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An Introductory Guide To Single Serve Coffee

What Is Single Serve Coffee

Envision you are sitting around on a breezy Sunday afternoon. The abiding wind tickles your arm as you sit back into your deck chair. You take a full inhale in. You start to imagine about life, love, the dazzling weekend that has exhausted much of your vigor. You deliberate to yourself, "Man, a warm glass of coffee would be perfect right about now." Your brain runs through the event of grinding the coffee beans, filling the filter with the ground coffee beans, waiting for the brew cycle. "No, that's a large amount of labor for just a solitary cup of coffee."

If you owned a Single Serve Coffee Machine here is how that experience would go. Snag a coffee pod, k-cup, etc (more on the different choices later) and position it in the single serve coffee maker. Fill the reservoir with water and press a button. Presto, a single mug of coffee in approximately one minute. You slip back to your deck chair, the gentle wind, the cool Sunday afternoon, only now you have a delicious warm mug of coffee to energize your ambitions and carry you through the closing of the weekend.

Pick A Format

First and foremost we want to answer the all important query, how do I prefer my coffee packaged? As soon as we have determined this, we can simply narrow our single serve coffee maker research down to several makers. Let’s scrutinize the varieties. Do not fret! Single serve coffee merely comes in three packaging’s (formats). These are Coffee pod, K-Cup or T Disc. Let’s scrutinize the pros and cons of each. To begin, the coffee pod.

Coffee Pod

Cons:
-Less of a variety, relatively speaking. The largest supporters pushing coffee pods are Senseo, Baronet and Melitta, while K-Cups have access to a enormous assortment of Green Mountain Coffee brands.
-Limited accessibility in supermarkets. As of this writing (February 15, 2011), the only brand available at the majority of local supermarkets, Wal-Marts, etc are Senseo brand, however, a large number of other brands can be discovered online.

Pros:
- More Environmentally-mindful (Green) in comparison to K-Cups or T Discs. Coffee Pods are normally created with filter paper containing all natural fibers, while K-Cups and T Discs are assembled of plastic. Since coffee pods are made from filter paper, they can be thrown out as compost rather than trash.
- You can create your own coffee pods without the need for any unusual equipment. The only thing that is necessary is a coffee filter and ground coffee. (Check out youtube for movies)
- Price. As of writing this (February 15, 2011), the lowest price per coffee pod I have found (Melitta - Love at First Sip) is 24 cents per pod. In comparison, the lowest cost for a K-Cup (Van Houtte) is 47 cents per k-cup and the smallest cost for a t disc (Starbucks - Breakfast Blend) is fifty eight cents per disc.

K-Cup

Cons:
-Bigger earth-footprint. K-Cups are normally created with non recyclable plastic and tin foil. These go straight into the trash and cannot be used for compost like coffee pods. A group of people have reported success with re-using cups, however, this can be time consuming.
-Although you can make your own K-Cups, a special K-Cup Refillable Coffee filter is required (usually the cost for this is around fifteen dollars), compared to just the price of a filter for assembling your own coffee pod.
-Cost. As of writing this (February 15, 2011), the lowest price for a K-Cup (Van Houtte) is 47 cents per k-cup. The lowest per coffee pod (Melitta - Love at First Sip) is twenty four cents per pod. While the cheapest cost for a t disc (Starbucks - Breakfast Blend) is fifty eight cents per disc.

Pros:
-Large selection. The Green Mountain Coffee Roasters primarily back K-Cups with strong brands like Caribou, Tully’s, Newman’s Own and a large number of others. (For a total catalog check out the Green Mountain Coffee Roasters site).
-Accessibility in local stores such as supermarkets and Wal-Mart. K-Cups usually have more selection of brands at your local store. If you do not buy on the internet regularly and are uncomfortable doing so, this may have a large impact on your single serve coffee maker choice!

T Disc

Cons:
-Limited variety and availability. Because coffee pods and K-Cups will not function in the Tassimo maker, you are limited to mainly Starbucks, Maxwell House, and Tassimo flavors of coffee. Also, the availability in local stores can be lesser than K-Cups, however, just like coffee pods (usually one or two varieties).
-Currently no simple way known to create your own T Disc at home.
-Cost. As of writing this (February 15, 2011), the smallest price for a t disc (Starbucks - Breakfast Blend) is 58 cents per disc. The lowest cost for a K-Cup (Van Houtte) is 47 cents per k-cup. The cheapest per coffee pod (Melitta - Love at First Sip) is 24 cents per pod.

Pros:
-Brand name strength. The single way to obtain single serve pre packaged Starbucks coffee is through the T Disc and Tassimo line of single serve coffee maker. Also available in T-Discs are Maxwell House varieties.

Assess the pros and cons for each format of single serve coffee seriously, as once you make the pick and spend money on the maker you are left with it (unless you purchase a different machine). Overall, all single serve coffee makers make a fantastic cup of coffee in one to 2 minutes so make certain to choose the format that fits with your personality in addition to personal wants. Coffee pod, K-Cup or T Disc?

By: Geoff Strickland

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For more information, including a list of the different single serve coffee machines, check out Single Serve Coffee HQ!

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