s capacity against the coffee pods grams per pod.

Most coffee pods brewers can hold pods between four and nine grams, though there are many that can hold pods that contain up to twelve grams of coffee. In some cases, it is required to pre-infuse the larger coffee pods. Although pre-infusing sounds very technical, it’s really nothing more than wetting the pod before placing it in the brewer.

It is generally impossible to tell just by looking whether your pod will fit your coffee pod machine. This is because all coffee pods currently on the market are between 55 and 61 mm, which is not easily discerned by the human eye.

Also available are T-Discs and K-Cups. Unlike coffee pods, these are not an “open format” type of coffee. You would need permission and a license to make either T-Discs or K-Cups, which means the selection is far more limited for them. Also, oddly, T-Discs are not Kosher.

T-Discs only work in the Tassimo Hot Beverage Machines, and the Tassimo Hot Beverage Machines only use T-Discs. There are some marked advantage to T-Discs over coffee pods or K-Cups, however.

When one buys T-Discs to make cappuccino, for instance, they’ll receive a package with separate groups of discs; some discs for milk, and containing coffee. While this may seem like a less convenient method, it does give the Tassimo system the flexibility to offer not only coffee, but latte, cappuccino, and even hot chocolate, complete with a frothy topping.

Before deciding between coffee pods, T-Discs, and K-Cups, you should do some thought and some research on exactly what it is you plan to brew. Remember, K-Cups can only be used in a very select few machines, and T-Discs are available only from Tassimo. Also, it’s either impossible, or not nearly as easy to make your own when it comes to T-Discs and K-Cups as opposed to coffee pods.  Making your own coffee pods really isn’t that difficult at all, actually.

Ever wish you could make your own coffee pods? Not only would this save you some money, but you’d be able to use your favorite brand of coffee instead of whatever is offered in the shape of a pod, and still use your beloved coffee pod brewer. Making your own coffee pods is not nearly as difficult as you might think.

You probably already have what you will need to make your own coffee pods. The first thing you will need is a measuring scoop that fits neatly into the holder on your coffee pods brewer. Many find that a 1/3 cup is a perfect fit, but use what fits best for your particular coffee pod machine.

Then, look for a glass or jar that fits just barely into the measuring scoop. Vitamin jars are often used for this particular step. Lastly, look around for any Mr. Coffee style filters that are made for the really small 4 to 5 cup machine. If you don’t have any of these, they are very cheap at your local grocery store, and absolutely necessary for creating your own coffee pods.

Now, take one of your filters and shape it evenly over the end of your glass or jar, or whatever it is you found to use in the place of a glass or jar. Try your best to center the filter, but perfection is not necessary for creating your own coffee pods. Then, flip the jar and filter and press it into the measuring scoop. Spinning and pressing the jar around a bit will get you a nice tight edge in the filter paper in the bottom of the measuring cup.

Take off the jar, and you’ll be left with a cup-shaped filter still in your measuring scoop. Add a scoop, or about two teaspoons of whatever ground coffee you’d like to use into this paper-filter-cup-thing. Your typical coffee scoop that comes with the maker will hold about 7 grams of coffee which is a good amount for making coffee pods. Shake the cup a bit to spread the ground evenly across the bottom of the filter, then gently fold over the extra filter material with your finger to completely cover the ground coffee.

If you want really well formed coffee pods, simply place the jar into the scoop again and put a lot of pressure on it with your hand.

Flip the scoop, and out pops your own home-made coffee pods!

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 August 4th, 2009  admin   No comments