Tassimo was on the brink of announcing something big, something no other pod coffee system could claim to have — Starbucks Coffee pods.  And since it had been a few years, I thought they might have improved the system since my last time seeing it here in the Brotherhood of the Bean test center.

And I have to admit, I was rather interested in seeing what the Starbucks pods from Tassimo would taste like in the Tassimo.  With Green Mountain Coffee buying Keurig, it seemed about par for course that Starbucks would get into the pod coffee game, its surprising in fact that they didn’t venture into the pod system market already.  Too much time spent putting independent coffee houses out of business I guess.  But I digress…

The box that arrived from Tassimo was huge – “Did they really make significant changes to what I remembered as being a generally small pod coffee system?” I wondered.   Not so I would soon find out.  What they had done was create some very eye catching, and big packaging for to showcase the Starbucks union.

The intended effect was obviously to help you envision the Tassimo in your kitchen.  It was a nice touch that they included what is a very heavy duty Starbucks coffee cup.  Surprisingly enough, I found myself scratching my head at their choice of coffee cup to include.

The Tassimo was and still is designed primarily for the stock run of the mill coffee cup.  The included Starbucks cup is larger than what can fit in the default space provided by the Tassimo.  To use the cup, one must remove the cup holder as if it was a tall cup.  While not a big deal, I just found it slightly ironic that the cup included didn’t fit the stock configuration.

Big deal you are thinking, just take the stock holder out and put it in big cup mode.  Right on I would say, except for the fact that the pedestal that is used for normal sized coffee also serves as a reservoir for the system to drain its cleaning water into.

Take out the pedestal, and there is no place for the water to go.  The unit is obviously designed to brew a large cup, and then immediately put the pedestal back for the cleaning cycle water to clear.  In my opinion I think Tassimo would have been better served either making the cleaning process a manual event that is initiated with a control panel, or something that is triggered after the use of a dairy creamer pod.

After making 4-6 cups of coffee, the pedestal was filled with this much water drainage.

Its certainly not a deal killer by any means, and I commend Tassimo for striving to keep a clean system, but for myself, and understand that I realize this is entirely user specific, most of my cups that I use would require that I remove the pedestal.

With Tassimo’s built in bar code scanner I would think this might be a possibility for future versions to include.  Use a Tassimo dairy creamer pod, automatically have the system clean itself.

Speaking of the bar code scanner Tassimo makes good use of it to let the system know exactly how the coffee, tea, etc. should be made.  The downside is of course, that Tassimo controls exactly how much coffee should be brewed.  Thankfully there is a manual mode.

Size does matter, the smaller your coffee maker is, the less room it has to hold water,  the less room it has for heating elements, etc.  This equates to two things:

• More Frequent Reservoir Refills
• Longer Wait Times Between Cups of Coffee

As such the Tassimo does require more frequent filling and does take longer in between cups of coffee than any of the other pod coffee systems we have reviewed to date.  In a multi-coffee drinking household this could become irritating over time.

One of the things that I liked about the Tassimo was the clear view into the viewing chamber at the top.  Unlike most pod coffee systems, the Tassimo pods are put in upside down so that the bar code reader can read in the appropriate information.

Functionally it serves as a way to watch and see when the pod has fully drained.   I didn’t find that to be particularly critical to the brew process, but it is interesting to watch.

So, how was the Starbucks?

That’s really what you are after, you can admit it, its alright.  The offering of Starbucks pods will no doubt boost Tassimo’s sales immensely.  Untold legions of Starbucks drinkers with little time to brew a full pot of their blessed brew will be happy to hear that the Tassimo Starbucks pods deliver, single serve Starbucks is here for the masses.

Brew a cup and it smells like Starbucks, my wife — an admitted Starbucks fan –  swooned.   It was rather disturbing to be honest.  I was reminded of countless cups of over roasted coffee consumed in Starbucks with my wife (strictly my opinion).

The key is the user of a larger pod for Starbucks than Tassimo uses for some of its other coffee pod selection.  Tassimo appears to be using a pod that is similar in size to that used for their non-dairy toppings (for cappuccino, etc.).

The use of the larger pod affords the Starbucks coffee pods additional volume that directly translates to a fuller, stronger coffee.  In the limited size, and fast brewing world of pod coffee systems, more coffee is never a bad idea.

