Pods Now Deliver Real Coffee

Pods Now Deliver Real Coffee
Gary Krakow

Is it possible to make a great cup of coffee in your own home and not have to mess with coffee grounds? The people at Phillips and Dutch coffee roaster Douwe Egberts (Sara Lee Brands in the U.S.) think so. And they're betting that their Senseo coffee making system will be as big a hit here as it's been in Europe.

More than 5 million people around the world are enjoying their daily cuppa courtesy of their Senseo machines. I don't even want to think how many billions (2.5 billion at last count) of coffee pods they've used.

I love the ritual of making coffee. Actually, friends have joked that when I make coffee it looks as complicated as a science experiment. Sometimes they're right. Beans have to be ground just right, measured perfectly and brewed for the right amount of time in one of my very unusual coffee machines. They don't make fun of my coffee when they're drinking it, though.

Now, however, Senseo has simplified my life.

I've tried a bunch of the new, single-serve coffee makers that claim their coffee pods make great coffee. The only one that comes close to making coffee the way I like it, cup after cup, is Senseo's.

Some of the other "easy-to-use" machines produce final products that do not taste like coffee. I'm being kind. One provided each cup with two to three ounces of coffee grounds.