Flash in the Pan

The Tassimo beverage machine is a way for you, too, to have an automated coffee, tea, and cocoa machine in your own home. For some it will make sense, but depending on your choice of drink, you might not want to clear the counter to give it a home.

The company (actually, it appears to be cooperation between Braun and Kraft Foods) sent a unit for me to test. It works with pods: little containers of the foundations for drinks, such as coffee or tea. You put a pod into place and press the button. The Tassimo recognizes the type of beverage and produces water of what it considers the appropriate temperature.

There are a variety of products available. I tried Gevalia (too light bodied for my taste) and Seattle’s Best (as I find with many coffees from the northwest, it was over roasted for my taste). And in a way, that’s the biggest drawback. You have to buy their pods and, so, will have to be satisfied with name brand beverages. If you don’t like the names, you won’t care for the results.

If you do, and you want a single cup of coffee, then you’re in luck. I found the unit to be convenient to use – at least once I realized that I had installed the combination cup stand and drip tray in backwards and was collecting water where I didn’t want it. I don’t know the “proper” temperature for brewing coffee, but a cup of Earl Grey tea from Twinings came out at about 170º F, which is just about right. Although this sort of quick brewing of tea isn’t to my usual fancy, I thought that the results were at least acceptable.

Where things fell down a bit were when you moved out of just coffee or tea. I tried a latte, which meant using two pods: one of espresso and one of a milk-based creamer. Although the milk was right around 160ºF, where you’d want it, the bubbles were too large, so it didn’t have the texture. And the resulting latte had too thick a mouth feel because, well, even though the web site and the PR person who contacted me said that it was “real milk,” I noticed that the labeling says “from milk.” (Not that I am cynical when it comes to listening to what companies say.) The hot chocolate is made with a powder, and I’m used to mixing cocoa and sugar and then adding steamed milk, so there was no way that was going to taste as good, but it was a decent enough instant.

In short, if you want the convenience of a single cup of coffee without much fuss or mess, you might consider the Tassimo. There are two models: a regular version for $129.99 and the premium for $169.99. The premium has a larger water tank, a metallic finish (i.e., silvery plastic), and a water filter.

And let’s talk about that last feature for a moment. Different types of beverages have different requirements for water. Espresso, for example, needs some amount of minerals while regular coffee is better off without it. My advice would be get the cheaper model and use filtered water from another source for anything but the espresso.

There’s also an additional cost consideration. Getting pods for single drink servings isn’t cheap. For example, the Gevalia latte lists at $8.99 for 8 servings. The Seattle’s Best breakfast blend is $7.99 for 16 servings. In other words, you’ll be paying for that convenience every time you have a cup.