If you’ve been following me on twitter you know I was recently sent a Tassimo maker by @TassimoCanada as part of a contest they were running giving out these nifty gadgets to people who tweet and blog so we could try them out and let you all know what we think. Being new to getting booty from blogging I was pretty excited. How cool is it to receive free stuff so you can let people know what you think? Do people even really care what I think? Hmmm. Actually I guess some do… let’s hope this revelation doesn’t go to my head.
Anyway, it arrived a few days before my father and his friend Lucy arrived for a visit. So I set it aside to wait for them to come to help set it up and try it out. That way I could get feed back from 3 generations for this review! I did open the box and it arrived with a variety of coffees, expresso, latte, chia tea latte, and some twinning teas. I was a bit bummed there was no hot chocolate. So I did pick some up at the grocery store. (Tis the season right?)
We all gathered around to open the thing up and get it running, The one I received was a silver one and it had a special filter in it to help purify the water. I filter my city water at the kitchen sink as well. So I guess processing the water twice should provide us with amazing results? Now I think my first mistake was leaving this to the men of the house to set up. Men love to read and follow directions right? Yeah… you get the idea. Three men, three generations, and all of them sure they know what to do. It was comical. In the end I had to take over and insist they read the directions. It took about 45 minutes to get the thing running. Those of us who were of legal age had had a glass of wine… or two… so it might have gone a bit smoother if we weren’t all so, um jolly?
My 16 year old son says I should make sure I tell you all that if you are going to give one of these machines to a grandparent you should set it up for him. I pointed out that that was ageism. He replied “Call it what you want but unless the giver wants to find it sitting in the garage under a layer of dust next time they visit they should help set it up.” He has always been a pragmatic lad.
Once it was up and running we all enjoyed a variety of teas and coffees and even hot chocolate. I’m not really a coffee drinker but my Dad and husband really did enjoy all of the coffees. Lucy, my father’s friend, can only drink decaf and she was quite impressed with the quality of the Maxwell House decaf that came with my samples. Lucy is a self declared Luddite but even she learned to run the Tassimo once it was up and going.
Once it is up and running it is pretty easy. Select the flavor and put it in the machine and press a button. Some products like the chia tea and the lattes have 2 disks. So you do one and then the other. It is easy to refill the machine, it has a hole in the top so you don’t even have to lift the big lid up.
The machine is fun. It is very nice to be able to brew one cup and the quality of the coffee is very good. I liked the chia tea, but the hot chocolate was kind of watery. I think it is better when you make it yourself with hot water and can add extra mix. (Of course it is MUCH better if you make it from scratch with milk!) They offer only Twinnings brand tea, both Earl Grey black tea and a green tea. I thought they were fine, but I prefer Tazo teas and they don’t have a partnership with Tassimo Canada yet. Tazo is working with them in the US so I will remain ever hopeful!
I also like to have a large variety of tea flavours to choose from depending on my mood. If I wanted a mint tea, or a chamomile I had to return to the traditional method. It seems to me a lack of variety might be a concern for this brand of single cup brew machine. A friend of mine, Belinda, has a Keurig machine that she swears she couldn’t live without. I checked it out online and they do seem to have a larger selection of flavors. Hopefully Tassimo will catch up.
Another concern is the disks. To be honest I have not calculated the difference in cost but I am fairly sure it is bound to be more. The impact on the environment is something to consider as well. It is fun to have all these different flavors to choose from but I’m having trouble storing them! If I’m having trouble storing them I am forced to consider how much space they take up… both now and after I need to get rid of them. They are most certainly not compostable as tea bags and coffee grounds are.
Since I have one I expect I’ll enjoy it for a while, or at least until I get frustrated with all the boxes of disks cluttering up my kitchen!
OH! The great folks at @TassimoCanada did send me three $20 off mail in rebate coupons! If you live in Canada and you know you are going to buy either a Tassimo Model T45 or a T65 leave me a comment and I’ll email you back to get a snail mail address so I can mail you a coupon! Sorry this offer is expired.
