Reunion Island RI58551 Extra Bold Fair Trade and Organic French Roast Single Cup Coffee Pods, 16-co

This is excellent for Senseo if you use a two-pod holder and wet the pod before you put it in the machine. Doing this, I found it to yeild one mug of the strongest coffee I've found. It's my favorite of al the Amazon dark roasts I've tried.

Please note that these pods are not compatible with Tassimo single cup brewers even though they are presented with a Tassimo t-disk search.

Buy Reunion Island RI58551 Extra Bold Fair Trade and Organic French Roast Single Cup Coffee Pods, 16-co Now

This is the lightest coffee I've ever seen, so much so that it was not drinkable. After this disappointing brew I read reviews and tried pre moistening the pods but it had no effect. Using with a Hamilton Beach single serve machine designed for senseo pods. What gives?

Read Best Reviews of Reunion Island RI58551 Extra Bold Fair Trade and Organic French Roast Single Cup Coffee Pods, 16-co Here

Reunion Island Extra Bold Decaf is the best I've tried. One secret is to premoisen the pods before brewing. The coffee is full bodied and tastes great!

Want Reunion Island RI58551 Extra Bold Fair Trade and Organic French Roast Single Cup Coffee Pods, 16-co Discount?

SENSEO owners be aware these pods won't fit in your machine. They are just too big for the single pod holder but yet too small for the double pod holder. The standard SENSEO pods have about 7.5-8 g of coffee per pod, these have 10g. I used 10g pods before (e.g. Barnie's 58006 Hazelnut Flavored Single Cup Coffee Pods) which fit if you press them into the holder before you close the lid, but these are just too large.

Save 27% Off

B31 Mini Plus Coffee Maker in Red

The brewer makes excellent coffee.

I am giving it only 3 stars because there is a maintenance procedure you need to do that is NOT in the user manual.

If the brewer does not drip out all the water you put in, there are TWO needles that need to be unclogged using a paper clip. The user manual describes how to do the lower one, the "exit needle". You also need to clean out THREE holes in the UPPER needle, the "entrance needle".

The procedure is shown in a Keurig-produced Youtube video called "How to Clean the Needles and K-Cup® Portion Pack Holder", steps 5 and 6. The video contains a slight error in that it mentions two holes, when there are actually three. A Keurig customer service rep told me specifically to look for three holes.

I think Keurig should put this procedure in its manual because I think every machine sold will eventually clog up, either under warranty or afterwards.

I've had this Keurig for a week now and for the most part I like it and it's worked well. There are a few drawbacks, which I'll discuss below, but so far it's done exactly what I purchased it for make me a single cup of coffee, quick, easy and with no fuss.

Pros:

* easy to use. Streamlined is the word for this little machine. It isn't fancy: there's no timer, no complicated display it's fill up the water and hit the On button. That's it. But if I had wanted more options, I'd have bought the larger Keurig, or a regular coffee maker.

* easy to clean. Simply by the design of a Keurig, there's not much clean up. The overflow tray that the cup sits on isn't attached, so you can pull it out and give it a quick rinse if you need to.

*fits into small spaces. the diminutive size of this keurig means that it can fit onto an already cramped kitchen cabinet, or under low cabinets where a taller machine wouldn't fit.

*so far it's made good coffee. I read other reviews where they had problems with the needle clogging, etc. Cross my fingers, but I haven't had any mechanical problems.

*amount of water is intuitive. Like other people I find the plastic water level guides pretty much useless and a little cheap looking. But, do you really need them anyway? It won't make more than a cup, so just fill your cup 3/4 of the way full (leaving room for milk) and dump it in. If you can't figure that out, you need to put the K-cup down and back away slowly from the machine.

*automatic shut off. after a certain interval, the machine shuts itself off. Which is good for those of us who like to make their coffee and walk away.

Cons:

* when they say a CUP of coffee, they really mean a cup. You can't fit most mugs under the spout without removing the overflow tray first. And even with the overflow tray out of the way, those people who like to carry around X-tall mugs are going to be out of luck.

*plastic parts. From the overflow tray (which looks metallic but isn't), to the plastic water guides, there are just things about this model that make it seem like a cheap knockoff. I guess Keurig was thinking "you get what you pay for", but hey, the mini Keurig retails for $99.00! That's not cheap! And it's sort of disappointing that Keurig didn't put more quality into this machine.