Ultimately, the coffee a system brews should play a large part in the decision making process.  Pod systems are a bit of an enigma when it comes to what they can do, because the choice of pods they offer are much more restrictive than using a traditional coffee pot.

Despite its drawbacks, Tassimo is the pod system that offers Starbucks.  If you are a die-hard Starbucks fan, this pod system is for you — because its the only pod system that can give you Starbucks (aside from using say the Keurig K-Cup, which is a manual process).

I’d like to thank the fine people at Tassimo for giving Brotherhood of the Bean the opportunity to have a second look at the Tassimo and sample their new Starbucks coffee pods.

]]> http://blog.brotherhoodofthebean.com/2008/04/08/tassimo-take/feed/ 1 http://blog.brotherhoodofthebean.com/2007/11/20/keurig-special-edition/ http://blog.brotherhoodofthebean.com/2007/11/20/keurig-special-edition/#comments Wed, 21 Nov 2007 04:16:56 +0000 Brotherhood of the Bean http://blog.brotherhoodofthebean.com/2007/11/20/keurig-special-edition/ Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
“Open the pod bay door HAL” Dave asked the insane computer. “I’m sorry Dave, I am afraid I can’t do that.” HAL responded. Up until a few years ago, the only thing I associated pods with was science fiction and green peas.

Then came Apple and its iPod. Overnight the world became “pod” crazed and we saw the emergence of various other pod-isms. The coffee would soon find itself drawn into the pod world, and coffee as we knew it changed forever.

Single-serve coffee systems came onto the market with amazing speed. Sadly, quality suffered greatly. And in no time, the single-serve coffee dream was relegated to nothing better than SANKA or any of the other instant coffees (at least in my opinion).

Tassimo, Flavia, Senseo, all struck out in previous reviews. Of the three, Flavia fared the best, at least being palatable. Barely.

As you can guess, I came to view all single serve coffee makers with a certain disdain, if not contempt. The simple bean, the glorious French Press, the dignified espresso was so much better, even contemplating single serve seem ludicrous. Yes, my coffee snob-o-meter was at an all time high.

Then, something happened. This summer we visited friends in Vermont, and among other tourist activities (Ben & Jerry’s Tour), we visited the Green Mountain Coffee store just outside of their factory.

This alone was an impressive experience, between the multi-media room coffee display and the heady aroma of coffee that permeated the air like a rich caffeine perfume, I was in heaven.

Before I knew it, I had several bags of coffee in my hands. How could I pass up such an opportunity after all, I could see the factory in the distance where the coffee was freshly roasted.

As I turned to my son who just had to show me something of life or death importance (in this case, a doodad of some sort) I found myself staring at three Keurig single serve pod coffee makers.

I quickly came to realize that Green Mountain had quite the variety of pods they offered for the Keurig. Wheee! I thought, another single serve coffee maker destined to disappoint.

“Would you like to try a cup?” a friendly faced employee asked me with a smile on her face. “Sure!” I replied.

As she started to show me the inner workings and relative ease of operation, I learned that Green Mountain recently bought Keurig. They found its quality to be of the highest standard and decided to buy the company outright.

By now the coffee was ready and as she handed me the cup. The aroma was fresh, and the taste was… pretty damn good! I made a note to give the Keurig a more in depth review at a later date.

Fast forward a few months, and an email to Green Mountain, pretty much regaling what you have just read and I was informed that a Keurig B60 Special Edition and some pods were on their way to the Bean for review.

Before we get to talking about the pods and coffee, let me touch upon a few of the more unique features of the Keurig.

Brews at 192 – Degrees that is. It is largely held that 191-192 degrees is the optimum temperature to brew coffee at. Make no mistakes, at this temperature the coffee is piping hot and burn inducing, but it makes sense that it brews at this temperature to get the most out the coffee pods.

Easy to Operate Pod Chamber – Lift the handle and a compartment for the coffee pods tilts toward you and waits patiently for the pod to be dropped in. There is an added bonus here in that since the pods are plastic they can be easily lifted out immediately after brewing, care should always be taken of course, but in all the cups I have brewed I have never had any discomfort.

Three Sizes, No Wait – The idea is simple, put a pod in, press a button and coffee comes out. The Keurig model I tested keeps it simple with three coffee cup size buttons, small, medium and large. So simple, yet so effective.

