The Bitter Taste of Sensual Creamy Coffee
Written: Dec 03 '02 (Updated Sep 05 '04)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: fresh coffee in less than a minute, design, limited edition colour, large water reservoir
Cons: coffee not included, expensive coffee pads
The Bottom Line: This machine changed my drinking habits.
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| mobiprof's Full Review: Philips Senseo Crema Limited Edition HD7801 |
They promised me a “sensational cup of fresh coffee”…
A picture is worth a thousand words… look at it (swoon).
The Philips Senseo is supposed to be Philips’ best coffee machine ever. It was co-developed with Douwe Egberts, a respected Dutch coffee brand that celebrated its 250th birthday in 2003.
When I bought this in late 2002, Philips wa on a huge advertising campaign to convince everyone in Holland to buy a Senseo. Several European countries followed, and Philips is now introducing the Senseo in the US.A.
. I was reasonably happy with my stylish black Krups coffee machine – until it broke down. It just wouldn’t heat anything anymore. I decided to buy a new machine and fell victim to the Senseo advertising attack.
Senseo models
There were (in November of 2002 ) just two Senseo models. One was readily available in Dutch shops, in a choice of two different colours, that Philips calls cobalt blue and ivory white. I would call them painfully blue and dirty white. Both colours share the same model number: HD7800.
The second model, HD7801, is a limited edition. The colour of this Senseo is often called black in casual conversation, and the picture on the web site seems black, but let me assure you that the anthracite is a dark gray with just a tinge of blue. This is the model I bought.
The Senseo Limited Edition was available for direct order on the Douwe Egberts 250 years web site and in Dutch shops, as long as supplies lasted. That wasn’t long. Even when I originally wrote this in December of 2002, the DE web site was no longer taking order for this colour.
The Senseo HD7810 Limited Edition is not just a different colour, it has one real difference with the regular Senseo model: a larger water reservoir.
water reservoir
The water reservoir on the regular Senseo models is shaped to be part of the tubular body of the coffee machine. This water reservoir can contain 800 ml water, enough for 6 cups of coffee. The Limited Edition Senseo machine has a larger water reservoir, shaped as a tubular section with a larger diameter, that can contain 1500 ml water, enough for 10 cups of coffee.
box and contents
The Philips Senseo HD7801 Limited Edition comes is a rather large box. The machine is packaged in the same material often used for egg cartons. The box contains the Senseo machine and its documentation. No coffee has been included. That’s a pity, as it makes for a less satisfying out of box experience. You’ll have to go to the supermarket to get your first batch of coffee pads.
The machine is fully assembled, but comes with two coffee pad holders. You need only one to assemble and operate the Senseo. Be sure to get the second holder out of the box before throwing it away.
the machine
The Senseo has no coffee can and no heated plate to keep anything warm either. The Senseo is a machine to quickly and conveniently brew a fresh cup of coffee for immediate consumption and gratification.
The Senseo consists of a plateau and a body. The body is shaped like a ring section that arcs over the plateau. The plateau keeps the body in balance, and the arc positions the spout, protruding from the body, just above the plate. You can place one or two cups on the plateau, which is right under the opening.
The top of the Senseo body is a hinged lid, which you can lift to reveal the coffee pad holder. Close the lid, and the holder is kept firmly in place. You can remove the coffee pad holder, but you don’t need to, unless you are cleaning or want to replace one with the other one.
There are three buttons on the front of the Senseo’plateau. The centre button is the on/off button. This button is positioned within a ring that lights up red. There are two smaller buttons on either side of it.
documentation
The Senseo documentation is a small user manual in German, French and Dutch, with clear instructions and drawings for even the simplest operations. My only complaint is that the paper they used seems to almost attract water, I would expect a more water-resistant manual for a kitchen device (update: electronics manuals are available for all Senseo model, the Senseotional Tips text tells where to located and download them).