*You have to follow an exact order of steps when making coffee. 1) turn power on 2) add water 2)open keurig and add K-cup 4) shut Keurig and press the Brew button. Ok, now I'm nit picking, and yes, I realize that I'M the one who can't follow directions. Don't know why but I always pour in the water, insert the K-cup, THEN hit the power button. And if you do that, the machine forces you to re-open and re-close the top of the keurig before it will make the Brew button available. Nitpicky? Yes. But it still annoys me every time.

Conclusion:

The Keurig Mini lacks the better construction of the larger models. And the fact that it won't work with larger mugs is going to be a real drawback for some people. But if you know what you're getting, and, like me, you just wanted a quick way to make a single cup of coffee, with the convenience of a machine that takes up very little space on the counter, then this may be the model for you.

Addendum: I am adding an addendum to my review. After using it for a month, I have noted one other problem with this unit. As mentioned above, unless you remove the overflow tray, you can't fit even a normal sized mug under the spout. But when you do remove the overflow tray, there is a lot of leakage and water runs out of the unit and onto the counter. I don't know where the water comes from, don't know if it's from the water tank or the K cup area. I've started folding a paper towel up and laying it down where the overflow tray would normally go, and this soaks up the water. Sometimes there's less water, sometimes there's quite a lot. Obviously, if you had the overflow tray in place, as the designers intended, this wouldn't be a problem. However, if you want to use a mug (and not a short cup), you have no choice but to remove the tray. It's just a bad design.

I thought of taking away another star...but decided to leave it at 3 stars because even though there are some annoyances with this unit, it still suits my needs better than the full sized Kuerig. The company needs to go back and make the spout just a little higher to accommodate taller mugs WITH the overflow tray in place release a Mini Kuerig 2.0 version, and then they'd really have something.

Buy B31 Mini Plus Coffee Maker in Red Now

Got the mini brewer. Worked like a champ for 3 weeks, then stopped dispensing. Called the support, had me do the whole "paper-clip" thing. Worked once more, then the next day stopped working again....same problem. Told me to pre-puncture the K-cups, especially if they are puffing on the top. Did this, makes no difference. Apparently the top needle cannot be wet at all, or the grounds plug it up (how can you brew more than one cup every couple hours then?) Tech support on the second call, after I told them I did the whole "paper-clip" thing, said they would replace it. The replacement unit arrived, and it did not dispense either, right out of the box! I am not going to blow-dry the nozzle, or paper-clip the nozzle every morning for a cup of coffee. The coffee is delicious, but this design is ABSOLUTE JUNK. Maybe the more expensive systems are better? Mini-Brewer is not worth $9 let alone $99

Read Best Reviews of B31 Mini Plus Coffee Maker in Red Here

When my wife decided to stop drinking coffee, I am now the only coffee drinker in the house.

I like a French Press, but for one to two cups, it is a bother, messy, and hard to get the strength just right.

Like many, I have seen Keurig in businesses, and liked their product. Shopping about, I selected this model as ideal for my use. Shopping around, and combining Kohl's discounts, I got this for 65 dollars, plus tax.

I absolutely love this maker. Fast, easy, no big clean up. A perfect cup of coffee in 2 minutes or so, what is not to like? Plus, if you shop around, you can get K-cups as low as 50 cents each (like I did today though a sale on Amazon).

I like the elegant simplicity, no gimmick approach with this unit.

I highly recommended!

Want B31 Mini Plus Coffee Maker in Red Discount?

I have been wanting one of these forever it seems and finally my husband surprised me with one for my birthday. I love coffee but will only drink one cup so this is perfect for me. It is great !! I was excited to try all of the different kcups that you can get but was disappointed to find out that the cocoa and cider ones have artificial sweetener in them and I hate that stuff so I am just going to stick to coffee and green tea. When I make a cup of coffee I will run a cup of plain water through right after to get the coffee taste out in case I come back later and make a cup of green tea, i dont want my tea to taste like coffee plus it cleans those little holes out so I wont have to do that little paper clip trick. I can see the little flakes in the water after it runs through. I highly recommend this. It is small so it doesnt take up much counter space. And the color goes with my other appliances.

