Review: Perfect Pod Maker - Make Your Own Coffee Pods

Review from Single Serve Coffee.com - Coffee Pod Reviews Perfectpodmaker

Everyone always asks, "I like using coffee pods - but can I make my own? How do I use my own coffee?" Up until recently you had two options - the Ecopad, the Refillable Coffee Filter for the Senseo and T Sacs when using a single serve coffee pod brewer. Now there's a new coffee pod maker in town - Perfect Pod Coffee Pod Maker

We first heard about the Perfect Pod Maker last year when it was only available from Coffee Giant. Reviews were mixed at first, with some people loving it and some people sticking to using T-Sacs (disposable tea bags you can fill with coffee and make your own pods) instead. We decided at the beginning of this year that we'd pick a Perfect Pod Maker up, and see how it matched against T-Sacs, and how well the Perfect Pod Maker worked with the various single serve coffee pod machines.

We received the original Perfect Pod Coffee Pod Maker over 3 weeks ago, and have made just north of 30+ cups of single serve coffee with it. The Perfect Pod Maker can create any coffee pod you want from the "hot press" pod maker, using the 40 pod papers that come with it, and any ground coffee you want to put in each coffee pod. The Perfect Pod Maker will work with your Senseo, Melitta One:One, simplehuman, Juan Valdez, Bunn Home Cafe, Mr. Coffee, Hamilton Beach, and Black & Decker Home Cafe single serve coffee machines.

How does it work? Does it work well? Do the coffee pods made from the Perfect Pod Maker fit in most machines? What are the pros and cons of using the Perfect Pod Maker

Make Your Own Coffee Pods

The Perfect Pod maker is quite easy to use. First you pick the coffee you want to use in your own coffee pods and then plug in the unit and let it heat up. The Perfect Pod Maker is basically a heated "press" that has comes with coffee pod filters that have a fold over top that can be sealed.

For coffee to use, we picked up some Caribou Coffee that came pre-ground. The two flavors included:

Caribou Coffee Daybreak Morning Blend
Caribou Coffee French Roast

We then picked out the Bunn My Cafe and the Senseo Supreme single serve coffee maker to test our home made coffee pods created from the Perfect Pod Maker. It is good to note the following:

The pods you create with Perfect Pod Coffee Pod Maker are not meant to work in high-pressure espresso machines. Perfect Pod does NOT create ESE espresso pods. This machine best fits a pod size of 71mm. Perfect Pod Maker will NOT work with Keurig, Tassimo, or other single-serve machine that uses a specialized format.

So stick with single serve coffee machines mentioned above in the review including: Senseo, Melitta One:One, simplehuman, Juan Valdez, Bunn Home Cafe, Mr. Coffee, Hamilton Beach, and Black & Decker Home Cafe single serve coffee machines.

Making Our First Homemade Coffee Pod

We fired up the Perfect Pod Coffee Pod Maker and inserted a coffee pod filter. We then used a spoon to fill the contents of the coffee pod to 10.4 grams. You can use less or even a little more coffee. We think a 10 gram pod is nearly perfect for making an 8 oz cup of coffee.

We then weighed the pod in our coffee pod scale to make sure we were in the right weight range. Filling the pod was easy, but you need to be careful not to spill onto the edge of the coffee pod filter. We then folded over the flap and used a little water on the edge of our finger to get one of the sections of the pod filter to stay folded over.

Freshly pressed coffee pod from the Perfect Pod Maker

Next, we closed the Perfect Pod Coffee Pod Maker lid for 5-8 seconds. The instructions say 2-3 - but we found better results with the longer press time. We then opened the Perfect Pod maker and found a very nicely pressed - yet plump - home made coffee pod.

Using our Home Made Coffee Pods in the Bunn My Cafe and Senseo

We recommend highly you pre-moisten your coffee pods made from the Perfect Pod Maker. Results in both the Bunn My Cafe and the Senseo Supreme single serve coffee maker were much better, and produced a richer cup of coffee when pre-wetting the coffee pod prior to brewing.

