Sensational Senseo (Philips Senseo)

Member Name: diffyb

Product:	Philips Senseo
Date:	13/03/06 (2046 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fantastic coffee, easy to use

Disadvantages: Expensive coffee pods

The Philips Senseo coffee machine is a stylish, easy-to-use coffee making machine designed and made by Philips and Douwe Egberts.

It promises "freshly brewed coffee at the touch of a button" which isn't strictly true but is much simpler to use than most other coffee machines I've seen.

We paid £49.99 12 months ago from Argos.


~~ The Machine Itself ~~
The actual machine is made from tough plastic and has a robust feel to it.
It comes in three different colours - blue, white or black.

It features a "twin" spout which means that you can, in theory, pour 2 cups of coffee at once.

It has an easily removable water reservoir at the rear which holds enough water to make 2 full mugs of coffee or 5 smaller cups of coffee.

Cups are positioned on a steel plate which lifts away to reveal a plastic spill tray - also easily removed to pour away any waste.

The machine has a standard wall plug and runs off mains electricity.


~~ How To Use ~~
First of all ensure that the water reservoir is full otherwise you will hear an awful gurgling sound when you try to brew your coffee later on.

Open the hinged lid and place a coffee pod in the slot (or 2 pods if you prefer strong coffee) - then close the lid firmly until the lever clicks into place.

Press the centre button to boil the water - you will notice a flashing red light indicating that the machine is working.
When the water is hot enough (around 1 minute or so) the light will stop flashing and remain lit.

Place your cup on the stand plate.

You then press either the 1 or 2 cup button - this forces water through the coffee pod and down the spout into your cup (or cups).


~~ The Coffee Pods ~~
The coffee pods come in mild, medium, dark roast and decaffeinated.
I prefer strong coffee and found that the dark roast was ideal but my wife prefers a weaker, more feminine, brew and plumps for the medium roast having found the mild roast far too watery and tasteless.
And as she does the shopping and wears the trousers in our house (apart from the odd occasion when I am allowed to pull them on), we always use the medium roast pods.

As for price, it costs around £2.20 for a bag of 18 medium pods in Tesco, which works out at about 12p per pod.


~~ Important Points ~~
Having used the Senseo for over 12 months now, I have made some interesting observations about it.

(1) The "1 or 2 cup" option is nothing more than a gimic.
If you choose the 1 cup option, coffee pours through both spouts anyway but fills your cup much more quickly than if you had placed 2 cups on the stand plate.
Also, if you use a mug rather than a small coffee cup, then you either have to press the "1 cup" button twice or use the "2 cup" option to get enough water to fill it.
So, there is no time saving by using 2 cups at all.

(2) Senseo recommend that you use 2 (yes 2) coffee pods if you prefer stronger coffee - yet they sell coffee pods in mild, medium and dark roast.
So why would you use 2 mild or medium coffee pods when you can use 1 dark roast pod instead ?

(3) The amount of water released by the machine is pre-determined. Now, I don't know which cups they use at Senseo HQ, but I do not own any cups of the ideal size for this machine. I end up with either too much or too little water for the size of cup I am using.
It took me some months (and 3 sets of coffee cups) to develop a "workaround" to this problem.
Always use the 2 cup option to fill a single mug - but turn the machine off when your cup is full to stop any more water coming out ! Da da !!

(4) Do not, and I repeat, do not be tempted to manufacture your own coffee pods, or try to fill the "pod holder" with real filter coffee. It will end in tears.
There is a safety mechanism which prevents the hinged lid from opening until the hot water has drained out of the spout.
"Back to the future" style inventions do not allow the water to drain away at the correct rate - in fact filter coffee simply clogs the whole machine up - and you then have a 12 hour wait until the water drip, drip, drips out of the spout.
You can imagine how popular I was in my household when I attempted to beat the machine .......and failed miserably.

(5) For some reason, the kitchen work surface beneath the machine is always stained with coffee and water puddles.
Not huge amounts, just enough to cause the stain to require 5 minutes of vigorous rubbing to remove.
Do all of these machines do this ? I realy don't know but I can't fathom out where the water is coming from as the only non-sealed exit is the spout itself. A real mystery.

(6) You can use round teabags and make tea with it instead !!
My 9 year old son regularly does this, and so long as you wash the spout afterwards then it does not taint the coffee taste at all.


~~ What I Like About This Machine ~~
The coffee tastes fantastic - just like real filter coffee with a lovely aroma and a creamy, frothy head each time.
It scores a magnificent 10 out of 10 in the taste department.

It is extremely easy to use - no messy filters to discard each time.
Almost as easy as using a kettle in fact - so once again, full marks for this area.
Cleaning is simple - the spout and drip tray are made of tough plastic and easily removed and cleaned in soapy water.

It actually looks rather stylish - we chose the sleek black model which nestles in nicely between our dark hob and microwave.

It takes up very little space compared to the larger coffee-makers, mainly due to it being quite tall rather than low and wide.
I would say it takes up no more space than our kettle.


~~ What I Dislike ~~
The only drawback to the Senseo machine is the ongoing cost of coffee pods.
We drink about 36 mugs of coffee a week in our house (between 2 of us).
At £2.20 for 18 pods, that works out at £4.40 a week or £17.60 a month to fulfil our caffeine addiction.

In recent months we have stopped using the Senseo all the time and use instant coffee instead - but the taste of instant is so disappointing compared to the Senso.
It's like having a Ferrari on your driveway but being unable to afford the insurance premium. So you just look at it instead and dream .....


~~ Conclusion ~~
This is an excellent coffee machine - truly tasty coffee, simple to use and clean and quite compact.
But the coffee pods are way too expensive.

If you are intent on buying a coffee machine and don't want the fancy milk frother, etc then this machine is a good buy.

Summary: Great coffee, easy to use, but heavy on your pocket

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