Cappuccino Espresso Stovetop Machine Froths 18/10 Steel

OK, so, this item was so cheap, I thought what have I got to loose. I was able to froth milk with no problem, and after years of using only a whisk to make my lattes, I was definitely impressed at how frothy milk gets when it's done right! HOWEVER, the first... say... 5 attempts from this machine made extremely bitter burnt-tasting coffee. I tried changing coffees, changing how fine it was ground, altering the temperature, brewing with and without milk, brewing with or without the frother in, turning off the heat as soon as brewing began.. and still... the coffee was always so bitter I could hardly drink it (and often didn't). I'm no coffee snob either. I've only ever owned a typical aluminium stove-top maker and never had a problem with coffee tasting this bad. I'm guessing that it's the way the steel conducts heat that's the problem. I was on the verge of deciding that the device would only ever be used as a milk frother (albeit an affordable one, so I wasn't complaining)... when I decided to try one last method. After frothing pre-warmed milk as directed (the directions say froth the milk cold, but I've found it doesn't really warm that well unless you do it ahead of time), I set the flame on the lowest level it could be without blowing out. I set the timer for 5 minutes, and walked away. When I came back, it hadn't started bubbling yet, but it was only a minute or 2 more before I saw an air bubble. I immediately turned the flame off, and even though the milk to coffee ratio was a little higher than I would have preferred, the coffee was delicious... so delicious in fact, I didn't even need to sweeten it, which I usually do.

So, now that I got the machine to make a good latte, my main complaints are:

1. No audible way to tell when it's done. Unlike a normal stovetop maker, there's no gurgling sound to signify when it's done, so be sure and set a timer and then hover over it till you see some air bubbles emerge out of the milk. Also, there's always a ton of water left in the bottom tank even after it starts bubbling, and I don't dare let it go longer for fear of burning the coffee again. This makes me think that it's probably not necessary to fill the coffee canister full since you're only really making one shot, not two.

2. takes a long time to use the method I found, which makes it impractical for serving more than one person. Fortunately, I'm the only one in my household who drinks lattes, so it's not a problem, but if you need to serve more than one, you will probably do better with a 6-cup stove-top espresso maker plus frother.

3. Takes a lot of pumping to get the milk to froth. Since I've never used a pump-style frother before, I don't know how normal this is.

4. The coffee basket holes are bigger than normal, so the coffee should be ground slightly courser than with a normal stove-top maker. With the normal powdery expresso-ground coffee, the grounds tend to leak down into the water tank and also into the latte iteself.

OK, I admit I was a little leery b/c this item looked like a sketchy product from an off-brand distributor (cornballer, anyone?), but so far I've been pleasantly surprised.

1. It makes EXCELLENT milk foam--it's so creamy, it's almost like whipped cream. But a warning or two: first, you must manually pump the top to make the foam. Not a big deal, but I bought the unit thinking it was a "fill it up, turn it on" kind of thing. You only have to pump for about 20 seconds, but still, I'm lazy. Second, if you like warm foam, you should heat the milk first. If you make it as directed, the foam will be cold b/c the milk is straight out of the fridge.

2. The directions were very easy to follow. I am by no means an expert at making coffee drinks, but I found the process pretty basic: fill the bottom tank with water, fill the filter with espresso, screw the top on, insert the frother, add milk, close lid, pump milk and then heat.

3. This is a stovetop unit, not an electric one. I assumed it was the latter, for some reason.

4. It was pretty easy to clean. Just rinse off, and if there's any milk residue, wipe while rinsing.

I would've liked to give it 4.5 stars--it would've been 5 if I could plug it in and didn't need to manually create the foam, like the williams-sonoma bialetti one. but i did just watch their video on the williams-sonoma website, so i might just try not pumping it to see if it creates some foam on its own.

LOVE IT!

------UPDATE: 2/12/2012------

1. the foam is best when the milk is cold. i tried heating 6 oz of milk for 1:30 minutes which brought it to a good temp, but the foam was not as good. i heat the milk for 1 minute now before frothing and it warms it enough to be acceptable and get a decent foam (but still not as great when it's cold). and it does need to be pumped in order to create foam.

2. i made the mistake of forgetting to pull up the knob before setting on the stovetop. so i pulled it off too early and most of the water was still in the bottom tank. so then i put it back on, but left it on too long. the coffee sank into the bottom tank and burnt on the bottom! it took forever to get most of the burnt crud off...i used hot water, barkeeper's best friend and scrubbed. still no luck. repeated a couple times and then had to run vinegar thru a few cycles and it no longer tastes like burnt coffee. bottom line: REMEMBER TO PULL UP THE KNOB.

Buy Cappuccino Espresso Stovetop Machine Froths 18/10 Steel Now

Love, love, love it. Works great. Better than star bucks. Saved myself a ton of money buying a stove top maker instead of an electric one. Shipping took to long to have payed for express. Next time I will just go with normal shipping.

