Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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116 of 116 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great gadget for occasional use, October 23, 2005
While walking through my local Wal-Mart I came upon this gem, at first I just glanced by it then had to take a double look. Sure enough there it sat, the item I envisioned but never found nor ever heard of, until now. Ive seen those other types of re-useable coffee pod holders but all pretty much had bad reviews, and honestly looked to cheap to do the job right.
Now at home and to give it a try. The box contains a holder, cover, filters, and a scoop. The holder replaces the original Senseo pod holder and houses the rest of the parts. At the bottom of the holder you place a filter then fill with 1 to 1-1/2 scoops of coffee grinds and compact with the cover. The cover remains in place while brewing. Next place the whole assembly into the Senseo and the rest is as normal.
Clean up can be a hassle because now your dealing with loose grinds which is why I'll use this occasionally. Remove the cover and dump the grinds in the trash which most will fall out because of the filter. You'll need to rinse the holder and the cover.
TIP: After placing the filter in the holder wet it so it will stay in place when you place grinds onto it.
NOTES: As the instructions say, you should be careful when placing grinds into the holder as to not get grinds on the rim of the holder, if you do you must remove the grinds from the rim before placing into the Senseo. The next is that it says not to use finely ground coffee but doesnt give a reason why but I'm sure we all could venture at a guess because the bottom of the holder is not a finely mesh screen like the other cheaply made re-usable pods.
OVERALL: Its actually simple to use but I'll still primarily use pods because of the convenience. I'll use this when I want some 100% Kona coffee mostly, Kona coffee pods price out to about a buck a piece. This should help with that cost. Great gadget, 5 stars!
Another NOTE: Because the holder has many holes in it, it does not apply the same kind of back pressure that the original Senseo holder does with only one small hole. Because of this, using the 1-cup button produces about 1-1/2 cups while the 2-cup button will most likely overfill most large mugs in effect weakening the tastes. The perfect combination for me is 1-1/2 scoops of coffee then pressing the 1-cup button.
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24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
This, along with a good grinder, is a great upgrade for the Senseo, April 9, 2007
I've been reading through the reviews for the mypod adapter for the Senseo machines, and you can almost immediately tell those who have a good grinder along with it, and those who don't, or those who buy preground. Usually all the bad complaints are from the latter.
The Senseo is actually a quite brilliant and cost effective piece of engineering. It's let down by absolutely horrible coffee marketed by Philips / Sara Lee - some of the worst coffee bought on the open market today. Fortunately, the mypod adapter lets you skip commodity coffee and move on to some of the world's best coffees.
But it too is let down if you don't have a good grinder (think Solis Maestro or better) to go along with it. Fresh ground coffee, ground to the right particle size, is extremely important in any brewed cup, and no less so with this aftermarket adapter.
Grinding to something closer to a moka grind than a drip grind (fairly fine, but not "espresso" fine), 14g of coffee in the pod adapter results in an excellent extraction up to about 5 ounces. Not too shabby when you consider that extraction time is around 50 seconds. The mypod can be used without the paper filters, but in my experience, you need a coarser ground and more coffee to get the same kind of overall cup. Normally I eschew paper filters, but the mypod filters are more "weaves" than a solid mass, and allow some aromatic oils to seep through, something paper normally traps. Also, because it's a loose fit over the bottom of the filter, some brew water goes around the paper sidways, allowing more oils to make it to the cup.
The Senseo, when used with the mypod adapter, produces a fairly decent quality "caffe suisse" style brew. The pump does exert more pressure on the bed of coffee than a moka pot does, but not as much as a true espresso machine does. With the grind I use for it, I generally get a max of six ounces using the "two cup" button; but the extraction time is long enough, and some geniune (albeit very blond) crema is produced - not the false, frothed coffee (not crema) that the Senseo and its original pods produce.
Overall, this is a must have for any Senseo owner, but don't bother unless you have a good grinder to match it up with. And good coffee to use - Folgers isn't good coffee. And make sure the metal part of the filter you see when loading it into the machine is completely clean - it has to form a good seal with the rubber gasket in the Senseo's lid. If any stray coffee grounds are there, you will see leakage and a ruined cup.
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22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Easy enough for everyday use, March 3, 2006
I've been on the fence about my Senseo after the fun wore off on day 2. Pods are expensive, and the D&E pods just aren't that great. The crema is a nice touch, but for me it's not worth 40 cents more per cup of coffee (using 2 pods for a full cup) to shave a few minutes from the routine and to get some foam. Yes, there are better pods, but there's only so much most people are willing to pay. In comes the MyPod...
I did a fair amount of research before picking this up, and couldn't be happier. I looked at the EcoPod, which is a good idea, but just looked messy and flimsy. The MyPod is easy enough to use every day, you just drop a filter sheet in the bottom, dump some coffee in, press down the top and pop it in like the normal pod holder. MAYBE adds a minute to the process (assuming you have ground coffee ready to go).
A few things to point out, that I remember reading in other reviews.
1 - It does not give you the crema, but really, is it that big of a deal? Honestly I prefer coffee without it since it's not so much cream as it is foam, which is kind of weird on coffee.
2 - It will drip a lot more after the machine is turned off. Again no big deal, just rinse the tray that's down there to catch the drips.
3 - I didn't find it difficult at all to get a strong cup of coffee. Other people have noted all sorts of methods and tips, and others have complained it's too weak. I use about 1.5 scoops of a fine grind (not like powder - it says not to use finely ground, but not like folgers grind), and just make sure to press down the top all the way to pack it in. Hit the 2 cup button, and in 30 seconds it's a nice full cup of dark coffee. I can't comment on whether you have to watch and make sure it doesn't overflow because I haven't left it unattended. Either way, is that a reason to pass it up? I think we can all stand still for 30 seconds if it means using our own coffee and getting a full cup.
4 - Yes, keep the grinds off the rim of the holder. Are people doing this with a blindfold on? It's a small scoop, a big hole, and it doesn't fill to the top - how people get grinds on the rim enough to comment on it is beyond me.
All in all, a great product. I really can't think of anything I would change. I was about ready to take my Senseo back, but now it's found a home on my counter.
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