I remember when I got my first Senseo Coffee pods machine way back in 2004 (quite a while ago now that I begin to think about it) and did not really think too much about it at the time. I had gotten the machine on a free deal from a forum I regularly attended back then. Thinking about the machine now it felt as though Phillips (the makers of the Senseo machine) were trying to invent a new category of coffee machines that took refillable pods and to be honest it felt a little like getting a free razor. A free razor is fine and dandy but you’re going to need refills which, much like the Senseo Coffee pods machine, at first blush seems like a great way to get people to keep buying your product. I pretty much stuck the unit in a cabinet and didn’t even open it. Until the day my normal coffee maker broke.
I remember the day my normal coffee maker broker and it was a pretty important day with meetings planned and I couldn’t believe my machine wasn’t working. The Senseo popped into my mind and I immediately busted it open. The unit struck me as odd since it was sturdy but very, very simple with hardly anything to it. I powered the unit on, popped in the official Senseo Coffee Pod and within 45 seconds I had a fresh cup of coffee with a little foam on top. The moment that fresh cup of delicious coffee hit my taste buds I knew instantly this was my new best friend. No filters to mess with, grounds to throw away, over flows, bitterness or other typical coffee maker stuff to deal with just a pod and water. To this day almost 6 years later I’m still on my first machine and it brews like a champ. It’s even simple enough for my wife to use every morning.
Preparation is the major change why American coffee is more robust today. When I was growing up and during my military days, I remember we used to prepare it by percolating it.
Percolating is the process of putting water in a pot, putting the coffee grounds in a metal holder and then inserting the metal holder into the pot with the water. As the water heats up, it is forced up through a metal tube and then the hot water flows over the coffee grounds. This processed continues until a whistle, caused by the steam coming from the pot, was heard. In some larger pots, it turned off automatically.
This process allows the grounds to be reused by the water that already contains coffee The first of the hot water absorbs a lot of coffee, but as the process went on, less and less was given up. Eventually you end up with a weak cup of coffee.
I saw nothing wrong with this till in 1986 when I had the opportunity to go to Sweden. My first cup of coffee there I found to be very robust. I asked my Swedish escort about this and he said,”American coffee is like dishwater. We brew ours with pride”.
The first thing I did when I got home was to look for a better way to make coffee. I eventually settled on a French Press. This is where you put the coffee grounds in a pot, pour hot water in and then press the water down through a metal filter mesh. This allows the coffee to come to the top of the mesh, trapping the coffee grinds beneath the mesh. This coffee was much better than the percolating method.
Today, rather than use the French Press, we use a coffee maker that has water on the side, and when it is turned on, the water flows over the coffee grounds one time. The only problem with this, as with most coffee makers, that unless the coffee is drank right away, it gets old and bitter.
This problem has been solved. Today you can find a system where you can make single cups of coffee almost instantly, forcing the water through the coffee grounds one time.
There are tons of companies that would tell you that they have the world’s best coffee. From the offerings of the big corporate companies that put their product on every second street corner, to the local independent shops that insinuate that they spend more time and effort on their brews, or the aficionados who drink nothing but what they brew at homes themselves, there are arguments to be made for every brew.
Companies like Starbucks claim that their brew is the best, and they have the proof of thousands of stores and millions of loyal customers. But even with their rampant popularity and wide selection of drinks, many people dispute any claim to fame for Starbuck’s regular brew, saying it is often no better, and sometimes much worse, than what you could brew yourself at home with a simple coffee machine.
Of course, there are those who prefer the taste – or so they claim – of more eco-friendly coffees like the types served by smaller, independently owned coffee shops. They say fair trade coffee offers better flavor, although there isn’t much proof that the economic conditions of the coffee bean farmer play much of a role in the taste of a cup of joe.
Those who really have a nose for good coffee swear that the only way to get a really good cup is to regulate all of the variables yourself, and brew at home. From cold-press methods that slowly distill the flavors from the fresh grounds, to French press style brewing apparatuses that let the hot coffee steep more like a tea than the traditional drip method, there are plenty of ways to change what used to be a sleepy cup of coffee on a quiet Sunday morning into an extravagant production worthy of the best taste buds in coffee fandom.