Senseo SL7810/65 Coffee Pod Brewer

After months of being off the shelves, the Senseo SL7810/65 is now available again. This is great news, because this is the most popular of all the coffee pod brewers.

Where did it go? There was a safety issue with all the Senseo brewers and they have been unavailable since April of this year. You’ll find more details in a previous post.

Here’s the weird part – both their disappearance from the shelves, and the reappearance of the Senseo SL7810/65 at Amazon have taken place with almost no publicity.

When I went to the Senseo site there was never any mention that I could find that the brewers were no longer available. And this morning I checked back at the site and there was nothing about the Senseo SL7810/65 being back on the shelves at Amazon. But it is.

Anyway, I assume that the technical problems have been resolved, and it’s good to know that the Senseo SL7810/65 is available again in good time for everyone who will want to get one for the Christmas season.

Buy the Senseo SL7810/65 at Amazon…

Read our review of the Senseo SL7810/65…

Keurig K-Cup Brewers

A year ago it was a tough call as to which of the one cup coffee formats would come out on top.

Now the picture is a little clearer. Keurig’s K-Cup coffee makers are flying off the shelves.

This isn’t just a story of success for Keurig. The coffee pod format took a big blow in April when the Senseo line-up of brewers was withdrawn due to some safety concerns. I wrote about this in an earlier post.

Senseo was leading the charge for the coffee pod format and plenty of other manufacturers were happily creating their own pod brewers. And a ton of roasters were offering their coffees in the pod format. With Senseo out on the sidelines, at least for now, a lot of the momentum for coffee pod brewers has been lost.

So how about the other proprietary one cup coffee formats, like the Tassimo with its T-Discs, the Nespresso with its coffee Capsules, and others?

These formats and brewers are fine, but they lose out to the Keurig brewers in some important ways.

First, they don’t offer as broad a range of different coffees.

Second, they don’t have an equivalent of Keurig’s My K-Cup, which allows you to use your own, loose coffee with the Keurig brewers.

Third, the brewers, and the T-Discs and capsules cost more.

Fourth, the Keurig brewers are better built. They are totally solid compared to the flimsy feel of the Tassimo brewers in particular. (That said, the Nespresso brewers are very nicely made, but you have to pay a lot more for them.)

Keurig has achieved excellent penetration with some outstanding brewers and coffees. Even when Senseo comes back, it may be too late for the coffee pod format to catch up.

Keurig brewer reviews:

The Keurig B60

The Keurig B70

The Keurig B40

The Keurig B30

The Breville BKC600XL

Senseo Coffee Pod Brewer

For the last few years the Senseo coffee pod brewers were the number one in their category. Thousands of people switched from drip brewers to coffee pod brewers on the strength of the Senseo. Keurig, with their K-Cup format, were in a head-to-head struggle with Senseo, fighting for market share.

Then, suddenly, in the middle of April this year, the Senseos disappeared from the shelves and their owners were advised to stop using them. What happened? A recall.

Here is the text from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.

Name of Product: Philips Senseo One-Cup Coffeemakers

Units: About 155,000

Distributor: Philips Consumer Lifestyle, of Stamford, Conn.

Hazard: An electrical fault and the build-up of calcium from hard or medium water can cause an obstruction in the coffeemaker. If this happens, the boiler can burst, posing a burn hazard to consumers.

Incidents/Injuries: None reported in the United States. The firm has received 17 reports of incidents in Europe, including six reports of minor personal injury involving first degree burns to the hands, arms and abdomen.

Description: This recall involves Senseo one-cup coffeemakers with model numbers HD 7810, HD 7811, HD 7815, HD 7820, HD 7832, and HD 7890. Model numbers are located on the bottom of the coffeemaker. Date codes are printed on the bottom of the coffeemaker. Coffeemakers made in China have date codes 0727 through 0847; coffeemakers made in Poland have date codes 0627 through 0847.

No news yet on when or if the Senseo brewers will be back.

In the meantime, you can take your pick from the other coffee pod brewers out there.

Reviews:

Melitta MES2B One:One Single Serve Coffeemaker

Cuisinart SS-1 Cup-O-Matic

My Invento Coffee Pod Brewer

Cuisinart Commercial 1-Cup Coffee Pod Coffeemaker

Or consider the Keurig brewers, which use K-Cups instead of coffee pods:

Reviews:

The Keurig B60

The Keurig B70

The Keurig B40

The Keurig B30

The Breville BKC600XL