Coffee & Pod machines

drummer

Has anybody any experience with the pod machines that seem popular in Europe.

Apparently they are a fool (that's me) proof way to perfect espresso / capucino's.

I'm not talking nespresso machine's these are something different.

I've come across this site selling the machines & coffee & pods from Italy:
www.roccoco-coffee.co.uk

Experiences & thoughts please!

Rich

dodgy

We have a Philips Senseo, yes it's not a classic Gaggia, but it cost £30 and we even take it on holiday if we rent a cottage somewhere. It makes consistently good coffee using pods, no mess, no fuss but coffee experts (wtf is a coffee expert anyway :roll: ) will no doubt turn their noses up.

Actually, we have two of these machines, one is a spare we bought when we saw them cheap a second time.

You can get the pods cheap at Aldi from time to time.

drummer

Thanks Dodgy.

These aren't the plastic pods!,they are more like a round t-bag!

I had somein Germany recently and the coffee was fantastic.

Apparently the little bags have the perfect measure of coffee in so it's impossible to mess it up.

Doing my research but getting redy to pull the trigger!! :roll:

Fingz999

I saw these in aldi Germany the other day thought it was tea bags at first (which is rare here) then saw it said coffee bag very odd not seen them in the uk yet just out here

dodgy

drummer wrote:

Thanks Dodgy.

These aren't the plastic pods!,they are more like a round t-bag!

Right, but I don't think you mentioned 'plastic' in your OP. The Senseo coffee pods are still called 'pods' as in your subject so I thought it was worth a mention.

Big price difference between the Senseo machines (£30 to £60 depending on how lucky you are) and the ones in your link though!

drummer

999 I had some while I was away and it was as nice as any I've ever had in a cafe etc.

Not much impresses me BUT it did!

team47b

Not tried the coffee from these, but have seen them in the shops here in Portugal, tough market, as most people live within 50 metres of a cafe that sells excellent espresso for 50/65 cents a cup.

Mrs T tried one at a hospital, she said it tasted like coffee, better than the top brand instant, but not as good as coffee made from fresh beans. It's an added process, extra packaging all seems to be trying hard to make what can be made easily with fresh ingredients and a little pressure.

We use one of these in the house...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bialetti-Moka-E ... B0000AN3QI (bit expensive here though!)

...with fresh beans or ready ground, makes good coffee, you can modify the amount of coffee and water to suit yourself, simple. Drinking a cup of coffee made with a mocha pot as I type


I have to admit that the Germans are good at making coffee bags though.

nevman

Still cant beat a decent espresso machine-I have the cheapest on the market, De Longhi and its a life-saver every morning.Got it from John Lewis.

http://www.johnlewis.com/230906933/Product.aspx

js14

As far as I know, the Italians have a standard for the coffee pods called ESE (Easy Serving Espresso). Since there are many suppliers of the ESE pods, prices are reasonable compared to proprietary systems like Nespresso. I thought Senseo pads were just for making filter type coffee rather than the authentic expresso. Where I live it's easy to find Senseo type pods but I haven't seen the ESE ones in the supermarkets. I'm not sure that Senseo coffee pads are compatible with ESE expresso machines but maybe there are machines which accept both? All information gratefully received as my wife wants an expresso machine as the price of me doing the Etape

drummer

I've just ordered o
A machine off of that roccoco-coffee.co.uk site

If you can hang on I'll give you a report!

I'M EXCITED

RDW

team47b wrote:

We use one of these in the house...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bialetti-Moka-E ... B0000AN3QI (bit expensive here though!)

...with fresh beans or ready ground, makes good coffee, you can modify the amount of coffee and water to suit yourself, simple. Drinking a cup of coffee made with a mocha pot as I type

I just made one with the 'Super Record' version of this:

http://www.gallacoffee.co.uk/acatalog/b ... rikka.html

(my bike only has Veloce). Great for a quick cup, and much less hassle than an espresso machine.

