Review: Cafe Invento Single Serve Coffee Pod Brewer

Review from Single Serve Coffee.com - Coffee Pod Reviews

The Cafe Invento is now available in Canada, and the US. You can make one or two delicious cups of coffee with a crema like layer, and the machine does this by using a Multiple podholders, for one or two coffee- or teapods. It has a large removable watertank, for approx. 10 cups of coffee. We are really taken back by the striking design, and found this coffee pod brewer to be unlike any other we've tested.

From the side - the reservoir is very COOL blue.

The Café Invento Single Serve Coffee Pod Maker also features the Tasteselector, allowing you to select your personal coffee taste - be it light, medium, or darker cups of coffee. Best of all - it has an auto-shut off that powers the machine down after approx. 2 hours. Very green.

The really interesting thing about this new unique coffee pod maker - it features a unique material to make cleaning it up a breeze called Protact. Protact has a synthetic layer which is easy to clean and leaves no fingerprints. Developed by Corus, the synthetic layers have a smooth and silky finish. Inventum is the first in the world to use this material in a product or single serve coffee maker.

What do we think of the Cafe Invento? Is it the best single serve coffee pod brewer we've ever used? How does it compare to the Senseo?

Our Earlier First Impressions

Unboxing was really easy - with very few parts to deal with. Priming of the machine went well, and filling of the reservoir and getting the machine going was straight forward. The machine is very slim, but very wide. Also the finish on the machine is pretty stunning - both silky smooth, and also easy to wipe up. The Cafe Invento comes with both a crema multi-pod holder, and a tea pod holder. This thing makes frothy topped crema coffee very much like the Senseo.

Easy to use controls - one cup or two?

A very easy to use coffee pod holder.

The Cafe Invento also comes with two boxes of coffee pods - Sumatra and Columbian blends. Both are solid examples of the coffee you can expect from the Cafe Invento. Overall our only disappointment so far is the height of the brew head (no travel mugs here), and the fact the machine doesn't come with two small glass cups or the like to brew two cups of coffee as shown in the box shots and in the literature included.

Key Features of the Cafe Invento

Two pod holders for better options: coffee, espresso or tea.
MY INVENTO makes up to two cups of coffee at one time.
With our TasteSelector you select your personal coffee preference; be it light, medium or dark.
The convenient, removable reservoir holds up to 10 cups - (40 oz) of water.
MY INVENTO's ultra-modern slim-line design compliments any home or office environment.
It has an easy clean finish and a dishwasher-safe holding tray.
MY INVENTO features an auto-shut off function for safety.
Constructed of a unique material called Protact, MY INVENTO has a fashionable metal look, cleans easily and resists scratches and fingerprints. MY INVENTO is the first single serve coffee maker in the world to use this material.
All of the MY INVENTO components are recyclable and the biodegradable pods are better for the environment.
MY INVENTO is a perfect match for our Café Invento premium coffee pods.
Available in your choice of Metallic Silver or Pearl White.
My Invento Machine Size: 35 cm height x 35 cm width x 20 cm depth.
My Invento Machine Size: 13.78 in height x 13.78 in width x 7.87in depth.

We are ready to brew.

What we really like is how the machine feels very high end, and also is very shallow or slim on the side so your countertops have more room. It's almost as if the machine it's really there, but on a second glance the stunning design pops forward. It's surprising that Senseo and other coffee makers haven't been able to update their design to something like this given how successful a design like this is. We think some improvement in cup height, and just a little more depth where you put the cup as well could be improvments.

The controls are also drop dead simple - one cup or two cups. Using a larger mug will make both spouts fill the cup with the crema-like coffee. You can also use the TasteSelector to choose light, medium or dark. We just go with dark for everything even when making lighter coffees. We liked the brew time and flavor when choosing this setting.

A frothy cup of Sumatran single serve coffee from the
Cafe Invento.

Overall Impression of the Cafe Invento Coffee Pods

We only got two pod flavors for review from Cafe Invento - Sumatra and Columbian blends. Both are excellent example of coffee pod brewed single serve coffee. They match their roast types, and the Sumatra was much better than the Columbia (not surprising) overall. But it's good to note this is a coffee pod brewer - so we tried Fratello, Baronet, Senseo, Baronet Senseo Pods, Aloha Island Coffee, Cool Beans Pods, and they all worked great. You can expect to use any 62 MM coffee pod up to 12-14g or a more standard 7-10 gram coffee pod with success. Pre-wetting is also recommended - and with a pre-moistened coffee pod we had nothing but excellent coffee produced.

A double cup of Sumatra coffee from Cafe Invento.

We also like the coffee pod holder. It has no aluminum to interfere with the taste, and the coffee pod holder is easily washed, and very light. Nice work here - simplicity at it's best.

