We have this machine, bought in 2004 and used 2-3 times a day. It still works fine, but it''s white and we wanted a black one to match our new kitchen appliances. So the old one goes into storage in case the new one breaks down.
There are a lot of so-called "single-serving" coffee makers on the market today. My wife and I have been very select coffee drinkers all our marriage nearly 30 years. We started with a beautiful La Pavoni expresso maker, which we still have although we had it completely overhauled about 8 years ago.
When we saw the Senseo we thought we''d try it because it seemed much less trouble although we were highly suspicious of anything that made coffee from "pods" because we were used to grinding our own coffee from beans stored in air-tight containers in the freezer and each cup of coffee we made was made from freshly ground beans.
From the very beginning we were impressed with the Senseo. Push a button and 90 seconds later the water for coffee is at temperature. Push another button and you have a fresh cup of delicious hot coffee, complete with a nice "creama" or frothy top just as you would get from an espresso coffee machine. The single serving button gives you a cup a little larger than the single serving espresso you typically get say in a Parisian or Italian coffee house. This may not be enough for American coffee drinkers used to a large mug of coffee. If not, you can push the "double" button and get either a large cup of coffee or two small cups the size of an espresso drink described above. Coffee pods come in all strengths (light, medium, dark roast), flavors etc. and are sold at Wal-Mart, Target, Safeway etc. and online at Amazon and lots of other places.
The pods come 18 to a package and a package costs about $4.75 $5.25 depending on how many you buy and where. That averages about 25-30 cents per cup of coffee if you choose the single serving button twice that for the double serving button. This is more than if you make drip coffee or do espresso with fresh ground beans, but I think it''s worth the convenience. The resulting cup of coffee is really good rich, hot, flavorful and frothy. We used "Dark Roast" but tastes vary.
As I said earlier, our 6-year-old machine still works pefectly and we use it every day, at least twice but more often quite frequently.
When we have guests we sometimes go back to the automatic drip coffee maker so we can put a whole pot of hot coffee on the table. But even then, if guests request, we can make cups so fast that it''s no problem to serve 4-6 guests a hot cup, all done within 4-5 minutes.
We recommend the senseo to friends without reservation.
However, there is one thing you must remember if you use this machine and this is probably true for any machine: If your water has a lot of minerals in it especially calcium you must clean this machine periodically. The instructions say every 90 days but where we live the calcium builds up quickly so we do it about every 60 days. This is important. A friend of ours through out his machine because he said the coffee started tasting bad and I''m sure sure it was because he wasn''t cleaning the machine at all. It''s easy to clean just run half vinegar and half water through it once, and then pure water once. All you do is put in the vingegar and water, then push both buttons (the single serving and the double serving) and the machine pumps all of the water / vinegar solution through the machine without stopping. Of course, you have to be sure it has a contained below large enough to receive all of this liquid.
Also, depending on the mineral deposits in your water, you may need to push a needle or pin through the pod holder drain hole once in a while because sometimes a grain of coffee or calcium build-up clogs the hole.
The machine comes with a reservoir tank for water, two pod holders (one pod and two pods) and a supply of coffee (one package of 18 pods).
You can order accessories for the machine, which include:
A double sized water reservoir (I recommend it highly), replacement pod holders, and a specil pod holder for making espresso coffee especially. You can also buy other replacement parts, but there are only two other parts besides the reservoir and pod holders. These two parts are the small overflow or spill catcher plastic part and a metal "grill" where you sit the coffee cup.
The new machine we ordered from Amazon (in black rather than the white one we already had) has one difference from the machine we bought 6 years ago: the spout where the coffee comes out it shorter, making it higher from the grill where the coffee cup sits. This is an improvement because now you can sit a large mug under the spout whereas the old machine made this difficult because the spout extended down quite far made to accommodate short little demitasse (sp?) or espress cup sizes. You can still use these smaller cups with the new spout but now you can also use a large mug if you want a "full-size" cup of coffee.
Summary Good Points:
1. The coffee is very good.
2. The coffee maker is very reliable. Our first one has worked without fail for 6 years and is still working. We just wanted a different color.
3. The coffee maker works very fast. A fresh cup of coffee from "0" to finished cup in about 3 minutes. After the first cup, the next cups can be made in less than 1 minute.
4. The price is far below most other single serving coffee makers: We bought our new one from Amazon in April 2010 for $49 with no cost for shipping.
5. The price for each cup of coffee is below any other single serving coffee makers that I have researched. This coffee maker costs between 25 and 30 cents per cup. Double that if you make a typical American "mug" sized cup of coffee.
6.Coffee pods are available at Wal-Mart, Safeway, Targe and other major chains. You can buy a "pod-maker" which allows you to make your own pods. This may be cheaper but we prefer the convenience of commercially produced pods since the coffee is still very affordable even if you buy the pods ready-made.
Caveat: Coffee will turn bad if you do not perform simple regular cleaning i.e. run half vinegar/half water through the machine at least every 90 days. Every 60 days is better if you live where the water has high mineral content and creates build-up in the machine. If you have a water softener or filter or use bottled water this may keep the machine cleaner longer.
