The Best Coffee Pod Machine
This sleek, brushed-steel machine provides the Sage brand's distinctive quality and user-friendly. It preheats after switch-on, and then brews a delicious espresso or a little longer lungo in just 30 seconds.
In contrast to bean-to-cup machines models take the most messy aspects of coffee making off your hands, including grinding and dosing grounds.
1. Speedy
Pod machines can be installed and used more quickly than espresso machines. Most of them can make a cup of coffee in 30 minutes. The pre-portioned pods used in these machines are generally more costly than freshly roasted coffee beans, and a lot of them are not recyclable.
The Nespresso CitiZ has one of the fastest pod machines available, thanks to the barcode scanner that scans every compatible pod's code before brewing. This ensures consistently high-quality coffee, every time. There is virtually no chance of getting a bad beverage. The machine is among the lightest and slimmest on the market. It doesn't require an additional milk container and its small footprint makes it easy to fit into even the smallest kitchens.
The CitiZ isn't the best machine to minimize the environmental impact. It doesn't have an automated descaling feature, and you'll have to descale it yourself once every 300 cups if live in hard water or 1200 cups in soft water areas. It is also necessary to put in a new filter cartridge when it runs out and could be expensive for certain users.
The Tassimo Vivy 2 is another fast machine that has buttons that can be customized and the option to use either ground coffee or ESE pods that are pre-dosed, tampered and packed between filter paper. The model is B-Corp Certified, which means it is committed to reducing its negative impact on the environment as well as its employees. Its only downside is that it takes longer to warm up, but once this happens it can brew a cup in around 35 seconds.
If you're looking for a sleek, stylish machine that can handle a range of different drink sizes and styles then you should look no further than the Vertuo Creatista from Nespresso. This sleek machine, created in collaboration with Sage is not just simple to use but also comes with an ice cream wand a stainless steel jug, and a milk frother.
2. Removable parts
The ease of using a pod coffee maker is a major selling point. The best models are easy to operate. The majority of machines utilize the same basic mechanism to brew your cup: water is heated inside a reservoir, and then pushed through the chosen capsules and extracted to create rich hot java. The majority of brands offer a variety of sizes of drinks to meet different needs, and you can save custom settings on many models to streamline the process further.
Keurig's K-Cups and Nestle's Nespresso VertuoLine series are the two leading players in the market, but each has a variety of capsules from top roasters and brands. Some pods can be used just once before being thrown away, while others can be used a number of times. Either way, you'll need to plan out how you'll deal with your spent pods so they don't end up in landfill.
The sleek SMEG model we tested comes with a removable water tank that's easy to fill and the machine will automatically pour fresh capsules after the previous one has been cooled. It can be used to brew espresso and lungo drinks and has eight different blends for various options. This brewer is ideal for coffee drinkers who want to switch from drip coffee.
In our testing we found that the Tassimo My Way 2 was the most satisfying to use. Its sleek design is beautiful on your counter, and it opens with just a touch to reveal the compartment that houses your empty pods. The machine also has the added benefit of a water filtration system, which is perfect for hard-water areas.
The machine is fast and can brew regular coffee (240ml) and ristretto and lungo espresso drinks. Its intuitive controls are easy to navigate with the help of aircraft-style toggles as well as a lever that retracts without much effort to reveal the area where you drop in your coffee maker. It requires a little force to close but our testers, including those with limitations in hand strength and mobility were able to use it comfortably.
3. Size
The top coffee pod machines remove all the mess from coffee making - you just add a pod the machine, press a button, and let it brew. It is still necessary coffee pods coffee machine to clean your machine every now and then but not like a bean-to-cup or espresso maker. The pod machines are smaller than their larger equivalents and can be stored on the counter when not in use.
The ideal coffee maker for you will depend on your preferences and what you wish to achieve. All pod machines are simple to operate, however, some offer more customization options. Take into consideration the variety of coffee pods sizes, brew sizes and milk options for frothing when picking the best machine.
Many people associate pod-based machines with the likes of Nespresso and Keurig however there are a few more recent rivals which are worth looking into. One of them is Bruvi which makes use of its own pod system, known as B-Pods that can only be used by its machines. The pods are identified with a barcode that is read by the machine to adjust the brewing parameters automatically.
This method removes all the guesswork of brewing a cup and guarantees that every drink is perfect every time. It can save your customised drinks to a button, so that you can create them using only one button.
Other machines, like Sage's My Way offer a more precise level of control over your coffee, allowing you to choose a specific size and temperature for each beverage. It's a little more expensive than many other models but it offers the polished stainless steel build and the excellent customer service that is associated with the brand. It is a solid choice for those who want a bit more from their pod-based coffee maker.
Some models with larger capacities can also make lungos. The Lavazza A Modo Mio Smeg is an excellent example of this. It is a combination of the retro style of SMEG with Italian coffee brand, Lavazza. It's intimidating to use thanks to its toggles that resemble airplanes and a manual lever, but it's easy and incredibly satisfying to operate the lungo is made in less than 30 seconds and the discarded pods are deposited into an internal bin at the push of the button.
4. Customization
One big reason why the pod coffee maker might not be the right choice for you is the limited customization. If you don't have an additional milk frother, then the only option to enhance flavor or creaminess is to use hot tea or chocolate option in your mug, or to manually add milk to coffee. This won't be an issue for many people, but it could be a problem for those who like the convenience of a fully automated experience in the morning.
Bosch's Intellibrew uses barcode scanners to scan each capsule. It then automatically pre-wettes and infuses, then dispensing the right amount of coffee to the specific kind of pod. It's a user-friendly and hands-off machine that does an excellent job, but isn't able to customize drinks or altering the strength of brew. Some customers might be disappointed by this, but others will appreciate the ease of use and variety of cup sizes (espressos and lungos, as well as mugs) to be exactly what they're searching for.
The coffee maker is extremely low maintenance. It is all you need to do is to fill up the tank with water, and decaffeinate the reservoir each and every once in a while. It can dispense short espresso shots and tall travel mugs easily and, as previously mentioned the pods that are used are ejected into a concealed container that keeps your kitchen clean. It is also excellent at delivering full-bodied espressos with tops that are topped with crema.
This machine is part Smeg's 1950s-style range. It's easy to use via a simple panel of buttons and can accommodate ground coffee and ESE pods. The only downside is that it doesn't have an indicator to let you know when it's time to descale, and the maximum water level cannot be set, which is a minor inconvenience. You also need to buy the brand's capsules, which can be pricey. This is a good pod machine for those who want an easy-to-use and stylish appliance that will serve well at a reasonable cost. If you're looking for more variety, a wide range of third-party capsules is offered for this model. It's also compatible with the Nespresso Vertuo line.