This is a heinous development... also the kings of instant coffee Nescafé have introduced a similar packaged espresso system called Nespresso. This is really wrecking the good vibes surrounding coffee in our green way.

I bet the coffee's not even as good as fair-trade is in a French press;)

It's decent. But I bought a french press instead.

The system is for people "on the run", but as some one in an espresso forum once pointed out: "Coffee is meant for you to relax, if you don't have 10 minutes to pull yourself a good shot and sit down and enjoy it, just don't do it."

I had the Melitta version of it once upon a time and for what it was it was okay, no comparison to my frenchpress though, but that didn't stop a friend of mine to gladly take it off of my hands when I wanted to get rid of it.

These things are about "convenience" and the idea that "fresh" is always better than five minutes old (which may be true in the case of coffee, but really, does anybody think it is better to have the coffee squished in a little puck and then sitting on a shelve for months than the coffee that the local store (or yourself) ground up (or even roasted) just before making the pot?

I received one of these coffee machines for Christmas. The coffee is not that great - it's actually watery and weak. Also, I cannot reuse the coffee grinds in my garden like I normally do!

An Espresso forum!! Now that's something I never knew existed!

Our office has something similar to this... I have to say, I'm not impressed. I know our office did it in an attempt to keep down the mess, but having a regular coffee pot seems so much easier to use, and churns out better coffee.

i have seen similiar products in the store that make single cup brews, but can use standard grounds, i dont recall who makes them, but i thought that was a nice change. im really sensitive to caffeine, and if i have anything stronger than half-caf im up all night, but the stuff they use in traditional decaf is frightening, so it would be nice to be able to use my swiss water process decaf to make a single cup. for now ill stick to my 4 cup maker thats 5 years old with a chipped carafe, works just fine.

Gillette is not a demon rising from the sulfur pit,they make shaving easy and want to make coffee easy.People shave to get the job done not to relax with a strait razor and a spare hour in the morning.People want a fix of caffeine fast to get the job done,I would say caffeine is the demon.

Those who point fingers at others while ignoring their own sins need a back to basics program.Ladies try shaving your legs with a safety razor and watch the blood swirl down the drain like Hitchcock's Psycho.

Starbucks learned to mix the coffee and donut together in one cup so you have a hand free to point the finger of blame.I have a donut dripping on my front and consume fewer calories.There is a lingere coffee shop called Natte Latte which draws people in for powerful drugs.

Gillette's razor blades aren't proprietary. I used to buy generic "knock-offs" all the time. You can get them at any drug store or discount store. I finally went back to the real Gillette blades because they really are a much better quality and give a better shave. The extra money is worth it IMO, and really quite reasonable for what you get.

As far as Braun products go, my experience with them has been the opposite. I've had a Braun electric heater, an electric razor, and a coffee maker. All over-priced crap, which self-destructed in a phenomenally short period. Certainly a lot shorter life than you'd expect based on the higher than average price. I suspect their cachet lay in the snob appeal of their products, but certainly wasn't backed up by any superior quality. The equivalent appliances that I bought to replace them were all off-brand Chinese things, at a fraction of the price. So far, each is still working fine.

From my own experiences, I'd hope a bit of Gillette's quality rubs off on Braun. Braun stuff couldn't have gotten any worse, from what I've seen.

I have a coffee maker that makes one cup at a time, I bought it at Williams & Sonoma. It is made by Keurig. You can buy a version of it from target.com for $99. That seems like a bit much, but factor in these facts:
1. It uses regular coffee grounds so you choose what you want.
2. You never make a whole pot and dump any out, that saves big in my family's experience.
3.Choose how much grounds to add, strong or weak?
4. No paper filters

Anyway, I recemmond it, for it's good tasting coffee and it's sustainability.

Recycline makes some razors in the convenient-style, even just introduced a triple-blader! With a nice shaving mug, you get a fast and comfortable shave, with a greener tint to boot. And I'm German and Polish, so anything that can cut my whiskers is worth its stuff, lol.

Espresso/Coffee Forums... yup, many out there:

www.homebarista.com
www.coffeegeek.com
groups.google.com/group/alt.coffee/topics

:) Guess I don't understand why convenience is such a big deal... buy an espresso machine, start it up before you get in the shower, then spend 2 minutes making an excellent cup. Sure, there's a little more cleanup... but the quality is worth it.

Then again, an espresso machine does waste a lot of energy warming up for 15+ minutes while you're showering... but a good machine will last pretty much forever (atleast 10 years or more).

One thing to remember - there is virtually no cleaning with this product, except the cup you drink out of. So it's worth considering the water (and energy required to heat it) that is saved rinsing and washing your coffee maker or espresso machine.