Ahh...A perfect pod?

The coffee produced from both the Caribou Coffee Daybreak and French roast blends using the Bunn My Cafe were quite good. You really have to make sure the coffee pod is well seated in the holder and you use the 8 oz setting with the 10 gram coffee pod produced. The french roast was much better than lighter blends of coffee we used. This may be due to the fact we like darker coffee, but it's more to do with not getting a great seal. If you take the time to pre-wet - you won't have any issues and lighter blends do work well.

Brewing with the Bunn My Cafe using home made coffee pods

Using the 10 gram coffee pod from the Perfect Pod Coffee Pod Maker in the Senseo Supreme also yielded good results. You get the Senseo frothy top, along with a good coffee taste. It was more challenging to use the 10 gram pod in the single coffee pod holder, and we ended up having to go down to the 8-9 gram range of coffee to get the Senseo to close easily. Using the double pod holder produces a mixed bag of blow by and watery coffee.

Brewing with the Senseo Supreme using home made coffee pods

Comparing the Perfect Pod maker to T-Sacs

T Sac filled with Caribou Coffee

We ordered up a fresh batch of T-Sacs - disposable fillable tea bags and brewed up the Caribou Coffee Daybreak and French Roast Blend. Results were very similar using both machines with the T- Sacs. The Senseo had more trouble with the T-Sacs then the easier to use Bunn My Cafe pod holder, but we were able to get coffee from both and good coffee at that.

Though the T-Sacs are easy to use, we think the pods produced from the Perfect Pod Maker fit the machines better. You also don't have to worry about trimming off any of the excess bag on the T-Sac, and the coffee pods from the Perfect Pod Coffee Pod Maker are able to be made ahead in batches of 10-15 pods. We found making them ahead and storing them in our Brabantia Coffee Pod Canisters made things much easier in the morning.

Conclusions on the Perfect Pod Maker

Pros:

Easy to use
Use any Coffee you want to make coffee pods
Small footprint on countertop
Works with a large variety of machines

Cons:

Refills of Pods are more expensive than other options like T Sacs
Can be messy when making coffee pods

We like the Perfect Pod Maker. The fact is - the thing really works and works well. We had no problem creating our own coffee pods from a variety of coffee blends, and provided we pre-moistened our pods prior to brewing, the home made coffee pods worked well in the Bunn My Cafe and Senseo Supreme single serve coffee brewers. If you need to use your own coffee, or feel like just making some coffee pods, the Perfect Pod Maker is for you. The Original Perfect Pod Maker is priced at $39.99 and the Perfect Pod Maker Deluxe is priced at $49.99. Refills of the coffee pod papers are also available when you run out.

At Coffee Giant Perfect Pod Maker and Perfect Pod Coffee Pod Maker

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

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Posted by Jay Brewer at February 2, 2007 7:00 AM

This is getting a little silly. The effort to make Perfect Pods is probably more than just using a decent 1-2 cup brew-into-mug cone coffee maker, and there is little advantage to making a batch in advance since with a conventional 1-2 cupper you can grind just before brewing and get a better cup. In contrast, the Keurig ground coffee holder doesn't require filter papers or pods, and (for use near a sink) has pretty fast clean-up. I use both; when I'm in the mood for froth on top I use the Senseo with the surprisingly highly rated Folgers Colombian pods which are pretty inexpensive; otherwise the Keurig with ground coffee from the bean, or if I'm feeling really lazy, a Heifer Hope K-cup.
Posted by: David Sternlight at February 5, 2007 1:06 PM

I wonder what the difference is between the regularly priced "Perfect Pod" and the Deluxe? What does 10 more bucks buy you? A better seal? More heat?
Posted by: Rafael Ungson at February 10, 2007 2:24 AM

