I remember being intrigued travelling to hotels in Europe years ago and seeing Nespresso coffee machines. The pods made a delicious cup of coffee. It took a long time to see Nespresso machines in Canada, but the pods still work well with good flavour and a balanced crema.
I do not have much experience with Keurig machines. I assume they are similar. But while Nespresso pods are slightly hard to find, the K-cups are everywhere.
Studies show that the same mediocre cafeteria chicken a la King might receive a positive response when served in a fancy restaurant on fine China. Presentation matters - of course a pod could be fresher and better. But just being a pod does not make it so.
My question - is it though? Does Folgers transform into something far better through the magic of pods or is it just expensive convenience? Does Tim Hortons mediocre product improve? The Nespresso pods ain’t cheap but they taste a lot better than Taster’s Choice. Which coffee pods are worth the coin?
I’m not really a big fan of K-cups/pods but I do think the Keurig Donut Shop Coffee is pretty good at least.
Peet’s dark roast is good coffee, so when I’ve had their K-cups they’re pretty good. I would rather have Peet’s from a good drip but as K-cups go, very tasty.
My wife has now spoiled me. We grind our coffee each morning and use an excellent drip coffee maker into a thermal pot without the damn warmer that craps out coffee more than 30 minutes old.
Paging Qadgop the Mercotan. For me, I have never really liked coffee from pods, even when I put my own freshly ground beans in a pod. Keurig lets you do that, but it was nowhere close to what I would get from my Aeropress
I sometimes wish I had the time and the patience to make the real quality stuff, but the convenience of pods - and the amount of coffee I drink - make that impractical for now. Keurig pods are good enough.
I am a big fan of Newman’s Own brand of pods. We get them through Amazon via subscription.
I am not a coffee snob, I think McCafe tastes pretty decent and see no problem with using the cheapest coffee you think tastes good.
But the first time I tried Nespresso I went through the entire half-dozen pods the hotel supplied just like that. And all the daily replacements. Admittedly, it is not as good as an Italian coffee shop or what you could make with an expensive machine, but the approximation is amazing given the convenience. It’s worth the cost, especially as I do not use it every day. However, it is pretty limited to espresso. I do not see the point of hot chocolate in a pod since the limiting factor is the amount of cocoa in the stuff which is why the Mexican solid stuff is so much better.
Damn. Spent all day working on my pentangle.
“I can call spirits from the vasty deep.”
“Why, so can I, or so can any man;
But will they come when you do call for them?”
I am kinda, sorta a connoisseur, and I absolutely love Kirkland’s Colombian and Colombian Supremo. Costco makes damn fine coffee, and it’s both cheaper and better tasting the Starbucks and other brands. I miss our Costco membership for this reason. I’ve still not found coffee that matches their taste at that price. Yuban comes close, but not quite there.
p.s. Not really a fan of pods but will definitely drink it if it’s the only option – Starbucks has good pods, as does McCafe. FTR, the health benefits of coffee are best when using ground coffee - not instant, not pod.
I do cold brew presently, and find that I can take pedestrian coffee brands and produce great results. Folger’s, Kirkland, whichever. The slow low temperature brew process really brings out the best from even the worst beans.
Honestly, the only hot brewing method that I find tasty is espresso, and then it must be done properly, which is quite the technical process which chains like Starbucks do NOT do well. I did mine at home for decades until I sort of just got tired of fiddling with it. I can still really appreciate a great godshot made by a real barista though.
Pods are just shit for the environment, honestly. I’d never buy a damn pod machine. I’ll drink pods if I’m itching for caffeine and it’s the only option in the office but my hypocrisy only goes so far
No. The big coffee companies many years ago switched from Arabica to Robusta coffee beans, which are cheaper and higher in caffeine, but make crappy tasting coffee. Whole generations grew up not knowing what real coffee tasted like until Seattle saved us.
I was very happy for a very long time with the SF Bay Fog Chaser coffee. It’s very good and strong (which I absolutely need), and the fact that it’s compostable eased my conscience about the environmental issues.
But that was with my old Keurig brewer. It stopped working once, and Keurig replaced it, but then a couple of years later it stopped working again. So I bought a. newer model thinking it would be better. But it’s NOT.
The coffee comes out much too weak. The same cups that were so delicious before now make dishwater. I had to start using much stronger cups (Green Mountain double diamond and Bustelo), and it’s still only barely OK.
So I guess it makes a big difference not only what pod you use, but what brewer. I’m going to have to go back a grind and brew, I fear, or a French press, which is too bad because I really really love the convenience of a single fresh hot cup of coffee right away whenever I want.
I’m not a total connoisseur, but I like my coffee strong (in flavor–caffeine content is less important if the flavor is there). And I drink 4-5 cups a day, black, with the last cup just before bed. I don’t want to make a pot that many times in a day.
Coffee machines might be able to brew a decent cup, but none of the pods of any brand are worth the price, in terms of flavor.
They’re convenient, yes, but if you want to get good coffee from them, get one of those refillable pods, buy freshly roasted whole coffee beans, and grind and fill the pods as you make each cup.
I’m sorry, but I just can’t keep quiet reading this. First of all, it is a myth that pods are the most expensive form of coffee and, second of all, it is a myth that you can’t get good coffee in pods. I get excellent tasting pods from Amazon. Their Solimo Dark Roast and Italian Roast are very good. My 100 pod boxes work out to 29 cents a pod.
I took an extra large Dunkin Donuts cup, which is now a whopping $3.40 with tax, and filled it with my good coffee and cream for what I determined would cost one dollar. Also, there is no waste with pods. I used make coffee by the pot and pour out a third of it every day.
