Review: Senseo Cappuccino Coffee Pods from Single Serve Coffee

Do you have a Senseo single serve coffee maker and long for the taste of a great cappuccino each morning along with the amazing single serve coffee the Senseo makes? Then you may have to look a little further than the Senseo Cappuccino Coffee Pods. We aren't saying the Senseo Cappuccino Coffee Pods makes a bad cup of faux cappuccino, but it's not amazing either.
Before we get into the nitty gritty of the review - how do they make the cappuccino coffee pods for Senseo? The pod is composed of layer of coffee and powdered milk surrounded by a paper filter. The two layers mix when brewing on the double cup setting to produce a very froth heavy cup of cappuccino. You'll need to use your double coffee pod holder to brew up a Senseo cappuccino as well.
The first thing you notice when brewing is how much foam head the Senseo Cappuccino Coffee Pods produce and the smell of toasting marshmallows. The foam is over 1 inch on top mixed with what seems like the darker Senseo roast coffee mixed with milk on the bottom.
On our first sip - the mixture ends up being a bit weak. There is a coffee taste but it's very slight and we prefer our cappuccinos to have a bit of a nutty espresso flavor along with the steamed milk and froth. We also like the texture of the foam and steamed milk being a little thicker as well.
We wanted to make sure we had our definition of Cappuccino right so we did a little look up:
Cappuccino gets its name from the Italian order of Catholic Capuchin monks, whose hooded robes resemble the drink's cap of foam in shape and color. The frothed milk from the top of the steaming pitcher is spooned on top to "cap" the cappuccino and retain heat. The proportion of espresso to steamed and frothed milk for cappuccino is usually 1/3 espresso, 1/3 steamed milk and 1/3 frothed milk on top.
We're pretty sure the ratios seem right but we aren't really getting a shot of espresso here and we can understand this is an approximation of the real drink. Okay - so what would we compare it to? How about the Home Cafe cappuccino?
The Senseo Cappuccino is light years ahead of the Home Cafe cappuccino. We think the pressure brewing in the Senseo produces a better faux cappuccino overall. There is some coffee taste here along with a hint of steamed milk. Trust us though - comparing these two cappuccinos to a real cappuccino leaves us to really not want to compare - they're just too different.
We're going to give these a 3 out of 5. They're not terrible but they're not great either. We like Senseo Cappuccino Coffee Pods over the Home Cafe cappuccino solution, but it's going to be a tough purchase if you don't like your cappuccino a bit weak and with less texture to the consistency of the drink. Currently the only place we've been able to find the Senseo Cappuccino Coffee Pods is at Amazon.com. They're priced 40 Senseo Cappuccino Coffee Pods for $19.99. That's going to put them roughly at $.50 cents per drink.
At Senseo Cappuccino Coffee Pods
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Posted by Jay Brewer at April 4, 2006 8:15 AM
I used the Senseo Cappuccino in the Mr. Coffee Home Cafe machine.
I didn't get any frothy stuff, and the coffee looked VERY weak at first, then thickened up.
It was acceptable - coffee taste was a bit srong for me (but I don't usually drink coffee...)
I read somewhere that the Senseo pods/pads were compatible with the home cafe machines.
Comparing the pods, the home cafe cappuccino are thicker and wider - possibly causing the problems I had.
I was happy with the home cafe pods though.
Maybe I just don't drink enough coffe...
I purchased the new Senseo Cappuccino pods from Target and followed Senseo's instructions to use the double pod holder and the singel-serve setting. The resulting beverage was was a watery, colorless, tasteless liquid. I am not exaggerating. Seme results when I tried a second pod...... I notice the contents of the dry pod are hard, instead of loose as in the other Senseo pods, causing me to suspect the contents are defective. The expiration date on the bottom of the bag is 11/08/06, so that shouldn't be the problem. I'm reluctant to invest in another bag in hopes of obtaining a satisfactory product!