How do the pods this thing makes compare to things like the Ecopods in terms of the coffee you get at the end? Are there any real advantages to purchasing one of these when you're used to using the plastic pods?
Posted by: Shaun R at February 11, 2007 4:35 PM

I recieved my Perfect Pod on Fridya and have been playing with it. I tried them in my Melitta 1:1, measuring out coffee to an identical weight of a pod produced by Melitta. I found that I needed to skimp a little to get a better fitting pod. It's also important to make sure no grounds are on the lips. I made up some tea pods and some Starbucks decaf Espresso roast pods. Very pleased with the taste--much better than any Melitta variety. I just got an OPOD machine today and roasted a batch of my own beans. I'm eager to give it a go.
Posted by: Java Jen O at February 11, 2007 5:43 PM

The difference between the Perfect Pod Maker and the Perfect Pod Maker Deluxe is only the handle. I was curious about this too, so I called Coffee Giant and asked them what the difference was. They told me the Deluxe model has a silver handle where the original model has a black plastic handle. So you can save $10.00 by purchasing the original Perfect Pod Maker which I did and am very happy with the machine. It works great, is easy to use (even my children love making pods with it) and allows me to use all my favorite coffees. If not for this pod maker, I probably never would have purchased a Single Serve Coffee Maker because the variety of decaf pods(which is all we drink) is too limited. This way I can continue to drink all my favorite brands of coffee and flavored coffees. This is really worth purchasing.
Posted by: Joanne at March 23, 2007 10:33 PM

This is silly. The price charged for podmaker refills is way too high. Even T-sacs are way overpriced. I still recommend using plain old 3" Mr Coffee basket filters (or generic brand)--about a penny apiece. Just place it on the pod holder, add some ground coffee, fold the sides over the top, smooth it down with your thumbs and you're done. Wet the pod if desired. It fits perfectly, is cheap and fast. My gf does it all the time so it *has* to e easy!
Posted by: DrMoze at April 7, 2007 9:36 PM

I am a small coffee roaster located in Jamaica and I'm trying to find a commercial version of the "perfect pod maker" to produce our own Jamaica Blue Mountain pods. Does anyone know of one? Thanks Mark
Posted by: Mark at October 23, 2007 12:05 PM

I tried the the perfect pods in my Bunn My Cafe coffee machine. The machine would leak everytime. Even if I just put in an empty filter with no coffee in it, it would still leak. The water just doesn't flow fast enough through these filters. I have no problem with store bought pods.
Posted by: Houston at December 6, 2007 3:45 PM

Perfect Pod Maker Works Perfectly with Bunn My Cafe. The pod must be placed in the holder correctly and the lip must me tucked in. The easiest way to avoid not tucking in the pod is to put it in upside down. We assure you it is only user error. We guarantee it!
Posted by: vincci accessories at December 12, 2007 1:52 PM

I do a lot of traveling and was wondering if these 'pods' would work w/ the small coffee makers you find in most hotel rooms. Most of the properties I stay @ are Marriotts and they have either the one cup or 4 cup makers using a lousy quality of 'pre-packaged' coffee
Posted by: mark at December 15, 2007 7:19 AM

I received a Melitta One:One coffee pod system as a gift for Christmas 2007, but do not need it. I have no idea where it was purchased, and am unable to find an actual store that seems to sell them (so it can be returned). Any help in finding a store (not online vendor) where the coffee maker can be returned to would be most welcome. Thanks.
Posted by: Ellen at January 10, 2008 4:48 PM

I loved my Perfect Pod Maker the first six times I used it, then it just stopped working. Plug it in and nothing happens. Trying other outlets in the house has not worked. Has anyone else had this problem? It's a little disheartening to spend the money only to have it break after a few uses, and of course this is after I threw away all the packaging so not sure it returning is an option.
Posted by: mary at May 16, 2008 9:49 PM

