Review: Café Filter - Use Your Own Coffee in Senseo

When I first heard about the Café Filter (a special thanks again to Scott Geiger for alerting me to the existence of the filter), I was really excited! This meant that if you didn't like the coffee pods that were Senseo compatible, you could use your own blend of coffee and finally free yourself of having 2 coffee machines - pods - and a standard brew or drip coffee maker.

I'm pleased to say - this thing rocks! It not only allows you to make a cup of coffee with whatever coffee you choose - it totally makes the Senseo the only single serve coffee machine that takes pods (I'm going to see if this works in the Home Café this week) and regular coffee.

I was also pleasantly surprised that if you grind the coffee very fine - you get a very nice crema cup of coffee just like the pods - except it's YOUR COFFEE! Don't get me wrong - I love the coffee pods and their convenience - but this past Saturday morning, grinding up some beans of my favorite Jamaican Blue and having a cup of Jamaican Blue Crema Senseo brewed coffee - was PURE PLEASURE.

And the best thing? The filter is easy to use, easy to clean, and makes a great cup of coffee provided you are okay with the following:

• Clean - you don't want grinds clogging up your Senseo
• Realize - YES it's still a little more work than a pod - but boy is it nice having a cup of Jamaican Blue over the same Dark Roast coffee from Senseo every day (though I have to say - I love the Dark Roast)
• It's a tad bit expensive (~$25 US Dollars with Shipping) - as you have to order it online from Knives and Tools (actually they are reselling the filter for LMTO electronics) - However LMTO have gone out of their way to find an economical and fast way to get the filter from The Netherlands by reselling it through Knives and Tools

Check out these shots to get you more familiar with how the Café Filter works:

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Café Filter Packaging - Now that's a nice design!	I can see two halves of the filter...	There they are! Top and bottom!
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Top of filter.	Bottom of Filter	Filter put together
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Grind your coffee	Put it in the Senseo after filling with your favorite blend.

Here are some key insights about the filter from SingleServeCofee.com readers Lisa B., Michael van den Eijnden, and Oz!

From Lisa B.

"Pads or Café Filter? Pads, for convenience. But the "little guy" roasters out there (in coffee houses and home roasting hobbyists) will tell you that volitale oils aromatics and freshness start to escape from the bean within days after roast, and mere hours after grinding. The Senseo gives a nice, strong, brew with a flavor "in between" drip and espresso, and I'm going to enjoy using the Café Filter to make the most of that."

From Michael van Den Eijnden

"Also, and very important. Try to fill the holder OUTSIDE the Senseo, then make sure there are NO grounds around...

My metal holder/filter got clogged, that little hole. And NOISE and STEAM will be emitted from your Senseo (no coffee).

KEEP YOUR Senseo CLEAN/GROUND FREE!

I fixed it with a tooth pick..."

From Oz

"Know !! The Senseo makes more SENSE over all the others.With the ability to use any coffee you want, its unbeatable.
Just imagine using real coffee beans such as LAVAZZA, Jamaican Blue MOUNTAIN (REAL Jamaican Blue MOUNTAIN), and other islands (Hawaii, Puerto Rico e.g...) Colombian coffee is good but the above mentioned coffees are the creme of the creme, and in my opinion if a coffee machine can't take me there I wouldn't buy it. "

Full set of comments can be found here...

Final Thoughts

If you have a Senseo - you have to have the Café Filter. It makes the people who say, "You can't use your own coffee?" Very very quiet. They can't complain if they can use their own coffee can they?

Thanks again to everyone for telling me about the Café Filter - and a big thanks to Joost at LMTO for making the Café Filter available to US Senseo owners!

Read More in: Coffee Pod Reviews | Coffee Pods | Reviews

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