Friday 29 April 2011

Single Cup Coffee Brewers - Tassimo vs Keurig

Every person who owns a coffee making machine knows the advantage one gets from using single cup coffee brewers. There are a lot of these one cup coffee machines that one can opt for and still enjoy excellent coffee making experience. Two of the best known coffee making machines includes the Tassimo and the Keurig and each has its own advantage depending on certain factors. Most people choose these types of coffee making machines based on the kind of beverage they expect the machine to make. These vary in terms of customization of the drink in an automatic way or the diversity that the machine accords to the person brewing the coffee. Furthermore, it is these options that one has to use when making a purchasing decision for the best one cup coffee machine.

The advantage of using Tassimo single cup coffee brewers is that they offer a diversity of ways one can make drinks. With the Tassimo it is possible to make coffee, tea, cappuccinos, lattes and hot cocoa. In the case of the Keurig single cup coffee brewers they can only be used in making tea and coffee. Both of the one cup coffee making machine have to use a microprocessor that they use to control the temperature and volume of the brew. What this means is that although they have different abilities they are all quality machines that can make excellent coffee brews.

Another features that can be found in the Tassimo one cup coffee machine is the large water reservoir that can not be found with the Keurig one cup coffee machine. The ability of the Tassimo machine is further advanced by the T-disc which is placed on top of the machine and it contains milk, coffee grounds or tea. This is has a barcode that the machine has to read each time it is in use. With the help of the T-disc the machine is able to control the brewing time and even the amount of water one wants on their different kinds of beverages. A Keurig on the other hand can only manage to adjust the brewing temperature and the amount of beverage one wants.

The procedure to be followed when brewing in both of the machines is often the same, but only gets complicated with the Tassimo one cup coffee maker when making the other types of coffee beverages. In both cases one has to open the head of the machine so that the disc or the cup can fit in. it is known for a fact that Keurig is much easier to use due to the simple feature it has. This makes it even easier to clean. The Tassimo machine offers certain complications when brewing. Additionally, when cleaning one has to insert a cleaning disc to rinse the machine each time they finish making the brew. There are a lot of comparisons that one can make on the Tassimo and the Keurig machines. However, it remains that each machine can perform the task of making coffee. The only difference maybe in the diversity of coffee beverages one wants to make with the machine and how one can customize the beverage automatically.

Friday 31 October 2008

Different coffees need different types of grinds

Different types of coffees require different type of grinds. For instance, a fast brewing method like the espresso requires a finer ground where as for a slow brewing method like the french press, the coffee grind needs to be coarse. when the grind is fine, more area of the beans is exposed to water which results in a strong brew, whereas when less area is exposed as in case of a large grind size, less hot water can get in conact with the beans.

Coarse Grind
Coarse grind is usually used for making coffee in a percolator, a vacuum coffee maker or a french press as their filters are iopen pore, being coarse grind, the beans cannot escpae through the filter and into the coffee.

Medium grind
This type of grind is ideal for drip
coffee makers, both the manual and automatic variety. A gold filter can be very useful in this case as it wont let any coffee sediments into your cup.

fine grind
Espresso is what needs this type of a grind. The grind is as fine as confectioner's sugar and the resulting drink with this type of grind is rich in taste.


Very fine grind

This type of grind feels almost as fine as flour. Turkish coffee gets its heavy and rich taste by using this type of a grind.

Sunday 19 October 2008

Cleaning Your Coffee Maker

Cleaning coffee maker ocassionally is very important if you want a better tasting coffee.There are many ways in whih you can clean your coffee maker.

The most used method of Vinegar and water is highly effective indeed, Mix 1 cup of vinegar with 2 cups of water. Pour this mixture into the water reservoir of your machine. Turning the coffee maker on, let this mixture then pass into the carafe.

After running one cycle of vinegar water through the coffee maker, run atleast 2 cycles of water to get rid of the strong odor of vinegar before you get started on making a fresh cup of coffee for yourself.

If the odor of vinegar bothers you, using coffee cleaner packs can be a solution for you. They are easy to use and are odor free avoiding the hassle of running water cycles through your machine.

Thursday 2 October 2008

Why To Choose a Bunn coffee maker

Bunn coffee makers are very popular not just commercially but also in the home kitchens from the time they have been around.

