Coffee Pods, T-Disks and K-Cups

!±8± Coffee Pods, T-Disks and K-Cups

Before brewing coffee with coffee pods, before even purchasing or pricing the coffee pods you're planning to brew with, you'll want to pick up a coffee pod brewer. Not all of them are exactly the same, so you will need to do some research to match everything up. Various difference sizes of pods are available, and some pods will not fit some brewers. The safest way to find the right pod for the right brewer, or right brewer for the pods, would be to check the grams per pod against the brewer's capacity.

Though there are many coffee pod brewers that can hold up to twelve gram pods, there are some that can only hold between four and nine grams. Some coffee pod brewers require the larger coffee pods to be pre-infused, which is actually nothing more than wetting the pod before placing it in the brewer, which creates a better seal on the outer filter material.

You're not going to be able to tell if a pod will fit a machine just by looking, either. All of the pods currently on the market are between 55mm and 61mm, making it virtually impossible to tell the difference with only the human eye.

Very different than coffee pods, T-Discs and K-Cups are also floating around on the market. These are not an "open format" like the coffee pods; not just anyone can make them. Producers need permission and a license, which means selection of T-Discs and K-Cups is very limited in comparison to coffee pods. Strangely, T-Discs are also not Kosher.

The only device that you can use a T-Disc in is the Tassimo Hot Beverage Machine. The Tassimo Hot Beverage Machine can only use T-Discs. Although this limits your options, there are some advantages to T-Discs over other types of coffee brewing methods.

A T-Disc for cappuccino, for example, will actually be a package with separate groups of discs; some will contain milk, and some will contain coffee grounds. Although not quite as quick or convenient as coffee pods, this method does avail the Tassimo system the flexibility to offer latte, cappuccino, and even hot chocolate, complete with frothy toppings, in addition to your standard cup of coffee.

Since you'll be investing in the future of your coffee buying, you'll want to put quite a bit of research into your choice of a single cup coffee brewer. It's not like you can change your mind later, after all...at least not without buying a new coffee brewer.