I found myself using the medium button the majority of the time. It seemed to be the right amount, and I suspect, but can’t confirm that the coffee pods are designed to give the best results at the medium setting.

Speed – Power the Keurig on and it starts heating its internal water, think of the Bunn and Mr. Coffee units our parents used that you essentially always had water in the chamber ready to rock. Its no wait coffee once you press the button, which is nice when you are in a hurry.

Timer – Well it won’t make a cup for you on its own, but it will power on so that you can groggily throw a cup under the brew chamber and press a button. A minor detail, but very welcome.

That’s enough about the unit, lets switch gears and talk about the coffee pods. I mentioned earlier that they are small plastic cups that have a foil seal on top. When a pod is placed in the unit and it is closed holes are pierced in the top and bottom of the pod.

Each pod has its own mini-filter that prevents the grounds from coming out during the brewing process. For those who want to use their own coffee, Keurig offers a refillable K-Cup. While I did not personally test one, at least one person I spoke with indicated that it was somewhat of a pain to use. Regardless of mess, its a nice option to have available.

Coffee — Any good?

Surprisingly enough… Yes! Looking at the pods I found myself wondering how they could possibly produce decent coffee. But they do. Keep in mind I still think traditional brewing methods are far superior, but in a pinch the coffee is not that bad.

My wife for instance, loves that she can just brew one cup at a time. When I took the unit to some associates to try, she was more upset than I have ever seen her over loss of coffee. Not one, but two of my friends have gone out and bought a Keurig after having coffee from the review unit.

From my experience the medium and dark roasts seem to give the richest results, the light roasts tend to be very light. This could be a result of the cup brewing or it could just be a very light roast. Not unpleasant, but not as good as the darker roasts in my opinion.

Variety is something that the Keurig has going for it, jump on their website and a cavalcade of pod choices jump out at you – Green Mountain, Caribou, Gloria Jean’s to name a few. I have no problem ordering coffee online, but what I like is that Keurig coffee pods are available at local stores such as Kohls and Bed Bath & Beyond.

In closing, I have to say I was very impressed with the Keurig B60 Special edition. If you are in the market for a single serve coffee maker, I would look no further. For the coffee aficionado it would makes a nice “addition” to your coffee bar for times when you need it a fix quick.

What is important to this story is not so much the food (which was to die for), but in my case the Chinese grocery store next to it (For those in Illinois – the restaurant in question is Triple Crown, on 34 & 83). For it offers many an adventure in sight, sound and taste.

Since my wife and I are in the process of adopting from China, and the group we were with was comprised wholly of people either waiting to go, of who have always gone going to this grocery store is almost as anticipated as the dim sum.

On most occasions it gives me an opportunity to bring back various treats for the guys I work with. Spicy seaweed found its way to work one day, a chex like mix that included tiny dried up minnows another, and after this last weekend, squid on a stick jerky (brutal).

I don’t know why any thoughts of coffee never entered my head before, but this time I was determined to see what Chinese coffee had to offer. What I found was the saddest coffee aisle in the world.

Walking down to the “Coffee & Tea” aisle I kept waiting to get to the coffee. Ninety-nine percent of the aisle was tea, one percent coffee. Of that one percent, one hundred percent of it was instant coffee. Not a whole bean in the lot!

But I just couldn’t resist trying some of it. I decided to buy the Owl brand White Coffee Tarik, it had after all been established in 1956, and longevity of production can’t be a bad thing when it comes to Chinese coffee.

Interestingly enough, every one of the coffee products sold at this store were what is called a “3 in 1″ product. Literally meaning that each package includes coffee, creamer and sugar. I noticed that some of the teas offered also had this option, although the vast majority of them were more traditional.

What intrigued my was the name, what was “White” coffee? What was “Tarik”? It sounded exotic, and I immediately began conjuring up images in my head.

The “White” as it turns out can only be used to describe the included creamer and the rather nice foam that accumulates on the top of the coffee when stirred.

Interestingly enough, tarik refers to a method of making tea in Malaysia (Teh tarik) where the tea is poured from one pot to another to produce a frothy top like that of a cappuccino.

