In this article, we’re going to give you a run-through of some good tips for living with a pod coffee machine in your house and talk about how best to keep your machine working perfectly in your home.
To be sure, pod coffee is something fairly new in the grand and long tradition of coffee drinking. This means that there is fairly little guidance dotted around the internet on the minutiae of living with them, even though there’s a wealth of technical and scientific information out there about the specific nature of how the machines work.
Of course, the most popular pod coffee makers are made by Nespresso and Keurig, so the below post mostly applies to them.
Why use a pod coffee machine
It needs to be said outright that pod coffee isn’t the best coffee. Some find the coffee to taste burnt. Another common flaw is that pod coffee is too watery.
On the other hand, these machines offer convenience. You have a 10 minute break between meetings? These pod coffee machines are the easiest way to sneak in some caffeine. They’re also easy to clean. You’ll never have used grounds lying around. Simply throw a used pod into your trash can. Finally, they’re dosed. My aunt and uncle love them because their coffee schedules differ, and they don’t have to keep half a bit warm through the morning.
Some pod coffee machines even compensate for their obvious flaws. Higher-end machines (like the Keurig K-Supreme Plus Smart) can help mitigate coffee extraction issues with setting customization. To really up your pod coffee game, it’s important to utilize freshly roasted coffee beans. But more on that at the end…
How to use a pod coffee machine
Using a pod coffee machine really couldn’t be simpler. In fact, that’s the whole point of their existence. They were designed to be a version of an espresso machine that’s not only cheaper but much easier you use. From a pod machine, you could make a range of great drinks, from simple drinks like black coffee to complex concoctions, like a mocha.
To get started with your pod coffee machine, the first steps are usually very simple. Begin by filling the water tank, and turning the machine on. When you’ve done this, there will usually be some form of indicator light or display that’s telling you the machine is warming a volume of water, ready for use in your drinks.
Once the water is hot, you’re good to get started with your pod coffee machine.
Place a pod into the pod bay within your machine, following the instructions in the manual, and then place a mug underneath the pouring spout. Allow the machine to dispense the drink you’re looking for, and then you should be good to go – a drink will be hot and fresh in front of you, ready to drink.
Some machines require separate steps for the process of warming and processing milk through themselves (See this Keurig machine). If this is the case, then you may need to add milk to the machine and press a corresponding button, or add in a milk pod, and press a corresponding button.
After the button is pressed, the switch flipped, or the lever pulled, the machine should dispense the right drink for you. Or, at least, it should dispense the milk portion of that drink.
After use, you can dispense of the pod, or pods, that you’ve used. In most cases, these can be disposed of directly into your general waste, though they can sometimes be composted, or otherwise recycled.
Cleaning instructions
Cleaning a pod coffee machine is typically really easy. The main reason for this is that, in most cases, the pod not only functions as a method of getting coffee into the machine and brewing it, but also it works as a spout for the coffee drink to dispense from.
This means that there isn’t really a point of the machine that’s getting dirty from exposure to food or drink, only the single-use pods.
Over time, you may get an element of splashing or other elements of coffee buildup within and across the pod coffee machine. In this case, you might feel the need to wipe it with a damp cloth, or something similar. Ensure the power is not connected when you do this.
If you’re looking to descale the water tank and internal mechanism of the machine, that would be a wise choice. Most of the time, the manual will have instructions for how to do this, though there are also many times when the container for the descaling chemicals will also have instructions. Remember, you can always get generic descaling products online. They’re usually cheaper than the brand name ones.
Refer to those packaging instructions for guidance on cleaning and descaling your pod coffee machine.
Storage suggestions
There are, of course, two components to a pod coffee machine – the machine, and the pods.
The machine itself is something easy to store. It can be added to a cupboard or shelf and, as long as it physically fits in, you’re fairly good to go with working and living around it. This means that you can use the pod coffee machine in a large number of different rooms and spaces in your home.
The one thing that we would urge you to consider is this – you may need to get access to the tank of the machine quite easily to retrieve and refill it. To make sure that you can do this, we would recommend not storing the machine with its back directly to a wall.
Storing the pods can be something deeply exciting in your home. There are a wide range of options that would work well for many people, from drawer inserts to vertical options and even wall-mounted affairs.
We’re going to talk about some specific options for pod storage in the accessories element of this page, but we want to mention something very quickly – consider how many pods you need rapid access to.
Most people only need access to the pod for their morning coffee, not the pod that makes the hot chocolate that might only have once a week. With that in mind, you might be best served by a minimalist affair that only offers you key access to one pod in particular.
Pod Storage
Accessories are an exciting part of a new piece of coffee equipment, and by far the handiest piece of equipment for a pod machine is pod storage.
We particularly like this simple option from Amazon, as it offers a solution to the problem of intrusive storage devices. If you’ve got a little room above your coffee pod machine, you can lift it up and stand it on this base.
Once you’ve filled the base with pods, it functions perfectly, giving you great coffee really easily.
The option to the left feels a little more leveled up. We really like its aesthetics – the runners can be trimmed to any size, and can be used to fit nearly any coffee pod on the market! This means that they offer aesthetically pleasing storage very easily, as well as ensuring that it’s totally efficient.
Custom pod coffee
One last thing. If you really want to level up your pod coffee game, you really should be using fresh coffee. To be frank, the commercial pods you get online or even your local grocery story (Costco even?) have probably been sitting on the self for MONTHS. Think about it – pod coffee is usually made with the lowest quality coffee beans. These are the beans that are left over after specialty coffee roasters have purchased high quality beans directly from coffee farmers. So, the leftovers are bought in bulk and mixed together from various farms all over the world. And you guessed it, that’s where your Starbucks or Dunkin or Kirkland pods come from! They mix all of these beans, roast them, grind them, and stuff them into pods. The pods sit in warehouses for months at a time before they even arrive at your local store. We all know that ground coffee loses its flavor very quickly… so it’s no wonder your pod coffee doesn’t taste good.
Do yourself a favor – make some custom pod coffee. All you have to do is order some Keurig compatible reusable coffee pods like these:
I really like these because they’re stainless steel and easy to reuse. You’d buy your own specialty coffee (our Light Roast would be delicious). You can purchase the coffee ground or grind it yourself, but be sure to use a medium to medium-fine grind. There’s no doubt that doing so would level-up your morning Keurig coffee because most specialty coffee is roasted within a couple weeks of being on the shelf. The added benefit is that you’ll be able to experiment more with what coffee flavors you like!
Conclusion
Pod coffee machines can be a great addition to your home, and we hope that this article has given you enough information to boost your experience with them. Happy brewing!