The Cook’s Kitchen

I recently received a Senseo coffee maker from Phillips to try out. It was part of the “Share Senseo” program, which is unfortunately over. However, if you’re interested in a Senseo, they are offering a $20 rebate at this site.

I opened the box to find the following:

• Senseo coffee maker
• 2 bags of Senseo pods, medium roast and Paris, a French vanilla flavored coffee
• 2 cannisters to store pods with labels
• 2 pod inserts to hold either 1 or 2 pods

The coffee maker is pretty simple. There’s a water reservoir on the back that has clear markings for 1 cup, 2 cup and maximum water levels. It’s easy to fill and to replace on the back of the coffee maker. The top of the coffee maker has a lock-down lever that’s simple to operate. Placing a pod holder in the top is also simple; it fits easily in the correct position.

One mistake I did make was that the first pod wasn’t seated exactly right, and some coffee leaked. I corrected this by simply making sure the pod was completely inside the pod holder.

Operation is straightforward. The instructions say to first flush the system, which is done by filling the reservoir to the maximum level, turning the machine on and pressing both the one and two cup buttons together, after ensuring a large bowl was ready to catch the water coming out of the machine.

Once the machine was flushed, I filled the reservoir again and put in one pod of medium roast. The power button has a light that blinks to indicate that the machine is or isn’t ready. A slowly blinking light indicates that the water is being heated. Once it’s ready, the light no longer blinks. Pressing the one cup button produced a cup of coffee out of two streams, similar to how an espresso machine appears. In fact, the whole pod thing is based on a low pressure espresso type brew, in my opinion.

Here is another lesson I learned; the Senseo is geared toward a European audience. The one cup setting produced about 4 ounces of coffee, much less than most Americans consider a cop of coffee. The two cup setting is more appropriate, resulting in an 8 ounce coffee serving. I have read online that there are ways of adjusting the setting, but the thing that has to be consider then is that amount of coffee being used to brew.

My overall impression, however, was pretty favorable. The coffee has a crema like head to it due to the espresso like brewing, and the temp seems pretty well controlled. It was definitely good enough to have as morning coffee every day, with a pretty wide variety of pods available under Senseo and other brands. Also, a product called MyPod replaces the pod holders and allows the use of freshly ground coffee; I’m going to get this to try it out, since my wife has a Swiss coffee she really likes.

All in all, I would recommend the Senseo coffee maker. It doesn’t take up too much space, has an interesting shape without being over the top, and is very easy to use. Since it brews quickly, the need for a timer doesn’t really exist, and the variety of coffees is very good, though I always question the freshness of pre-ground coffee. Keeping the pods in an airtight container would help, and freezing it would, too (though it’s important to makes sure the coffee is at room temp before brewing).