Faced with scalding hot coffee, I decided to opt for the slightly less dangerous “vigorous spoon” method to obtain somewhat of a similar effect.

It took me a long time to put a finger on the aroma of this coffee. In my exploration of Chinese cuisine and products I have found that the smells, spices and tastes are often very different than what I am used to experiencing.

The aroma reminded me of almond cookies. Its funny to me that I have finally come to this conclusion because during my tasting of the coffee I rated it as mildly sweet with a cooked almond aroma. One of my co-workers went so far to say that he thought it smelled like charcoal just to give you an idea of the aromic extremes we found ourselves experiencing.

I really expected it to have a bad taste, it was instant coffee after all, but the 3 in 1 combination somehow pulled it off and its slightly sweet, almond and mocha taste was not bad to be honest. I gave this coffee a 2.5 out of 5 rating for its unique nature. If you find yourself in China and you can’t find a Starbucks, hopefully you will remember this review.

Walking into the store my thoughts quite honestly were on the Asiago cheese bagel that I would soon be eating. The aroma of coffee hit me almost immediately and my eyes were drawn up to the list of Coffee related items for sale.

As luck would have it, a new coffee drink was available — the Pumpkin Spice Latte. It sounded interesting and I was in an autumnal mood, so I ordered one to go.

So how did it taste?

It tasted like a combination of mulling spices, caramel and sugar. Notice I didn’t mention anything about having a coffee taste, that is because any trace coffee tastes were gone.

The espresso flavor was obliterated by pumpkin syrup, corn syrup, molasses, spices, spice mix (water, evaporated cane juice crystals, natural flavors, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, xanthan gum, citric acid, clove, gellan gum), caramel syrup and vanilla extract among other things.

Now I understand the point of these speciality drinks is to emphasis the special characteristics it is trying to embody, but this may be the first time I have had a drink that eliminates the coffee flavor all together.

Weighing in at 410 calories, with 90 of those coming from fat, this will not be a drink I will be having again. If you don’t like the taste of coffee, this very well may be the drink for you.

“How would you feel about going out for breakfast?” My wife asked.

My smile was answer enough. I mean after all, nothing starts a day better than having someone else cook for you right? Plus I was in the mood to see what kind of coffee this new pancake place in town served.

A quaint establishment with subtle vintage decorations, nothing over the top but enough to give us something interesting to look at while we waited. My wife pointed out a rather ornate sign hanging by the register…

“We proudly serve Kokos Coffee”

Now they had my attention. The coffee geek in me always gets excited when I get to try a new coffee. And if the coffee was as good as the sign looked, I was in for a treat. We sat and I flipped my coffee cup over, the universal sign to bring on the coffee.

Our waitress came as if summoned by my cup and came dangerously close to my face with the pot (Yikes!). With orders out of the way I raised it to my lips and took my first sip.

And… typical commercial coffee. Average and unoffensive in every way, designed to appeals to everyone. We have all experienced this kind of coffee before and while it gets the job done, its nothing to write home about much less on a coffee blog. Why then here?

As a reminder to us all to not judge a book by its cover. Exceptional sign, average coffee. It happens to us all from time to time. We set our coffee expectations based on a package, we choose the Starbucks over the local coffee house because well, its Starbucks, it has to be better right?

Sometimes its not.

I just love what FUNROCK’N has to say about her:

Meet Nico. She’s the barista who pulls your morning espresso. No other barista in town makes a latte like Nico. Her beans are always freshly ground, she never tamps the filter basket too tight and her foam is perfect: thick and decadent, like a pillow of edible clouds.

It cracks me up that she comes with two sizes of coffee, regular and grande.  The arm tattoo is a nice touch, as well as the second head for people who want their barista to be a red head.

This is definitely on my birthday/Christmas wish list this year!

Disaster comes in many forms. It could be as simple spill or as extreme as having an entire latte spill unexpectedly on my dress shirt and pants. Recently I was on my way to a funeral and needed a caffeine infusion.

Pulling up to Starbucks I decided to go for something safe. An orange mocha frappuccino seemed like the perfect choice. With a lid, a straw and the lack any tilting need, I was sure I was safe.

Not so. There, sitting on my crisp white shirt, thankfully next to my Jerry Garcia tie, was a single sepia toned sport. Arrgh! The curse struck again.

