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Single-cup coffee (also referred to as single-serve coffee) is the most convenient way to get a great cup of coffee – and thus it’s no wonder why its use is on the rise. As opposed to making a whole pot of coffee and waiting for it to brew, single-cup coffee gives you a fresh cup in under a minute without any fuss.

Although single-serve coffee is a more economical option than buying a cup of coffee from your local coffee shop, there are still ways to squeeze the most out of your single-cup brewer. A few practical ideas will go a long way in adding a little more jingle to your pockets while still enjoying the convenience of single-cup coffee.

Which Single-Cup Format? It Makes A Difference

Not all single-cup formats are created equal. Many, such as Keurig K-Cups and Tassimo T-DISCS use plastic capsules, adding to the cost of your cup of coffee. However, coffee pods, used in coffee pod brewers, leave out the plastic – saving you money while making Mama Nature very happy!

Coffee pods also carry an added bonus – they are not owned by any specific company. This means that coffee roasters don’t pay royalties to produce coffee pods – a cost which is generally passed on to the customer of other single-cup systems.

How much will you save? Depending on where you buy your coffee, coffee pods can pocket you 35-50% in savings when compared to other single-serve formats!

But what if you already own another single-cup brewer? Don’t worry, you don’t have to miss out on the wealth-inducing opportunities we’re discussing here! Many varieties of pod adapters are available through online retailers, such as the Perfect Pod Holster for Keurig - thus converting your current brewer into a money-making machine!

Saving Money on Specialty Drinks

Many single-serve coffee systems allow the brewing of beverages other than coffee – such as teas and hot chocolates. You can save money on these drinks too!

Most single-cup brewers are able to produce hot water on-demand. Your brewer may have a dedicated hot water button, or you may just have to leave the coffee pod or capsule out when brewing. When combined with hot chocolate powder, the hot water dispensed from your brewer makes a delicious cup of hot chocolate. This neat trick can save you money as opposed to buying specific hot chocolate capsules for your brewer. The article More Than Just Coffee – Using Your Pod Brewer to Make Café Mochas & Hot Chocolate discusses this technique in more detail.

You can also use the on-demand hot water function to make tea using your favorite variety of tea bag. Some pod brewers - such as the BUNN MyCafé MC - even accept tea bags in the same spot you would place a pod!

Buying Online is a Great Option

Most people buy their coffee at their local grocery store, but did you know you can have your coffee delivered to your door by ordering online? In fact, online retailers tend to have great prices and varieties not often found in old fashioned brick-and-mortar stores.

If you are interested in saving money on your cup of coffee or tea, check out our section of coffee pods, tea pods, and tea bags.

The Grindmaster OPod Pod Brewer, one of our best-selling Coffee Pod Brewers.

Choosing The Right Pod Coffee Brewer

Who wouldn’t want a perfect cup of gourmet coffee that’s fast, easy and on the go whenever you need it? It’s possible to have coffee in your hand in under a minute without any leftovers sitting around in the coffee pot, and no messy clean up afterwards. Pod coffee brewers do exactly this. They give you one serving of coffee, fast and easy.

The coffee pods also known as soft pods look like tea bags except that they are round and plump. That little pod is the filter and contains enough ground coffee to make the perfect cup.

With many different brands, sizes and styles out there, it’s hard to know how to choose the right pod brewer. You should know where you will be buying coffee pods and what sizes you will need in order to have a full understanding of the type of pod brewer you want.

Here are three reasons why you might want a pod coffee brewer:


1. You like the idea of making coffee with no mess or cleanup.
2. You want a single cup of coffee from time to time and want to be able to grab it and go.
3. You like gourmet coffee but don’t have time to grind beans and make a full pot.

Here are a few things you should know about the pod brewers on the market:

Sizes

There are three different sizes, pod diameters in 44mm, 55mm and 62mm. Most commonly the 44m fits Melitta pod brewers. The 55mm pods usually fit the “Juan Valdez” brewers. Finally, the 62 mm pods usually work for “Senseo”, “Krups”, “Mr.Coffee” and “Black & Decker”, "Grindmaster", "Cuisinart" and "Bunnomatic" pod brewers.

