Philips HD7810/70 Senseo Coffee Machine - Blue with Douwe Egberts

The attraction with these machines is that you can get a hot freshly brewed drink within a minute, and there is no preparation or clearing up to do afterwards unlike traditional expresso type or perculator type machines. Any subsequent drinks are often more quickly dispensed as the water is already partly heated.

Starting the Senseo, it is simpler machine (resulting in almost half the purchase cost of the Tassimo). Water is held in a reservoir which is a bit awkward to fill from your desk due to its narrow profile, (we keep a large bottle of water next to machine for refills) and is best completely removed and taken to a sink to fill by tap, or small pile of paper towels kept handy by your desk to mop up spilt water with. Also the reservoir is fairly small, we get about 2 mugs out of it before it needs refilling (the other reason for having a large bottle of water on standby), I believe there is another model with a large water reservoir that can be identified by the reservoir jutting out from the back of the machine, as the smaller one is flush with the casing. The machine is then switched on which takes then takes about 30 seconds to heat the water, meanwhile the lid is lifted and a Senseo pod is inserted. The pods are literally round tea bags containing ground coffee. Two pod holders are supplied; one which holds 1 pod or one which hold 2 pods. The idea is that the 2 pod holder be used with 2 Senseo pods to produce 2 cups of coffee, and 1 pod holder and 1 pod for 1 cup of coffee. Although with both machines, the manufacturers' idea of a cup (or my idea of a cup) is very small (approx. 2/3 of a coke can), I prefer a mug of coffee. After the pod is clamped in place there is simply 2 buttons - one for one cup, the other for 2 cups. The buttons simply control the amount of water pumped through the pod into your cup. The tray can hold 2 small cups which the nozzle is split in two so both cups can be filled simultaneously, or one mug can fit on which receives both nozzles. My personal preference is to use one pod and then press the 2 cup button to fill my mug almost to the brim before switching the machine off to leave room for a splash of milk. The machine makes a loud buzzing noise for about 1 second which I presume is an initial dose of water being put in the pod to brew, a 1 second pause and then a substantially quieter buzzing sound as the cup/mug is filled. The used bag is simply then removed and thrown away ready to repeat the process (usually you have to top up the water at this stage if the next person also wants a mug). I have tried the 4 variaties of coffee available in the UK (more available on eBAY )- mild, medium, dark roast and decaff (similar to medium strength). I prefer to use one medium strength or one decaff pod for one mug of coffee, whereas my work colleague uses one dark roast pod for one mug of coffee. Sometimes for a really strong '1st thing in the morning' type of coffee I use 2 dark roast pods and press the one cup button. Basically you can juggle about with using a 1 cup size or 2 cup size serving of coffee with 1 or 2 pods of the different varieties to suit your taste.

All the coffee that is produced has a crema (thick creamy foam) like a proper coffee, and when I first used the machine I was amazed how good the coffee tasted and how consisitently it produces it time after time combined with the almost completely zero hassle of preparing and cleaning up of it compared to perculators or expresso machines.

The coffee pods are roughly 2/3 of the price of Tassimo discs - probably due to the pods being like tea bags sold in the one bag, whereas the Tassimo discs are sold in substantial amount of packaging and cardboard and the discs themselves are plastic with foil cover. The Senseo pods will need storing in an air tight container after opening so the rest of your pods don't go stale. Because the Tassimo discs are small individual plastic containers sealed with foil, they don't need to be stored in the same way as they will keep fresh.


Great Coffee, Easy To Use, No Mess - I Love It   January 5, 2005
23 out of 24 found this review helpful

By far the best coffee machine I have ever used... so easy to use, and clean you will love it...

Also:
1. you don't need milk - it tastes great without
2. There is a guy on eBay shipping the pods out from the Netherlands where they have 12 different types of coffee! Far better than in UK. Fantastic! I have ordered 10 bags of pods already!


A new way to drink coffee   October 25, 2004
22 out of 23 found this review helpful

At first I was unsure as to whether or not it was going to be a worthwhile investment.... How wrong could I be!!

It is fantastic. I am the only person in my household that drinks coffee and using a conventional coffee maker is such alot of hasstle. The Senseo coffee machine make a fantastic cup or mug of coffee in such a short time. I highly recommend it.

I had to try a small experiment with the Senseo and so I placed a round tetley tea bag in the pod holder and out came a superb cup of tea !!.. It seems a shame just to use it for coffee.


Senseo - sensational   July 10, 2004
R J BURFOOT (Stroud, Glos United Kingdom)
16 out of 17 found this review helpful

What a fantastic little piece of kit. For once the hype is really true. This machine makes a brilliant cup of coffee, at just the right temperature in just a few seconds. The coffee pads aren't cheap to buy (not yet anyway) but the quality is every bit as good as the coffee you'd buy in Starbucks, right down to the layer of crema on the top.

We first saw this machine in France. You can buy it cheaper over there in a hypermarket and the same coffee pods are much, much cheaper to buy as well; there are several brands of coffee pod available overseas - hopefully there will be some competition over here before long.

Phillips have done a great job on this machine; if you love real coffee you will not be disappointed!


Delicious coffee in seconds - cute machine too!   October 15, 2005
16 out of 17 found this review helpful

I wasn't too sure when I saw the adverts for this machine if it wasn't just another gimmick. I bought a different machine by a different manufacturer a while ago and not only did the coffee have a strange chemical taste (it wasn't a pod machine, it just used fresh ground coffee), it also packed up completely after a couple of months of use! All I wanted was an easy, but real tasting cup of coffee!
Based on the good reviews of the Senseo, I decided to give it a go. So far, I am very, very pleased with it's performance AND the quality and flavour of the coffee. I'm not going to lie to you, the crema layer isn't technically a proper crema layer but it does the job and I like it. I couldn't really imagine a machine like this could give a proper crema layer as it is not really an espresso machine, but for the money and quality of the coffee it produces, it is well worth it. If you are looking for a proper espresso, then my advice would be to get a proper espresso machine. If, like me, all you want is a really good cup of coffee (and you're not bothered by a crema layer that only lasts a few sips) then the Senseo is for you!
The machine could not be easier to use. You just fill up the tank, put in a coffee pod, put a cup under the spout, press the power button and then choose the 1 or 2 cup option and you're off! Be aware that the Senseo does not come with the 2 little white cups that are pictured with it but regular sized espresso cups work fine, or if you wanted to add milk, a small mug would work too.
The coffee pods are available in most major supermarkets but there are also places on the web that sell the flavoured versions that are only available on the continent. I went to e-bay and bought some at first but the shipping is quite high, then I just googled "coffee pods" in the UK and found several sites that offer the same pods as on e-bay but for a fraction of the cost and p&p.