Read Best Reviews of Cappuccino Espresso Stovetop Machine Froths 18/10 Steel Here

This is one of those hidden gems that I love to find when shopping. It's a dead ringer for a similar Stella brand stovetop cappuccinera but at a tenth of the price!

It is basically a moka pot with built-in mechanical milk frother. First you froth the milk, then coffee brews right into the foamed milk making a nice cappuccino. Is it real espresso with steamed milk? Can you do pretty latte art? No. But it makes a delicious drink, is very compact, and can be used on top of a gas stove, making it excellent for camping off-grid living, power outages, or occasional users. If you don't have room for a full-size espresso machine or are on a tight budget (or both!) this economical machine fits the bill perfectly.

I notice that some folks report problems using this if you read the instructions and follow them carefully (especially the part about the ball valve in the handle) you should be able to get it to work correctly with just a bit of practice. You'll also need to be careful about quantities of milk, water, and coffee used. Two lids of milk, water up to the safety valve, and a full basket of coffee. You may have to dial in the grind, experimenting with finer and coarser grounds until you find what tastes best. I find that somewhere between fine drip and espresso grind works best.

Want Cappuccino Espresso Stovetop Machine Froths 18/10 Steel Discount?

Well made and sturdy! Especially given the price. I was a little wary of all the other similar makers, but I took a chance on this one because of the price and it turned out well. The handle is well constructed and isn't hot off the stove, even though it's metal. It's a little squeaky when you screw out the bottom attachment, but it's fine.

La Pavoni PC-16 Professional Espresso Machine, Chrome

I have owned this machine (8-cup) for over ten years and everyday when I make my morning cappuccino I love it more. You can spend more for a machine that measures the coffee, tamps it, pulls the water through and steams the milk for you, but you can tip the kids behind the counter at Starbucks and they'll do the same thing. Making espresso should be a little art and a little science and this machine an impeccable balance of the two. If you aren't the kind of person who takes joy in mixing the perfect martini, making a risotto that whispers with flavor, or whipping a meringue to impossibly tall peaks, this probably isn't the machine for you.

The La Pavoni is for the person who will find tremendous joy in going to the lengths required to make a perfect cappuccino by hand everyday. (And don't bother using anything less than Illy Cafe coffee in it.)

I bought my La Pavoni in the summer of 1983 after high school. It was heavily used during college (especially finals week) and has made me superb espresso continually. This morning I made a spiced chai using it. I've been amazed with the quality of the unit. I unfortunately bought a model that had a brass and copper film that looked spectacular for about 8 months then began to peel off. It's now not terribly attractive but still pumps out amazing Java.

I estimate I've saved over $25,000 on espresso drinks while maintaining a level of quality beyond what one can get at Starbucks and similar cafés. Being from Seattle, there are now (finally) cafés and baristas locally that are passionate (neurotic) about making excellent espresso and I can match them. I'm very happy with my Pavoni.

Buy La Pavoni PC-16 Professional Espresso Machine, Chrome Now

I have had this machine for a number of years, the upside is great coffee, downside are:

1. Finish poor, rust soon appears in the crome, the only saving grace is that it is mostly occurs under the drip tray out of sight.

2. It is too easy even after bleeding the pressure, to pop one of the seals when changing the coffee.

3. Descaling can be a real pain.

In short, when it works, great, but this isn't a low maintance product, a bit like old Italian sports cars

Read Best Reviews of La Pavoni PC-16 Professional Espresso Machine, Chrome Here

After 15 years of near daily use, I thought it was time for me to relay my experiences and opinion on the La Pavoni PC-16.

This review is for the pre millenium model. The current production model does have slight differences with the group being slightly larger

I was a bartender and barista for about 3 years in a high volume cafe and bar, and believe that this gives me a reasonable level of proficiency in making espresso and espresso based drinks.

The La Pavoni PC-16 is a manual lever group and operates in a manner that is much different from automatic and semiautomatic machines. This must be appreciated and understood by the potential buyer, or it may cause dissapointment.

The concept of preinfusion is why a lever machine can produce a truly outstanding shot of espresso. This is where water wets the grounds prior to the applying of pressure, and this is what makes a lever group superior to other mechanisms in my estimation. The ability to preinfuse the grounds manually can drastically change the result of the shot. For example, the lever is slowly raised to a count of 5, and only then does the lever get lowered. Since this is a manual machine, this means that you alone are raising and lowering the lever, there are no pumps or springs to do the work for you. As the lever is raised, you will hear the water entering the group. This is when your count begins.