Summary bad points:
We have had good experience with Philips products. They are a Dutch company (perhaps owned by the Royal Family, I''m not sure) and they seem to research companies and then buy them. Some examples are this Senseo machine and their Sonicar electric toothbrush.
Except for their TV, we have had good experience with Philips products. We bought a Philips TV and a Philips DVD/VHS player. The TV works OK but we can''t get the player/recorder to work with the TV. When we called their support line the only suggestion they had was to buy another player. So for TVs and DVD/VHS player / recorders we stick to Japanese products.
But the Senseo coffee maker is an excellent machine and we recommend it highly.
I received the Senseo coffee maker as a birthday gift 2 years ago and use it almost daily. I''m the only coffee drinker in the house and hate to waste a full pot of coffee if all I want is one or two cups. Making coffee with a Melitta one-cup filter is just too much work compared to the simplicity of the Senseo coffee maker.
The Senseo coffee maker has a reservoir that is easy to fill, and the pods are very convenient to just drop into the pod holder. Two tips I picked up from a single-serve review web site:
1: Pre-moisten the coffee pod so that the edges seal better to the holder, and
2: Preheat your milk so that the milk doesn''t cool the coffee when it pours into your cup. I preheat my milk for 30 seconds in the microwave, easy to do while the water is warming up.
I like being able to make a quick double for my travel mug when I''m running late--much faster than driving to Dunkin'' Donuts or Starbucks and not knowing how long the line will be.
I love to show off my machine for company. I can accommodate everyone, whether they want regular or decaf, mild or strong, etc.
My only wish is that there could be more varieties to choose from. Plus a little hot chocolate would be nice--especially with the foam on top that the machine makes with every cup. K-cups seem to own the market on variety.
Yes, my machine was one of the ones that was recalled. While I had no problem with the old machine, Philips made it very simple by shipping the new machine by FedEx and requesting that the old one be shipped back at their expense in the same packaging. And I was surprised with a pretty white one which replaced the old black one. The white one goes better in my kitchen, a silly thing to obsess about, but I like it.
All in all, the Senseo is quick, easy, fun, and convenient. It''s also a lot cheaper than buying on the road.
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For the most part I love the coffee that comes out of my Senseo. Unfortunately there''s too little of it.
Before you start railing against over-sized everything, look at your coffee cup. I bet it''s a 12 ounce cup, or at least a 10. A 4 oz cup is an espresso cup, tiny, great for espresso, too small for coffee.
So, it takes 2 pods to brew an 8oz cup. I''ve lived in Japan, and it''d be perfect for the way they drink coffee, but not the way people seem to drink it in the states. Mug in the morning to get going, mug mid day to keep going. Two "cups" of coffee would mean using six senseo pods in a day, every day.
The coffee is delicious, rich, soft... yes its crema. Very yummy. But it costs roughly 40 cents per 8oz, depending on which pods you buy and where.
My buddy gave me his Senseo machine because it was impractical to fill a travel mug with it, and it only filled his coffee mugs (12oz) 2/3 with the 8oz max pour (yes, you could do multiple runs, but doesn''t that defeat the purpose of a pod system?)
So I like the coffee a lot, but the servings were too small, the water reservoir too small, and the coffee too pricey. Great espresso machine, not so great coffee machine.
I''ve stayed with a pod system, but switched to Keurig. Their K-Cups are roughly the same cost, but you get a lot more variety, and more coffee per pod. 12oz instead of 4oz. Also, you can do tea and even fill a mesh pod with your own coffee.
Keurig has a better system with about the same upfront cost, same pod cost, but you get more coffee, more conveniently, and it tastes great.
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I purchased this coffee maker to replace the same make and model that has become less efficient after 3 or 4 years of daily use.
The new machine has a STRONG plastic or burnt electronics smell that permeates the water and coffee making it undrinkable. We cleaned it repeatedly with no improvement at all. I returned the machine for replacement. The replacement is just as bad and has been returned for a refund.
Amazon should pull this item from the site and send the remaining stock back to the manufacturer. I suspect the entire lot is BAD.
The Senseo working properly makes the best coffee I''ve ever had, but I am now afraid to purchase another. I switched to another more expensive brand, it''s not as good as an original Senseo, but at least I don''t feel that I might be drinking toxic coffee.
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Do not order extra coffee. The machine comes with a bag of coffee pods but I didn''t know it so I ordered 20 dollars worth and it is not returnable. Washed everything good w/hot soapy water first. Coffee had an extremely strong plastic taste and smell. Called Senseo they sent out another one which had the same awful taste and smell. I really do not think Senseo is doing as much as they should to make sure these are off the market. I also did as another reviewer said and ran vinegar through the machine twice, the first cup of coffee tasted better after that but then the next one was gross again. Can''t believe I kept tasting this stuff. It can''t be good for you. Also took up alot of my time washing all this stuff, priming the machines, packing the two back up again to return. And stuck with coffee pods I cannot use. You would think Senseo would make sure your second one is a good one. Said they would send me another one. Just the thought of tasting that coffee again makes me want to throw up.