JS14 wrote:

I'm not sure that Senseo coffee pads are compatible with ESE expresso machines but maybe there are machines which accept both? All information gratefully received as my wife wants an expresso machine as the price of me doing the Etape

Senseo isn't espresso - like moka pot coffee, it's a different sort of drink made under much lower pressure. I shouldn't think there are machines that do both ESE and Sensia, but there are real espresso machines that can take either ESE or ground coffee, e.g.:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Classic-RI8161- ... B0000C72XS

You can get the pods online if they aren't available locally.

Freshly ground is really the way to go, but you need a decent burr grinder. Cheap electric blade grinders are no good for espresso, you really need something like this: http://www.happydonkey.co.uk/hd0866-ibe ... -auto.html (add VAT to price), though you can get away with a ceramic hand grinder: http://www.creamsupplies.co.uk/porlex-t ... _2707.html

Of course you'll also need decent freshly roasted coffee!:

http://shop.squaremilecoffee.com/
http://hasbean.co.uk/
http://www.monmouthcoffee.co.uk/

dodgy wrote:

wtf is a coffee expert anyway :roll: )

Probably the guys who hang out on the coffee equivalent of BikeRadar!: ( http://coffeeforums.co.uk ). Gaggia vs Silvia is the coffee equivalent of Campag vs Shimano

team47b

+1 Gaggia

Velonutter

I have one fo these http://www.ukvending.co.uk/flavia_fusion.asp



Normally £200+ managed to get it off fleabay for £42 unused, 30+ different varieties of drinks, quick, clean and always fresh.

Used to work for Moulinex-Swan-Krups and had a free Krups Nexpresso, but I found them expensive and really only suited to an expresso.

drummer

Just text a pal in Italy.

He says these are really popular over there.

Apparently the bags are premium coffee which is cafe standard and placed in a foil bag to maintain it's freshness.

His GF family have one and he say it's 'the BOMB'!

I've ordered a machine and a box of the pads so I'll let you know how it goes!!

Simmotino

Out of interest, why do you rule out the Nespresso machines?

I know they are capsules rather than pods, but they are fantastic. 19 bar pressure means a nice crema on your espresso, and a large variety of coffees to choose from means you can choose your taste/strength depending on your mood. Also makes latte/cappuccino/americano/mocha etc.

I would beat someone to within an inch of their life if they tried to steal mine!*

*Figuratively speaking of course

drummer

Out of interest, why do you rule out the Nespresso machines?

I know they are capsules rather than pods, but they are fantastic. 19 bar pressure means a nice crema on your espresso, and a large variety of coffees to choose from means you can choose your taste/strength depending on your mood. Also makes latte/cappuccino/americano/mocha etc.

I would beat someone to within an inch of their life if they tried to steal mine!*

*Figuratively speaking of course

AGGRESIVO!!

They've just emailed me to say they have the one I want in stock & will be here on Wednesday.
I'll keep you informed!

js14

There are two reasons why I was looking at alternatives to Nespresso: firstly the cost per capsule is high and secondly the used capsules aren't easily recyclable.

drummer

JS14 wrote:

There are two reasons why I was looking at alternatives to Nespresso: firstly the cost per capsule is high and secondly the used capsules aren't easily recyclable.

That's also what I think pal.
Ive ordered a box of 100 pods for about £20 which is only about 20p a go.

Also, although this roccoco uses Fida (which I'll try), I can try other brands who also make these pods.

I love my espresso & cappuccino's so can't wait for Wednesday!

Simmotino

6 or 7 pence difference, granted, but not enough to deter personally (YRMV of course).

The recycling aspect is a breeze though, they send you some bags and you fill them up and then they collect the full bags when they deliver.

BrianTrousers

Simmotino wrote:

6 or 7 pence difference, granted, but not enough to deter personally (YRMV of course).

The recycling aspect is a breeze though, they send you some bags and you fill them up and then they collect the full bags when they deliver.

We tried this but the bags just sat on the step when they delivered. Then we saw a note which says that they weren't doing the collection thing anymore but we could take them to Manchester if we wanted. Not sure how environmentally friendly it is for us to jump in our car and drive a 100 mile round trip to recycle our pods!