Brands

The first brand to make a pod brewer was Senseo in 2004. Soon after this, many other companies began making pod coffee brewers. A few of the most common brands would be, “Senseo”, “Melitta”, “Bunn My Café”, "Grindmaster G Pod", and “Cuisinart”.

Single vs. Double

You can either buy one-cup pod brewers or two-cup pod brewers. One-cup pod brewers are sleek and compact and come in retail for home use or commercial for office use. The usual pod size is 10 grams and 61mm, but there are also Extra Bold options that weigh in at 12 grams for the coffee afficianados out there. A dual brewer is typically used for home or hotel room applications, which has the ability to brew one cup or two cups simultaneously.

Coffee Strength

Since coffee pods come in different weights, the weight you select will give you various 'strengths'. In addition, some brewers come with a manual strength selector. This allows you to select the strength of coffee you want on any given day, some prefer a milder coffee in the morning and a stronger version in the afternoon (or vice versa). This can be great for an office (or home) with people who have different coffee preferences.

Water Reservoir

Most pod brewers have a water reservoir like any coffee pot that brews the water through the filter to make coffee. You can choose to have the water reservoir that you manually fill or one that allows for plumbing to continuously supply water to the coffee brewer. This “plumbed-in” type system is much more expensive than one you would manually fill. However, this is a great choice for an office or business setting.

An example of K-Cups.

An example of a coffee pod.

When it comes to single-serve coffee, there are a variety of solutions that let you say goodbye to fussing with filters, ground beans and left-over liquid sitting in the pot. Like coffee dispensing machines, K-Cups and coffee pods give you press-and-brew simplicity.

How do K-Cups work?

A K-Cup is a plastic container that resembles a creamer cup that contains ground beans sealed air-tight with plastic and a foil lid.

The Keurig brewer forces hot water through the K-Cup and into your mug or cup. There are two main manufacturers of K-Cups:  Green Mountain and Van Houte. K-Cup brewers have been on the market for over 10 years. Regardless of the manufacturer, each relies on micro-processor technology to control the temperature and the amount of coffee brewed.

When it comes to single-cup brewers, Tassimo gives you a choice of your cuppa: brewed coffee, cappuccino, latte, hot cocoa and even tea. Think auto-espresso with push-button simplicity at a fraction of the cost of what you’ll pay at your neighborhood Starbucks or competitor.

Keurig K-Cups offer single-origin coffees from Africa, Latin and South America including organic and fair trade coffees. You can also choose from a wide selection of blends and roasts including decaf. If you are a tea drinker, you can use the K-Cup with Bigelow, Cafe Escapes, Celestial Seasonings, Gloria Jean's Tea, Timothy's Tea and Twinings Tea. English Breakfast, Chamomile or Earl Grey decaf, Chai, Peppermint and Mango. Hot chocolate drinkers can revel in the fact that there are Ghirardelli Chocolate brands as well as Green Mountain, Café Escapes and Timothy’s.

What is a coffee Pod?

Coffee pods – also known as coffee pads in other parts of the world – are the coffee version of a tea bag and have been around for over 20 years. They contain ground beans inside a filter. Just like K-Cups, coffee pod brewers run hot water through the single-serve coffee pods. There are more manufacturers to choose from: Wolfgang Puck, Melitta, Senseo, Reunion Island, Fratello and many others.

Coffee pods offer the same simplicity and one-touch convenience as K-Cups.

Either way, you can forget about grinding coffee beans, measuring them, throwing in a filter, or cleaning up the subsequent mess. You can give away your grinder and forget about having to stock up on filters.

Regardless of whether you choose the pod or K-Cup, you still need to shell out for a specialized brewer.

And what you make up for in convenience you lose in terms of control. If you don’t like the richness or flavor, you can’t doctor it.

For those who are worried about plastic ending up in land fills, the K-Cup is less friendly to the environment. With coffee pods, all you throw away is the bag and its grounds, which can go into your compost heap.