This product is actually owned by Kraft foods, branded and distributed by Braun. For how it is marketed, yes it is wastefull. That said there is no reason why one cannot peel back the foil lid on the pack and dispose of the coffee grounds for compost, and recycle the plastic.

Help, the company I work for just bought a tASSimo. They are so freaking wasteful. How do I respectfully convince them to stop?

Several have commented that the Tassimo system makes a weak cup of coffee. True for the coffee t-discs, NOT true for the espresso discs. NOT true for the new Chai Tea Latte disc. (Awesome) I have gone so far as to cut out the bar code for an espresso and use it for a coffee disc. (The first 3 ozs of a coffee disc are great, followed by 5 ozs of pure acid.) Regarding recycling, it is easy to cut out the foil top and recycle the plastic, coffee grounds, and the foil. So far, I've enjoyed over 380 espressos from my system. BTW, rather than ranting, maybe we need to find a way to educate.

According to the Tassimo web site: "The used T DISC is suitable for energy recovery through incineration. In locations where plastic collection systems exist, you can cut away the label, rinse the remaining coffee grounds, tea leaves or milk from the chamber and deposit the chamber and label with general plastics (non PET)."

just because you can recycle doesn't make it more environmentally friendly. fact is, good coffee can be made pretty easily without plastic and foil cartridges.

My husband bought us a Tassimo and we love it! I have to drink decaf so we can each make the kind we want and each cup is freshly brewed. We do not use the coffee t-discs, but we love the espresso from Gevalia. Gevalia makes the espresso discs in both regular and decaf. If you need a stronger cup of coffee, try an Americano instead. I run 3 cycles through one t-disc (for 3 shots) then hold down the start button to add hot water to fill my cup. I think you'll like it if you think the coffee is too week. It's also smoother and tastes better than coffee. With regards to recycling, I peel back the foil, empty the grounds and recycle the plastic and foil. Have a fabulous day, all!

For the Braun site to suggest that their coffee pods are recyclable is either laughable or disgusting, depending on your perspective on sustainability. I side with Treehugger here.

I happen to be a longtime closet hippie living with a spouse who is green-aware, but let's just say he hasn't quite grasped the big picture on ethical consumerism. He is a very busy guy, who happens to enjoy a good cuppa joe, and got this contraption over my green misgivings. I'll admit that we have had some lousy and some great coffee depending on the brand. I am no slouch about good coffee. (Sadly, they discontinued their only fair-trade brand, but that's another rant.)

First, there is no way that anyone who is serious about recycling OR compost will take these pods apart for more than a couple of days before cursing the existence of Tassimo pods. These pods are specifically designed to be thrown away intact. The metal covering DOES NOT just "peel away" like a lid on a yogurt cup. It has to be pierced with something sharp, then picked off in several pieces, and it still will leave about 20% of the wrapper stuck down to the 1/8 inch rim all around. By the time you get to the meager bit of coffee grounds, half of which have spilled onto you, you may as well run them down the disposal rather than dump them in your compost bin. This is not a process that becomes easier with experience and skill. TRUST ME.

As for the plastic doohickey, I daresay the recycler will expend more time and money on hand-picking these out because of the substantial remaining metal than not. You can't melt metal into plastic for reuse, people. Dumping unusable items into your recycling bin just raises the cost of recycling and is a deterrent to the industry. Most have a specific list of items they will and won't take for just this reason.

Second, Joe/Jane Workingperson, who owns a Tassimo for the convenience and a need for coffee (spare me the invective against the "evils" of caffeine, the research speaks against you) on the long dull drive to work, is NOT going to spend the 1-2 minutes of frustration taking a Tassimo pod apart every day. Even if committed to greening other aspects of his/her life. This person values convenience and speed. Duh.

The statement in Braun's FAQs that their pods can be recycled is only in there in a wan PR effort to forestall criticism. There is no way they can quickly redesign their pods and coffeemaker without rendering current users' Tassimos useless. Not good for PR, not good for landfills. It's a crappy situation all around, and I don't see a win-win happening anytime soon. I believe consumer demand will drive this device into oblivion eventually. Braun obviously never planned for sustainability in this design. Period.

I can suggest that a great alternative is the single serving pods that are paper-based, like the Senseo. We purchased a Bunn My Cafe for work that uses any of these pods, so anyone can purchase their own brands, including fair-trade & organic. The bonus is that I can bring home the used pods & drop them right into my composter. Everyone knows I compost, so they drop theirs right in my bin. This machine is pricier, but it works very well, makes hot water for tea (you can just pour hot water into your cup, or it will brew a tea bag or tea pod), has a large reservoir. Hasn't failed in a year & a half of use several times a day.

As for those who think one can't enjoy great coffee without a french press, bless you for having a life that allows you that every day. Bless you ten times over. Sucks for me, I guess.