The amount of time that is taken to do the preinfusion step is what can drastically alter the result of the shot given that the grind, group temperature and tamp is identical.

Now I will decribe the various details that go in to the requirements for producing a quality shot from the PC-16.

The grind is what is the most difficult part to correctly apply when dealing with this machine. As perfect of a consistency is absolutley necessary with a fluffy grind, no clumping will be tolerated. You will need to judge this on your own, but a slightly finer than average espresso grind is what it takes to get thick crema with minimal blonding during extraction. I still wind up with the occasional sink shot because of this machines absolute sensitivity to grind quality.

I use a light tamp, about 10 pounds of pressure, leaving approximately 1/4" space from the top. Pay extra attention to acheiving a level surface. The Elektra Microcasa A Leva portafilter basket allows more coffee to be used than the PC-16's with far better results. Refer to Orhanespressos slap shot method.

Get a good tamper with 90 degree corners and a flat bottom. I use a custom fabricated stainless steel one, but there are many available online. Unit to unit variation means a standard 49mm tamper may not work.

Water quality. I prefer reverse osmosis versus other methods of filtration including various mineral waters. Experience has shown that r.o. has given the thickest crema and most complex notes. Distilled resulted in a slimy shot with various mineral waters giving a range of quality from good to poor.

It is best to avoid descaling, since it always affects machine performance negatively. Rather use water that is already softened.

Compared to a commercial machine, the PC-16 makes a much more intense shot with more clearly defined flavor. This can be a double edged sword, depending on what it is that you are looking for.

This machine gets hot quickly, and have found that more than 2 shots isnt possible without turning the machine off for a while. Do not flush or run any water through the group before pulling a shot. This will only raise the group temperature. I have discovered a pretty simple way of dealing with the excessive and destructive heat by placing clean and dry

portafilter baskets in the freezer and taking them out a minute before filling them with coffee.

With practice(a lot of practice), you can get perfect microfoam. Again this is very difficult and nothing like a commercial machine. When you first start, you can get a reasonable facsimile to the point of being able to do simple latte art.

There is no anti suction valve, the steam wand will draw milk back into the water tank. Pour out water and refill before turning on machine.

And lastly, make sure that everything is maintained. Generally just a matter of changing the gaskets every 2-4 years depending on use. Keep the machine off when not in use. If you arent comfortable working with tools, find a local tech that works with espresso machines. You can usually find one in most cities. Always respect the machine.

The La Pavoni PC-16 can represent a steep learning curve, but like me, you can be rewarded with outstanding espresso and enjoy the process.

Want La Pavoni PC-16 Professional Espresso Machine, Chrome Discount?

How can anyone who owns one of these machines not fall in love with them?

Yes, they are temperamental. If you screw up any part of the process, the Pavoni tells you by dispensing a lousy cup of espresso. Wrong tamp pressure, poor beans, incorrect grind (don't even think of using a blade), impure water, wrong pull and you get a bad shot. That's called HONESTY. But master all the above, and you get espresso ecstasy, pull after pull. There are plenty of guidelines available online, from CoffeeGeek to YouTube, to help you achieve your La Pavoni degree, and when you do, you'll not only be rewarded with ambrosia each morning, but you'll have developed a real skill, one that is Old School. And looking back, it's really not that difficult to learn. Use good water, quality fresh beans, and a good burr grinder (Rocky!), and you're rounding third base. Then it's just minor experimentation with the right grind, tamp and pull pressure to guide you home. All this and museum quality art on your counter-top to boot! I've got the gorgeous brass Romantica version with the dome top, and it really is a stunner.

Anyone out there who knows the difference between a flat and phillips head driver can repair this machine, INDEFINITELY. Although La Pavoni provides little help in the maintenance dept, online there is a wealth of info available to help you replace gaskets and the like. The Pavoni is built like a vault and simple to maintain, once you delve inside and see how it's built.

I still can't figure out why there are folks out there who don't like the auto-aerator. It couldn't be simpler to operate (dip tube in milk, open steam valve, admire perfect micro froth coming out every time). The standard wand works ok, but I replaced the 3 hole nipple with a single hole version much improved. But I still use the auto-aerator primarily.

By the way, the note below about using ice cubes on the group head to cool down the unit for subsequent pulls is GREAT advice. Wish I'd thought of that years ago!