When it comes to the price tag, coffee pod brewers can be half the cost of K-Cup brewers. Once you’ve shelled out for the brewer, you have to shell out for the coffee itself. In total, this adds up to more than the cost of buying and grinding your own beans.

For the occasional single-serving coffee drinker, both K-Cups and coffee pods provide the simplicity of instant coffee or a coffee dispenser but with a huge taste advantage. The bottom line is whether cost-savings trumps selection.

Image Credit (K-Cups): Randy Read

With other single-cup systems able to make hot chocolate and even café mochas, you may have wondered, “Can I do the same with my pod brewer?” The answer is YES! If you want to make a café mocha or hot chocolate using your pod brewer, follow our simple steps below.

Looking for a warm, chocolaty treat? Make sure you try these recipes for yourself. With just a bit of hot chocolate mix you can widen the variety of drinks your pod brewer will make. Enjoy!

Café Mocha Instructions:

Select your favorite coffee pod variety (remember that non-flavored coffees work best when making café mocha) and follow the steps that you normally would take to make a coffee with your pod brewer. In your cup or mug, place one portion of your preferred hot chocolate mix. Next, station the mug and press the brew button. Stir and enjoy!

Hot Chocolate Instructions:

Follow the steps that you normally would take to make a coffee or tea with your pod brewer. However, make sure that there is no pod in the pod holder. In your cup or mug, place one portion of your preferred hot chocolate mix. Next, station the mug and press the brew button. Once the water has finished passing thru the brewer, open the pod compartment to release any trapped water. Stir and enjoy!

Note: Some pod brewers require you to open and close the pod holder compartment before brewing. Make sure to do this if required. Additionally, ensure you are using a large enough cup or mug. Generally, when a pod is not in place one or two extra ounces of liquid will pass thru the brewer.

Feel free to garnish your hot beverage creations with whipped cream, drizzled chocolate syrup or sprinkled chocolate shavings for a true coffee house experience!

When it comes to brewed coffee, there’s buzz in the industry about two products that provide the same result with different technology.

The coffee pod concept is equivalent to the tea bag: it’s a pouch with finely-ground roast coffee. All  you need to add is hot water.

Coffee pods are a high-end and mobile variation of instant coffee. Each gauze bag contains packaged ground coffee beans in their own filter, sealed to retain freshness and ready to drink in 30 seconds.

Unlike tea bags, coffee pods need their own pod coffee makers. Unlike traditional coffee makers, pod coffee makers don’t use a drop filter but force water through the pod.

What’s the attraction? No grinding, no measuring, no mess, no issue with making too much of a certain roast or strength. No question of how old the pot of coffee is, if it’s hot or if it has the type of coffee you prefer. Pod coffee provides all the benefits of a freshly brewed cup. Coffee left on the burner loses its aroma and the taste turns bitter.

Each pod is sealed to retain freshness, you brew one cup at a time directly into your cup, choosing the strength and amount you prefer. No fuss, no measuring.

Pod coffee is ideal for serving different coffee blends or flavors, for serving both fresh-brewed coffee and tea. Coffee pods come in a range of roast styles and there are even flavored coffee and decaffeinated pods. However, for all the convenience, pod coffee is costlier and offers less choice than grinding your own beans.

With coffee pods, you can expect a predictable taste no matter who is preparing the coffee. And there’s no learning curve. All you have to do is add water to the machine, slip in the pod and press a button.

With K-Cups, you use a small pot the size of a creamer cup with enough ground coffee for a single serving. You use a special brewer which forces hot water through the cup, and freshly-filtered coffee drips out.

K-Cups offer the same benefits as coffee pods: no grinding, no filters, and no mess.

How do K-Cups and coffee pods compare?

K-Cups are pricier than coffee pods and offer less variety in roast styles and flavors.

With coffee pods, you can use the same coffee maker to alternate between tea and coffee. Coffee pod makers also offer a wider selection between the entry-level and high-end models.

Regardless of which type of single-serve coffee technology you choose, both K-Cups and coffee pods provide delicious, convenient coffee. Single serve coffee makers can be used in your home, your office, and you can even take them with you when you’re on the road.