Revisiting Tassimo: Hot Beverage System Part I

We thought we'd revisit the Tassimo and update our impressions of the coffees we tested and also some of the new flavors that weren't available at launch of the product.

When we first reviewed Tassimo in August of 2005 the machine was not even out on the market. We received a pre-release machine that was a final machine build and tested away using that system. At the time both the milk and hot chocolate T-Discs were half the size of the final ones you can purchase today.

We started with getting the machine all primed up and ready for making a simple shot of the new Carte Noire Espresso. We noticed right away how big the reservoir is. It's simply huge. At 64 ounces of water holding power the reservoir for Tassimo takes a long time to fill up but we bet it doesn't need filling that often. It should be able to make 8 - 8 oz beverages and more espresso shots than we can count.

Heating up the Tassimo takes a bit. Our first impression of getting the machine going was it took about twice as long as heating up the Keurig B60 or the Bunn My Cafe. We then put in the cleaning disk and ran some water through the machine.

After this we put in a Carte Noir Espresso T-Disc and waited for the green light on the Tassimo. We then pushed the meaty button on the front of the Tassimo and also got out our temperature probe to see how hot the water was. The espresso came in at a solid 188 degrees F - hot.

The two things we noticed while brewing:

1. The Tassimo is a bit noisy. Yes making espresso and any coffee is noisy - but the pump on the Tassimo is noisy.

2. The espresso being made looks very much like the Nespresso C90 coffee as there is a ton of crema froth. We think this is due to the Tassimo pumping so much air through the T-Disc to create a ton of turbulence to extract the coffee.

The espresso produced is quite good. It's a tad bitter but with a little sugar perked up quite well. The crema produced on the top is not as strong as the Nespresso and doesn't hold the sugar on top of the crema for nearly as long.

For part II - Lattes & Hot Chocolate!

At Tassimo.com and Braun Tassimo TA 1400 Hot Beverage System

February 7, 2006

Revisiting Tassimo: Hot Beverage System Part I