There are a few small full-colour cards, in a paper map. These are all made of much better paper than the manual is. They contain several coffee recipes. Some of these require special syrups you can order in one of the Douwe Egbert stores or the Douwe Egbert gift store web site (in Dutch only).
coffee pad holders
The Senseo comes with two coffee pad holders. One will contain just one coffee pad, the other will contain two coffee pads. They can be recognised even when the machine is closed by either one or two rectangular holes that forme either the Roman numeral I or the Roman numeral II. The idea is to use the one or the other, depending on whether you are brewing one or two cups of coffee at a time.
coffee pads
The coffee pads for use with the Senseo are sold in bags or boxes of 18 pads each. Each pad contains 7 grams of coffee. Some brands package each each pad individually in an airtight sachet, most brands package the naked coffee pads in an airtight bag. A single bag with 126 grams of coffee typically retails for slightly less than 2 Euros. A 250 grams pack of grounded coffee costs about 3 Euros. There is no doubt that there is a nice profit margin being made on those Senseo coffee pads. An even bigger margin is now being made on the smaller bags of specially flavoured coffee with just ten coffee pads in them.
The coffee pads were originally only available is the regular, decaf, Italian Roast and Mocca varieties. They are available in several brands. This is worth noting, as the machine was co-developed by Philips and Douwe Egberts, a major Dutch coffee brand. The Philips documentation included with the Senseo suggests using only Douwe Egberts for best results, but that are the most expensive ones. When I bought this machine, the Senseo wasn’t the big hit is it now yet, so the availability of pads from other brands was an important factor in my buying decision.
buttons
The big on/off button is there only to turn the Senseo on and off. The smaller buttons are for choosing between one or two cups of coffee. The idea is that you press the left button for one cup of coffee, and the right button for two small cups of coffee. In practice, you can choose the right button to brew a single large cup of coffee if you so desire. You can also push both small buttons at once to use all available water.
The light around the centre button has several functions. It remains off when the machine is off. It burns steadily when the Senseo is on and ready to brew. It blinks slowly if the machine is heating up, which takes about half a minute. Only when the blinking stopped can you choose to brew some coffee. A nice trick is that the light blanks rapidly when the water reservoir needs to be refilled.
water reservoir
The water reservoir comes in two sizes: regular and large. You get only one size with your Senseo, but you order the order size if you like. The Limited Edition comes with the large one.
The water reservoir detaches easily, and has clear markers that indicate minimum and maximum amount of water. The detachable water reservoir is designed to be held directly under the tap, so that it will never contain anything but fresh water. Like many others, I often used the coffee pot to fill the water reservoir on my Krups coffee machine, which may be a partial explanation for its early demise.
Because you do not use all water brew a whole pot of coffee, but brew individual cups instead, you do not need to fill the reservoir up every time you brew coffee.
The reservoir contains a reliable mechanical mechanism that lets the machine detect when the reservoir is almost empty, so that it will start flashing a light to let you know.
the secret of the water reservoir
The Senseo water reservoir is made of a light blue transparent plastic. It seems an ordinary water container. On a first look, you may miss the small chamber on the bottom with a floater in it. If there is no water, it remains on the bottom and if there is water, it floats up. There is no visible connection to the body of the coffee machine. This floater probably contains a magnet or an induction coil, and the Senseo body contains a detector, just under its skin, to detect the floater’s position – and that’s how the Senseo senses whether there is still enough a water to brew a single cup.
clean machine
Before you start to use the Senseo, you have to clean it. There is a sticker on the plate to remind you, in case you skipped reading manual. The initial cleaning ritual of the Senseo is simply a matter of filling the water reservoir and pushing some buttons. You first push the large centre button to turn the machine on and then quickly push the other two smaller buttons simultaneously. The procedure takes a few minutes and all the water comes out at the front, so you need to position a pan under it to catch it all.
You use the same procedure to decalcify the machine.
The Senseo has machine has been designed with cleaning in mind; all parts can be removed easily. For example, the plateau has a grille and small drip bucket under it. You can just lift them up, hold them under a tap, and put them back in place. Moreover, all the parts you can remove may be placed in a dishwasher.
the taste test
The Senseo Crema experience consists of two parts; the Senseo machine and the Crema coffee pads.
Once the Senseo had been set up and cleaned, it was time for the taste test. I rushed out through the rain to buy some coffee pads at the local supermarket. I placed a cup on the Senseo plateau, filled the water reservoir, tore up a sachet of Italian Roast and immediately smelled the aroma. I opened the lid, placed the pad on the pad holder, and closed the lid again. I turned the machine on, and heard the now familiar sounds of some water being heated while the light kept flashing. When the flashing stopped, I pressed the left button for a single cup of coffee. Less than a minute after starting all this, a fresh cup of hot coffee was ready for consumption. Its creamy top revealed the origin of the Crema part of the name, and I was ready to experience the origin of the Senseo part. I lifted the cup in anxious anticipation of the promised “sensational cup of fresh coffee”. The moment of truth was there…
I took a sip, let the warm fluid ooze around my tongue and …
I was having sensations all right!
