Perfect Pod Holster

If you have a Keurig K-Cup brewer, there are a couple of reasons why you might want to try an alternative to using box after box of K-Cups.

First, the K-Cup is probably the least environmentally-friendly way to make a cup of coffee. K-Cups are not recyclable and make up quite a mountain of plastic to cart off to the landfill.

Second, making coffee with K-Cups is more expensive than using loose coffee in a drip brewer or French press.

So why do we love the Keurig brewers so much? Because they work so well and provide us with a very convenient and mess-free way to make one cup of coffee at a time.

There are a couple of ways to cut back both on the waste and the price.

You can use the My K-Cup reusable coffee filter, which we have written about before. It’s a great alternative to using K-Cups, but does involve a little clean-up after use.

The Perfect Pod Holster also enables you to use your Keurig brewer without buying boxes of K-Cups, but is also a low-mess alternative.

What you do is add a coffee pod to the pod holster. (Coffee pods are like plump tea bags and are used ordinarily in coffee pod brewers like the Senseo SL7810/65.) The coffee pod holster itself is the same size as a regular K-Cup. You simply unscrew the lid, drop in a bunched up coffee pod, replace the lid and then place the pod holster in the brewer.

The advantage here is that once you have brewed your coffee, there are no loose coffee grinds to deal with. You simply unscrew the lid and shake the wet coffee pod into the garbage…or into your compost pile.

You can get the Perfect Pod Holster through Amazon.com…

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…

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