If you are looking to buy a coffee mkare the variety available to you today is huge. But here are 5 good reason to buy a Bunn coffee maker to make your choice easier.

1. Just the right tempreture

A Bunn coffee maker maintains the tempreture of water at a constant tempreture unlike the other coffee makers. Bunn maintains the water at 200 degrees which is just the right tempreture for brewing coffee.

2. The 3 minute brewing cycle

To brew a full pot of coffee a Bunn coffee maker takes just 3 minutes.And if it is just a cup of coffee you are after, that will be ready for you in less than a minute - 30 secs flat.

3. Looks & Longivity


This dont go hand in hand with most coffee makers. You have to settle for just one of them, but with a Bunn you can have the best of both worlds.A sleek coffee maker which will last for a long time.



Here is the link to the complete article

Friday 19 September 2008

Types Of Coffee Makers

With the variety of coffee makers on offer today it is easy to get confused for a novice looking to buy a coffee maker. I have tried to explain the various diffrenet types of coffee makers available to choose from. So if it is a Cappaccino which you love, there is no point in buying a machine which is excellent in brewing regular coffee.

Choosing the right type of coffee maker is just the beginning step towards getting that 'Perfect cup of coffee' Other important things that matter are things like choosing the right type of coffee beans, grinding these beans right. These are just a few of the criterias to get your cup of Joe just right for you.


Types Of Coffee Makers


1. Drip Coffee Maker
The most popular type of coffee maker is the drip coffee maker. You add water to the water reservoir of the machine. the water then gets heated, it then pours over the coffee grounds sitting in the filter and dripping out from the machine into the cup.

Krups coffee makers, Braun, Melitta, Mr. Coffee are few of the manufacturers making these type of coffee makers.


2. Espresso Maker
If you would like to have speciality coffee like the Espresso, cappacinno or Lattes these are the machines you should be looking for.You would still need some attachments like the milk frother for a Cappacinno.

There are 2 types of espresso machines available in the market.One is the steam espresso machine and the other is the pump espresso machine.

Steam espresso machine basically operate by heating the water until it boils and steam is produced. This steam then passes through the coffee grounds an you have your speacilaity coffee.

The pump espresso machines operate by forcing the right tempreture of water at high pressure through the ground beans, ineffect producing just the right quality of coffee

The thing to look out for in a espresso machine is the pressure they are capable of producing. These vary from 4 bar pressure in case of steam machines to 19 bar pressure in case of the pump espresso.

The problem with steam espresso makers, since these come with a lesser pressure making mechanism, the machine is capable of producing just 4 bar pressure where as a pump espresso maker is capable of producing as high as 15 - even 19 bar atmospheric pressure which inturn gives the espresso its charasterstic Creama'

Krups has a variety of espresso makers to offer. The krups espresso makers like Krups XP7230 is one of a popular model.

3. French Press
A coffee press or a french press as it is known is a portable variety of coffee maker. This simple type of coffee maker comes with either a stainless steel or a glass carafe and a plunger with a mesh filter.
Easy to use, you simply add coarsely ground coffee at the bottom of the carafe and fill the carafe with hot water. After letting the coffee steep for 2-4 minutes slowly push the plunger downwards, the coffee then passes through the filter and the ground gets pushed to the bottom.

The only problem with a french press is sometimes the coffee granules can escape the mesh resulting in the coffee not being filtered properly.




4. Pod Coffee Maker

These are very popular types of coffee makers. Smart and stylish in looks they offer the user, mess free coffee at the touch of the button.

The populr brands in this category are Keurig coffee makers, Senseo and Tassimo.

Basically, in these type of coffee makers, the coffee comes sealed in a small cup or a pod which can just be put in the machine, add water to the reservoir and press the button. So once the coffee is done, just do away with the used cup or pod and enjoy your drink.

You will be limited with the choices of different types of coffees you can choose from in case of pod brewers or these single cup coffee makers.

If you have a preference for a particular grind, you can still use that in some of the coffee makers. Keurig coffee makers have a feature which allows you to do that with an $ 15 accessory called My cup.



5. Combination Machines

If you love your regular coffee as well as speciality coffees like espresso or a cappuccino then the combi coffee maker can be a good option to consier. There will be no clutter on your work surface with 2 machines taking up too much space. These combi coffee makers are capable of brewing a regular cup of coffee as well as a speciality drink for you.