My Mother-in-law Betty was sitting behind me when it happened. I heard her start rummaging in her purse…

“Here Steve, I have a Tide to Go pen, use it on that spot” she said handing me the pen.

Tide to go? I vaguely recalled hearing about such a product but just thought it was some new type of stain stick.

“Press it down to release some fluid and then rub the stain with the tip,” Betty said.

My skepticism quickly turned to awe as I watched the coffee stain disappear before my eyes.  It was then that I realized that the battle was won. Sure I might still suffer the total carnage of an entire cup of coffee spilling on me, but the more common and frequent minor spills will never bother me again.

If you have my luck with to-go cup lids, its well worth the money to pick up a Tide to Go the next time you are at the grocery store. It really does the trick.

Crappy espresso on the other hand, can make you wince and wonder why you don’t love tea more.

I was very excited when I was asked by the Roasterie to review one of their espresso line products — the Super Tuscan.

Before we get to the review, let’s have a little review of what espresso is. I’d like to quote a snippets from the “What is espresso?” article on 1st In Coffee.

I highly encourage you to give the full article a read when you have a chance.

What is Espresso? One of the biggest misconception about espresso is that it is made from a specific type of bean or roast. The reality is that any type of coffee bean can make good espresso and depending on your location the roast of espresso can vary significantly.

I like what 1st in Coffee has to say:

“Espresso coffee is a small 1 to 2 oz. shot of pressure-brewed coffee using between 6.5 and 7.5 grams (about 1 Tablespoon) of finely ground coffee. Brewing takes about 25 to 30 seconds. Properly brewed, an espresso will feature a layer of rich dark golden cream, called crema on the surface. This crema is one indicator of a quality espresso. Making a great espresso is truly an art as well as a science. “

Espresso is literally pulled from the bean under high pressure (9 bar/135 PSI). The result is an amazing coffee essence with a sweet crema head.

With that in mind, lets talk about Super Tuscan. First I just have to tip my hat to the Roasterie for including a complimentary demitasse cup and saucer. It was a nice surprise to find waiting in with the coffee.

The coffee beans I was sent were freshly roasted just a week before. I don’t know if that was special for my review or the norm, but I can tell you that weeks later its aroma had not diminished in the least.

The smell of the Super Tuscan beans filled my head with its rich aroma, other people have commented about its robust aroma and I can definitely confirm their claims.

I fired up the Capresso Ultima Espresso maker and ground some beans incredulous that the aroma could possibly get even better and started the pull.

Black gold slowly filled my cups as the Capresso chugged away forcing the essence of coffee into my cup. The swirl of the forming crema soon followed in all its glory.

Bearing in mind the describing coffee is highly subjective and depends a lot on the taster and his or her experience, you personal experiences will no doubt differ from mine and that is one of the great things about the complex nature of an espresso.

One of the things I first noticed about the Super Tuscan is its smooth bold taste, that is to say it lacked the overbearing bitterness that can be so common in espresso blends.

So people like that bitterness, some don’t. I personally like just a hint of bitter so that the underlying tastes are not overpowered by it.

I did notice the buttery sweetness that the Roasterie describes it as having. It seemed to have hints of dark baking chocolate, with a lightly smoked aftertaste. Not the best description I know, but after four cups of espresso I was feeling pretty jazzed to say the least.

In conclusion I would highly recommend the Super Tuscan espresso from the Roasterie to anyone in the market for a great espresso blend.

Last weekend she threw me a curve ball. It was Saturday morning and like most weekend mornings our six year old was up before seven. To think that I used to consider getting up at 11 AM early.

We generally try to rotate in these situations to give the other person a chance to sleep a little longer. As it happens it my turn in the rotation. Before I left the room I heard this crystal clear voice from under the comforter say:

“Can you make a pot of coffee?” Me? Coffee? I thought.

“No problem.” I replied.

“Hey, put one of those Tastefully Simple Vanilla Bean Chillers in the bottom of the pot.”

“Okay” I replied, slightly befuddled.

So downstairs I went. What the hell was a chiller? And how did something with the word Chill fit into brewing coffee?

Reading over the instructions I was sure she was still asleep, it called for milk and crushed ice after all. Despite my concerns she assured me that it was an alternate recipe.

