The Future is Here - for Coffee Anyway

Let me start this review by saying I seldom drink the normal American version of coffee. What I usually find is it is either watery tasting or bitter. When I travel to Europe or even Asia my coffee drinking increases. Here, however, I usually get my caffeine fix via a diet cola. As of last Monday that situation has changed. Coffee is back on my list of favorite liquids.

It all happened because Douwe Egbert and Phillips have decided to move their Senseo coffee maker to the US market. Their savvy PR firm noticed that a lot of careful shoppers look for recommendations from other product users through Epinions. They sent one of the Senseo coffee machines to several regular reviewers with a request that we try it and give our honest opinion about what we think. That takes a lot of confidence in the quality of the product they represent.

This coffee maker comes in three colors to complement most kitchens. The choices are black, white, and a soft blue. We received the Senseo Blue version in its normal packaging. To make sure we could give this new idea in coffee making a good try, the PR firm added examples of all four types of coffee Douwe Egbert plans to start us American coffee lovers off with, mild, medium, dark roast, and a decaffeinated version of the medium blend. They also slipped in a very nice plain white cup.

What It Is

The Philips Senseo Single Serve Coffee System HD7810 is what it says it is. It is designed to give the user one cup of full bodied coffee. Actually two cups at a time are quite practical and provided for as well. In the European tradition, a cup of coffee is defined as four ounces of hot, aromatic coffee with a nice froth of coffee covering its surface to hold in the flavor throughout. The coffee maker itself is a cute sloping plastic round body on an integral pedestal. It comes apart sufficiently for easy cleaning. The water reservoir is designed to go to the faucet for filling. It is translucent plastic with markings for minimum (1 cup) 2 cups, and maximum (about 5 cups). It slips off the back of the sloped round portion easily, has a splash shield (removable for cleaning), and a small protrusion at the bottom which fits into a mating part of the body when it is slipped easily back in.

There is a lever which lifts the top for placing of the coffee and then snaps solidly to let you know the machine is prepared. Two different coffee holders are provided. Both fit easily into the rounded receptacle easily visible when the top is lifted. One of the holders handles a single pod of coffee, the other takes two pods comfortably. That’s right, pods of coffee. The Senseo is designed to use pre-measured packages of coffee. They come 18 to a package in the four flavors mentioned above. The pod of coffee is contained in a material much like a teabag. It is round and flat on one side, rounded to hold the perfect amount of coffee on the other. The rounded side fits into the depression on the coffee holder. The intent is to make one cup of coffee per pod.

Once the pod (or pods) are in place and the lid snapped shut, the machine is almost ready to go. The spout on the front of the body hangs out over a drip tray where the coffee cup sits. The spout has two outlets where the coffee comes out. For a single 4 ounce cup or an eight ounce mug the cup sits so that both sides of the spout will direct the coffee into that cup. For making two cups at once, each cup is situated so that it will catch the coffee from one side of the spout. The amount from each side is so even Solomon would love it.

At the front of the base are three push buttons. The large middle one is simply labeled off and on. It is surrounded by a light which gives information as to the state of the coffee maker operation. When the button is first pressed the light blinks for about 90 seconds while the water in the boiler is pre-heated. When it is steady, the button to its left, marked by a single cup symbol, is pushed for one cup or the one on the right is pushed for two cups or a mug. The boiling water is directed through the coffee pod and in less than 60 seconds, the cups are full and ready to drink.

Getting Started

There are two times when both the one and two cup buttons are pushed at the same time. This must be done the first time the coffee maker is used and may have to be done again after long storage. To prepare the Philips Senseo Single Serve Coffee System HD7810 for its first real use the reservoir is filled with water, a large receptacle is placed under the spout, an empty coffee holder is placed in and the top snapped shut, the machine is turned on and both the 1 cup and 2 cup buttons are pushed at the same time. This primes the boiler unit with water as well as cleans the system by running all the water in the reservoir through the machine. It is recommended that all the parts be washed with mild soap and water and rinsed as well. All parts that can be submerged in water are dishwasher safe. The main body, of course, is not included in the list of submersible parts.

The manual is quite complete, giving use and cleaning directions as well as how to use white vinegar or another citric acid based de-scaler periodically to get rid of the mineral deposits from hard water. The 2 year warranty attests to Phillips confidence in the quality of this product under their Norelco brand name.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (love those old spaghetti westerns)

This coffee maker is so simple to use and easy to handle it is bound to be used often. Periodic cleaning is a snap. It is fast enough even for that morning after hangover cure. It is also quiet enough in operation not to blow the hung over head apart. The pods are simple, easy, and clean to use. The coffee aroma and taste is just not believable. The flavor is full bodied and lasts until the bottom of the cup or mug. I find making a mug of coffee (8 ounces) using a single pod of the medium blend makes it just right for me. My honey likes hers a little stronger so she makes a single cup or uses the dark roast. The coffee maker fits easily under the cabinets on our counter top and the three foot cord allows us to pull it out for a quick cuppa.

It's bad that right now the only place we can find to get either the coffee maker or the coffee pods is through amazon.com. At a price of $16.99 for 72 pods, the cost works out to about $0.25 per cup if you use one pod per cup. Since Norelco is widely marketed across the US, I am sure the Philips Senseo Single Serve Coffee System HD7810 and the Douwe Egbert coffees will be widely available shortly after the formal introduction. Update 4/16 - While showing a friend the Senseo site this morning we discovered Wal Mart on-line is now added to the list of US providers of this machine. It looks like the wave is rising on the western shores of the Atlantic. That is the sum of the bad we can find about this marvelous new device.

The ugly thing is that we suffered for so many years with inferior coffee.