I nearly spit it out.
I knew I had gambled by buying a new system without trying it first. I knew it was supposed to taste different, but it was also supposed to taste better, and right there and then, I did not agree, as it did not agree with me.
That first sip was far too bitter for my taste. Everything the manufacturer claims for the Senseo machine, everything the TV adverts suggest is true. The Senseo does keep every bit of taste. What they forget to tell you is that the result is rather strong. A Senseo Crema cup of coffee is somewhere between an ordinary cup of coffee and an espresso, and closer to an espresso. One of the included cards suggests that you should stir the coffee before drinking, for a perfectly balanced taste.
personal preference
A single coffee pad is supposed to be good for one small cup of coffee. To me it tastes a lot better when I use it for a single large mug of coffee. Some experimentation with visitors suggests that many people who never had a Senseo Crema before will find the first cup from a single coffee pad too strong, the second just fine, the third acceptable, and the fourth far too thin. I initially found that a single mug (two small cups) of coffee (from a single pad) from this machine was about as satisfying as several mugs from the regular machine I was using. The upshot is that I take more time to drink my coffee, enjoy it more and drink less. I know use a single coffee pad to fill 1 ½ cup.
continued use
The obvious advantage of the Senseo machine is the speed and convenience which it provides a fresh cup of coffee. When you have been using the machine for some time, you start to appreciate that its operation is simpler than that of a regular machine. You never have unused coffee to throw away. You do not having to fill the Senseo water reservoir every time, but more often than not, just place a pad and push a button.
With a regular coffee machine, you do a bit of cleaning every time you use it. With this one, you just throw away the used pads. You can simply pick them up and throw them away. They are not very hot, but you don’t touch them anyway, you pick up the holder, position it above the disposal bin, and then turn the holder around. The coffee pads do not come apart and you will not spill wet coffee grounds.
guarantee
Philips offers not one, but two years of guarantee on the Senseo against “defects due to faulty workman or materials”, from the date of purchase, of course. That is a fairly safe guarantee to offer: most real defects would result in a machine dead on arrival.
accessories
There are several accessories you can buy for a Senseo, like a box to keep your coffee pads in, or cups with a Douwe Egberts logo. All you really need are the Senseo machine itself, the coffee pads and some canisters to keep the pads fresh in. You can buy another water reservoir, in another size if you like.
conclusion
This Senseo Limited Edition is sold out already, but all that’s really different about it is its colour. The larger water reservoir can be ordered for use with the regular edition.
The speed and convenience of the Senseo make it a winner. The taste takes some getting used to, but I am not in any hurry to get back to a regular coffee machine.
This Senseo does not come cheap, nor do the coffee pads. But you never throw away unused coffee anymore and you may find yourself drinking less coffee, in which case the price difference becomes a moot point. What remains is a great cup of fresh coffee.
LINKS
before ordering on-line: the HD7800 and HD7801 are European models, and do expect a European style 250 Volt wall outlet. American models came onto the market in early 2004. The first model available in the USA is the second generation Philips Senseo HD7810.
Senseo web site
http://www.senseo.nl
The original Senseo web site is in Dutch.
http://www.senseo.com/
This site is in English, but is only a portal page to national Senseo web sites. It used to be a portal page to sites in Dutch, French & German, but now includes links to Belgian, Danish and American site.
Douwe Egberts 250 years
http://www.de250.nl
The web site was in Dutch. It’s gone now.
Senseous Hot Black Gold
Review of the current model, the Philips Senseo HD7810.
Senseous Canister
Review of the Brabantia Canister for Senseo Coffee Pads.
Unsenseoble Permanent Filter for your variable Senseo Fix
Review of the LMTO café-filter, a permanent filter for the Senseo.
Senseotional Tips
Tips & tricks for the Senseo owner.
How to create your own Senseo coffee pads
Text explaining how to create your own Senseo coffee pads at home.
THE REVIEW EXPERIMENT
partial disclosure to pique your curiosity: This review and several previous reviews are part of The Review Experiment.
Recommended:
Yes
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mobiprof
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