I should mention that my wife sells Tastefully Simple as a home based business, consequently I get a lot of things to sample. So I put the Vanilla Bean Chiller in and started to brew some coffee.

The effect of the additive was actually more interesting that I had anticipated. The Vanilla Bean Chiller turned the coffee color into something almost like a butterscotch beige. Definitely not what I had expected it to look like.

But how would it taste?

It tasted like you would expect vanilla flavored coffee with cream to taste. I made the mistake of using vanilla flavored coffee for my first pot which turned it into a pot of vanilla flavored coffee on steroids, but it was still good none the less.

I started to think about why anyone would want to use something like this when flavored creamer is so easy to buy. A few thoughts came to mind:

• It’s a dry good — If you like the occasional taste of vanilla and don’t want to keep something in liquid form around such as creamer or flavoring, its nice to be able to store this in your pantry.
• No Hassle Coffee — I can see a possible use for this in a larger scale party situation. Throw a mix in, brew a pot and pour. Done. No muss, no fuss and no worry about whether there is cream or sweetener available. The flavor is not overpowering at all which makes it something that a wide variety of people will enjoy.
• Coffee Independence – Unlike some products and combine the coffee with the flavoring, the Vanilla Bean Chiller lets me enjoy the coffee I want to use. Love Kona? No problem, use it.

Tastefully simple is sold direct through their corporate website or via an independent consultant.  Sadly the Vanilla Bean Chiller is not currently available on the Tastefully Simple website, however if you do a consultant search for your area, they very often have extra stock available that you could buy direct.

Normally when I see something with a name like “Ultima” the warning bells go off inside my head. Products with such a dubious label rarely, if ever live up to such a claim.

I wondered then how the Capresso Ultima Espresso Maker (Model #121) would perform. Would it do the name justice? Or would it fail miserably?

Billed as “The world’s most convenient semi-automatic coffee and espresso/cappuccino machine”, the Ultima takes away the steps in the espresso making process that some people find highly annoying and time consuming.

Admittedly, some people love these steps so if you are a purist, this may not be the espresso machine for you. So what did they differently from other espresso makers?

For one thing they have incorporated a 53 oz. water basin into the unit. According to Capresso this will allow you to make around 30 espressos. The actual number will be slightly less depending on how many cappuccinos you make.

While having a water reservoir doesn’t seem like a big deal on the surface, its pretty convenient to not have to stop after every espresso to refill a small chamber that can only hold enough water for a single or double esprresso.

Having water available is one thing, being able to quickly heat the water to the necessary pressure in a timely manner is another thing all together. Waiting for espresso can be almost painful with lesser units. But with the Ultima’s 18-bar ThermoCoil heating/pump system, wait times are a fraction of what they might be.

But, what really is exciting about the Ultima is the way it handle the espresso grounds. This is the point where the purists out there might be horrified. But for me, its pure genius. The thing I always hated about making espresso was dealing with the tamping, the cleaning and the disposal of the espresso grounds.

Sure, I found it fun for the first twenty or so espressos, but after that it became more work that I really wanted to do, and my espresso maker would usually start to gather dust.

All that has changed with the Ultima. You see the Ultima will tamp and dispose of the used espresso grounds for you into an internal hopper. When the hopper is filled, you just slide the tray out and walk it to the trashcan.

Let me walk you through making an espresso with the Ultima:

1. Grind some espresso bean in your favorite grinder.
2. Place two scoops of ground espresso into the top of the Ultima.
3. Give the top of the Ultima a 1/4 counter clockwise turn and push down the handle. Espresso is now tamped.
4. If the machine is already at the proper temperature, turn the switch on and watch your espresso flow. When you have the desired amount, turn it off.
5. Release the lever on top, and complete the counter clockwise turn you started earlier, bringing the espresso fill point back to the front.
6. Machine is ready for more espresso.

To muss, to fuss. It really is that easy. I instantly fell in love with this unit, it exceeded even my expectations. You can even use flavored coffee in this unit as long as you run some hot water through it afterwards by turning the unit on without any espresso in it.

While some people might find the $300 price tag a bit steep, I have to say that not having to deal with the usual espresso making frustrations is quite nice. I really didn’t think this unit would live up to its lofty name, but once again Capresso has delivered a product that any coffee aficionado would be proud to own.