I also enjoyed using the Perfect Pod Maker. HOWEVER, after about 6 uses at 20 - 30 minute uses it stopped heating. Being a Mr. Fix-it, I took it apart and found that the heating element wire burned out in one spot. I called Adrian at 1-888-735-3621, explained that my 2 month old maker had stopped heating. He said he would send me another at no charge. I asked about the return of the old one and he said it was not necessary. My second unit has just stopped heating and I have been trying for 3 days to reach Adrian and have only been able to leave a message. I hope this is only a glitch. By the way, I got the 1-888 number from CoffieGiant where I purchased the original.
Posted by: Bill at May 31, 2008 2:53 PM

"This is silly. The price charged for podmaker refills is way too high. Even T-sacs are way overpriced. I still recommend using plain old 3" Mr Coffee basket filters (or generic brand)--about a penny apiece. Just place it on the pod holder, add some ground coffee, fold the sides over the top, smooth it down with your thumbs and you're done. Wet the pod if desired. It fits perfectly, is cheap and fast. My gf does it all the time so it *has* to e easy! Posted by: DrMoze at April 7, 2007 9:36 PM" Quoted: This guy is genius. I just tried it on my senseo and it worked like a charm. Thank you so much for posted this gem of info here. You have saved me tons. :)
Posted by: Austinh at June 29, 2008 5:51 PM

Since we already enjoy using a Senseo coffeemaker, and we have several bags of beans that people have given us, we wanted to be able to make our own pods. I now have a Perfect Pod maker with several boxes of paper pods. I've been grinding the coffee pretty fine and packing the pods pretty full, but I still get watery coffee when I use the 2-cup setting. I've started pulling my cup out when its only 2/3rds to 3/4 full and letting the watery end of the "run" go into a juice glass. But it puzzles me that a fully packed Perfect Pod, filled with finely ground Starbucks "Komodo Dragon" can't provide me with a comparable cup of coffee to what I get from two regular-size Senseo pods.
Posted by: Peter1949 at July 3, 2008 8:33 PM

To all our customers: Thanks you for purchasing our product. Just to let you know we have 100% on our product. We always take care of our customers. If you have an issue with making pods we can always help you at 888-735-3621. Our product is the best way to make pods. We guarantee it! Perfect Pod
Posted by: vincci at July 5, 2008 6:05 AM

I use the perfect pod maker and it does indeed produce a perfect little pod. I have found, though, I need to use a finer grind of coffee than that which is used for drip coffee makers. I use Maxwell House's Columbian right off the shelf. I then grind it further in a small Braun coffee grinder producing an almost powdery grind (5-8 seconds). Before using the pod in my Senseo, I,too, wet the pod (this seems to "soften" the ginds and allows the faster-flowing water to more easily extract a robust taste from the coffee grinds). Doing this produces a better tasting cup then using the drip coffee maker.
Posted by: maurice wainwright at August 10, 2008 1:10 PM

I too got the Perfect Pod maker and shortly after purchase it burned out. Way too soon to make it worth while to purchase another one! But I had lots of filters left and I am a cheapie!!! So here is what I did, I put the filter in my pod holder, I filled the filter to the brim and gently folded the filter lid over. I placed the pod holder back in my coffee maker and WONDERFUL!! No problems for the coffee maker, and easy to clean up, ready for the next brew. I have noticed the the best coffee grind for this method is the finest that I can get. I had tried the previously suggested method using a standard coffee filter folded over at the top, but that would not leave room for enough coffee to make a 12-16 ounce cup!! I also used the coffee bag method, but that was no good. Way too much blow by and thus, watered down coffee. My suggestion... Skip the Pod Maker, buy the filters (compared to premanufactured pods, I am saving bundles by only using the filters and my favorite coffees!!) I am online today ordering my next batch of bulk filters after a year of using them alone both at home and at work!
Posted by: Mark Eckert at September 10, 2008 9:10 AM