I keep seeing these coffee pod espresso maker systems, and frankly, they mystify me. I have a "regular" espresso maker, and it is barely any mess or trouble at all. Why pay a thousand times more for your coffee, just for the convenience (and extra waste, and packaging) of pods?
The only possible application I can see for a pod system is in an office environment. In fact I once worked at an office that had a pod style espresso maker. It was great for a few weeks, but then we ran out of pods, and the company we originally contracted with to deliver fresh pods every week went out of business. So we were stuck with a proprietary system (I forget which one) which would not take any other kind of pods. Not that we didn't try.
At one point we found a source for the pods over the internet. I and a coworker went halfsies on a purchase, because the website sold only institutional sized orders. We received our pods, each carefully wrapped in gold foil, and ended up having to stash them in our desks. Not because our coworkers would specifically steal them, just because people would have assumed that the company had somehow managed to set up delivery services again. Our pods would have been gone within the day.
As it was, we ended up not really using them after all. If you went into the kitchen and started making an espresso, ears would perk up across the floor at the sound of water being pumped through the boiler. People would come running, assuming that the pods were back, and you would have to explain "Sorry, I bought these myself."
I guess you could say I have some baggage with regards to pods. At any rate, I didn't think that the coffee was that great. In fact I assume that in order to keep the cost of the pods even remotely reasonable, the pod companies are virtually forced to use crap coffee in their pods.
I started thinking about all this today when I ran across this DIY post on how to make your own coffee pods. The fine folks at INeedCoffee.com have figured out how to smash coffee into a regular coffee filter, using an empty vitamin bottle and a metal scoop. With several minutes of fiddling, and presumably a learning curve that involves a lot of spilled coffee, and then extreme caution to get the pod into your coffee maker without dumping it on the counter - presto! Your very own pod!
About fifteen years ago, I bought a $50 Hoover vacuum cleaner at Target. It required vacuum cleaner bags (they all did, back then) which cost $6 apiece. I have cats, so I went through about six vacuum cleaner bags per year. At one point I did the math and realized that I had paid almost $600 for that $50 vacuum cleaner! Pod espresso makers are the same way.
If you have a pod espresso maker, I certainly recommend that you check out that post on making your own pods. And seriously think about replacing it with a regular espresso maker, or even just a French press!
The only possible application I can see for a pod system is in an office environment. In fact I once worked at an office that had a pod style espresso maker. It was great for a few weeks, but then we ran out of pods, and the company we originally contracted with to deliver fresh pods every week went out of business. So we were stuck with a proprietary system (I forget which one) which would not take any other kind of pods. Not that we didn't try.
At one point we found a source for the pods over the internet. I and a coworker went halfsies on a purchase, because the website sold only institutional sized orders. We received our pods, each carefully wrapped in gold foil, and ended up having to stash them in our desks. Not because our coworkers would specifically steal them, just because people would have assumed that the company had somehow managed to set up delivery services again. Our pods would have been gone within the day.
As it was, we ended up not really using them after all. If you went into the kitchen and started making an espresso, ears would perk up across the floor at the sound of water being pumped through the boiler. People would come running, assuming that the pods were back, and you would have to explain "Sorry, I bought these myself."
I guess you could say I have some baggage with regards to pods. At any rate, I didn't think that the coffee was that great. In fact I assume that in order to keep the cost of the pods even remotely reasonable, the pod companies are virtually forced to use crap coffee in their pods.
I started thinking about all this today when I ran across this DIY post on how to make your own coffee pods. The fine folks at INeedCoffee.com have figured out how to smash coffee into a regular coffee filter, using an empty vitamin bottle and a metal scoop. With several minutes of fiddling, and presumably a learning curve that involves a lot of spilled coffee, and then extreme caution to get the pod into your coffee maker without dumping it on the counter - presto! Your very own pod!
About fifteen years ago, I bought a $50 Hoover vacuum cleaner at Target. It required vacuum cleaner bags (they all did, back then) which cost $6 apiece. I have cats, so I went through about six vacuum cleaner bags per year. At one point I did the math and realized that I had paid almost $600 for that $50 vacuum cleaner! Pod espresso makers are the same way.
If you have a pod espresso maker, I certainly recommend that you check out that post on making your own pods. And seriously think about replacing it with a regular espresso maker, or even just a French press!