owling's Full Review: Philips SENSEO HD7810/6 5-Cup Coffee Maker
The Senseo isn't for people who want to drink their coffee in bulk. It's meant for folks who want that experience of a single cup of hot, frothy coffee--like they might get in a cafe--but in their own home and without the hassle of a big espresso machine or other appliance. It's designed to produce a single 4 oz cup of coffee, two 4 oz cups of coffee (it has two separate little spouts; you can fit one cup under both or one under each), or one 8 oz mug at the touch of a button.
How it works
It's easy to take the removable parts off, and they can all be washed in the dishwasher (yay!). Obviously you'll want to do this once before running your Senseo. Next you follow the directions for flushing the appliance with water, which also serves to fill the reservoir inside. This, too, is simple and quick.
In order to use the Senseo you need your coffee to be in little "pods"--not loose. The major source of these is the Douwe Egberts brand, but there are others. You can also buy refillable, dishwasher-safe pods such as the EcoPod, which allow you to use your own coffee with the Senseo. You assemble the Senseo and, based on how much coffee you want to make, place either the two-pod or one-pod holder into it. Then you place the pod(s) inside and gently tamp down. You close it until it clicks, make sure there's enough water in the reservoir, press power on, wait for the light to stop blinking (indicating that the water is hot enough), and press the button for one or two cups.
The Senseo gets a tad noisy at this point (but not too bad), and produces a very frothy and quick cup of coffee (30 seconds for 4 oz, 60 seconds for 8 oz). There's a drip plate under the cup to catch any mishaps, with a further cup under that. If you remove the used pods and rinse the spout and pod holder right away, there's very little other cleaning that you need to do (other than once a week or so).
How the coffee came out
At first I very much disliked the coffee made with this, but this turned out to be due to the package of medium roast coffee which came with it, which was exceptionally bitter and acidic. There are plenty of other coffees available, many of which are quite good. Although I normally avoid flavored coffees because they taste overly-flavored and artificial, I love Douwe Egberts' flavored coffee pods---they're milder and very moderate in terms of robustness and acidity. The Senseo produces a frothy, strong cup of coffee that I quite like.
Senseo vs. Drip Coffee Makers
If you live on coffee by the potful, or have a bunch of coffee drinkers in your house who all want their coffee at once, a normal drip coffee machine is probably better. You can only make a maximum of two cups at a time with the Senseo, and that's if you're having the 4 oz cups and are using pre-made pods rather than refillable (the pre-made pods could get a tad expensive in bulk).
If, however, you only want a cup at a time, or everyone in your house likes to have their coffee at different times, then the Senseo could be a great solution. No more making a pot and having it burn while waiting for the rest of the house to get up. No more having to wash out a pot, a big filter basket, and so on just for a single cup of coffee. All you have to do is rinse out a couple of easy things and you're done. I do find the water reservoir slightly more awkward to fill than normal, although for 4 oz cups you can fill it with enough water for several cups at once, and there is an expanded reservoir available. There tends to be a little spattering or dripping around the place where the coffee pod fits in, but this is very easy to wipe up. Unless you wait a few minutes after making your coffee to toss the used pod, however, it can drip---so I recommend giving it a couple of minutes first.
The Senseo is also a great solution if your family members all enjoy different varieties of coffee--it's like teabags in that it's easy to make each cup a different flavor.
A few extra features
The Senseo does have handy little features. It'll auto-shutoff after one hour if you forget. The little power/ready light blinks very quickly when the water reservoir gets low, so you won't forget to refill it. It can be cleaned and descaled very similarly to normal drip coffee makers. And I still love how easy it is to toss the parts and pieces in the dishwasher and be done with them.
Until I got my Senseo, I lived on Toddy cold-brewed coffee. I still have a mild preference for Toddy-brewed coffee, but Senseo coffee is just so convenient that I end up making it all the time instead. The moderate amount of mess and awkward refilling somehow don't seem to matter when I can stumble out of bed, press a couple of buttons, and have that yummy cup of coffee.
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