Binned them.

Simmotino

BrianTrousers wrote:

We tried this but the bags just sat on the step when they delivered. Then we saw a note which says that they weren't doing the collection thing anymore but we could take them to Manchester if we wanted. Not sure how environmentally friendly it is for us to jump in our car and drive a 100 mile round trip to recycle our pods!

Binned them.

Interesting. Your pods aren't delivered by Yodel by any chance?

getnoticed

Thanks for linking to Coffee Forums UK, which is the equivalent as mentioned

If you are looking for a no-mess solution and have a Gaggia Classic espresso machine you may wish to consider http://www.aromocoffee.co.uk/ who supplies these (no affiliation other than a review we conducted for them)

A pod adaptor is required to replace the standard basket but other than that you're able to make coffee straight away.

I hope this is useful info and will point any members with cycling questions in your direction

BrianTrousers

Simmotino wrote:

BrianTrousers wrote:

We tried this but the bags just sat on the step when they delivered. Then we saw a note which says that they weren't doing the collection thing anymore but we could take them to Manchester if we wanted. Not sure how environmentally friendly it is for us to jump in our car and drive a 100 mile round trip to recycle our pods!

Binned them.

Interesting. Your pods aren't delivered by Yodel by any chance?

Yes they are, am I missing something?

Simmotino

BrianTrousers wrote:

Yes they are, am I missing something?

Yodel aren't, shall we say, the most prolific of delivery companies when it comes to customer service! :shock:

Nespresso certainly do still do the collect service for spent capsules, but it would appear your Yodel driver doesn't!

keef66

Aren't Yodel the lot who were caught on video delivering an X-box by lobbing it over the garden wall??

DavMartinR

This is a little off subject, but has anyone tried Mangnus Backstedt coffee? Any good?

http://www.bigmaggys.com/

Keep picking coffee up in the supermarket and forgetting to try this.

drummer

New coffee pod machine & pods are expected in the morning.

I'll give you a full report.

Can't wait!!

Yossie

DavMartinR wrote:

This is a little off subject, but has anyone tried Mangnus Backstedt coffee? Any good?

http://www.bigmaggys.com/

Keep picking coffee up in the supermarket and forgetting to try this.

Yup - a friend owns of the franchises.

Very strong, not bad - I'd prefer a Lavazza but its very drinkable: a lot better than other high street coffee shops but about on a level par with the above average small coffee shop.

Essentially you won't be disappointed but you won't get really over excited like when the delicious Victoria makes coffee on a Sunday morning.

DavMartinR

Yossie wrote:

DavMartinR wrote:

This is a little off subject, but has anyone tried Mangnus Backstedt coffee? Any good?

http://www.bigmaggys.com/

Keep picking coffee up in the supermarket and forgetting to try this.

Yup - a friend owns of the franchises.

Very strong, not bad - I'd prefer a Lavazza but its very drinkable: a lot better than other high street coffee shops but about on a level par with the above average small coffee shop.

Essentially you won't be disappointed but you won't get really over excited like when the delicious Victoria makes coffee on a Sunday morning.

Mmmmm, Sunday morning coffee in bed with Victoria. Now your talk!

prawny

I tried the illy ESE pods with an delonghi espressp pump. Ball-ache, I prefered the lidl ones they're more consistant.

All of them are a faff though, I've just bought a couple of cheap moka pots, quieter (2 little kids in my house) easier to clean and just as nice.

I also batter the old fashioned percolator if I'm going to be hanging around for a while.

amaferanga

I have a Nespresso machine for work coffee. I may be wrong, but AIUI if you empty the used coffee from the pod then you can recycle them as you would with cans and things. Takes about 5 seconds to open up the pod and empty the coffee out. This is what I do - seems utterly pointless to post full capsules away for recycling.

I do like the Nespresso, but find the coffee selection to be pretty uninspiring. There're numerous blends to choose from, but most taste very similar to me. At home I use Gaggia. My home roasted and freshly ground coffee is way better that the Nespresso stuff and I can choose from thousands of different beans, not just 30 odd blends.