Is this the best single serve coffee pod brewer we've ever used? Yes and no. Design wise - we love it. But feature wise at $200, the GPOD and others have better brew control when making a cup of single serve coffee. It does compete with the Senseo on the frothy top coffee front, and we think it gives it a run for the money. We wish Senseo would update their design to have something more in line with the slimness of the Cafe Invento - who knows maybe they will.

Pros and Cons of the Cafe Invento Single Serve Coffee Maker

Pros

Really frothy crema like coffee
Depth of machine gets your countertops back
Easy to use and clean
Easy to use controls
Makes a great cup of coffee using coffee pods
Slim design that is striking
Heats up quickly
Auto-Off
You can use any coffee pod and it works and fits 7-14 grams

Cons

Can't use a travel mug
Wish I could tell the water level from the front in the reservoir
Price is a bit high at almost $200

We really like the Cafe Invento single serve coffee pod brewer. The design is striking, and we think the feature set is solid. We wish the machine would be priced more in the $125-150 range, but we can see paying a premium for the design and convenience. This is a welcome addition to the single serve coffee maker world, and we think a welcome addition to any kitchen looking to free themselves of the tyranny of drip coffee makers, and get into the one cup coffee world.

At Cafe Invento Ca and Cafe Invento US

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Posted by Jay Brewer at January 23, 2009 9:13 AM

this thing sux ass!!! we spent over a hundred on it and 60 bucks to order coffee pods for it...the stupid thing worked for 3 weeks and now wont heat up...just a flashing red light to remind me how pissed i am at this company!!!... MYINVENTO SUCKS!!!

Posted by: kevin at January 28, 2013 1:48 PM

Bonjour,

Je vous écris, pour vous informer de mon insatisfaction concernant ma cafétière
invento.

Elle a eu une durée de vie de mois de deux mois pour la valeur de l'article je suis
grandement déçue et ce n'est pas un produit que je recommanderais.

Pour la période qu'elle a fonctionné, elle était souvent bloquée, j'ai vraiment
lu les instructions et fait à la lettre ce qu'il fallait faire pour la nettoyer.

Ca fonctionnait jusqu'a la dernière fois qu'il n'avait rien a faire ne coulait plus,
l'eau retournait dans le réservoir de l'appareil.

J’ai eu d'autres problèmes comme le réglage de l'appareil, il n'était pas constant
j'avais réglée pour tasse au maximum parfois j'avais une tasse raisonnable d'autre même pas le
quart de la tasse.

Votre appareil est peut être bon, mais celui que j'ai reçu si j'avais à donner une cote
elle serait de 1 sur 10 pour le prix qu'elle vaut c'est vraiment décevant.

Pour moi c'est vraiment un mauvais investissement une cafetière de cette valeur pour
moins de 2 mois qui finit à la poubelle, car elle ne fonctionne plus, elle à meme
manquer de passer au feu.

Posted by: Gina Tremblay at July 31, 2012 8:31 PM

OK, bought this machine because of the design. Let's face it, best looking coffee machine ever. Have had it for about 6 months, use it every day. Usually between 2-4 cups of coffee. Never clean it (and our water is very hard.) It stopped working one morning at 5am. Bummer. Coffee would drip out, but not flow. Turns out the small rubber plug in the bottom of the pod holder got pushed too far in and would not let coffee through, so I pushed it out and re-seated it. No more problems. Still love it, sits on the counter and provides me with that get going in the morning feeling every day.

Posted by: MarkG at November 28, 2011 11:51 PM

Don't know if its a bad or good product. Bought it on Ebay 2 months ago. Just took it out of the box and have not been able to even do the rinse cycle much less make coffee. Instruction book doesn't help and there is no service support that i can find. Bad investment.

Posted by: J Thomas at November 20, 2010 3:58 PM

Hello
I have the same problem with Invento. It quit working! I bought two of them and the first one quit within weeks of using it. My second one is used only at the beach and it is thankly still working. Had the same problem with contacting the manufacturer and they don't seem to care to provide help nor does Amazon who represented this purchase online. It is very frustrating. i am going to try to find an old fashion small equipment repair place which fixes irons and sewing machines in home hopes of getting this repaired. But not a good product all the way around. Amazon should not represent this company either.

Posted by: patti at November 14, 2010 12:17 PM

I bought this machine online last Feb. (2010) and 4 weeks ago this machine just quit working. Cleaned it a few times, still doesn't work. No service center to call but at the back of the brochure/booklet, there's this address:
MyCafe North America
111-3677 Highway 97N.
Kelowna, B.C. Canada
Maybe it's worth a try to write to them. Good luck!!!

Posted by: Vicky at July 16, 2010 2:20 AM

I bought "My Invento" coffee maker from someone online 3 months ago. Today is stopped working. It won'y heat the water or brew coffee or tea. I cleaned it and it still doesn't work. There's no service center OR website OR phone number on the "Use & Care Booklet" that came with it.Does anyone have any idea what I can do?
Thanks for any help you can give.

Posted by: Lacy at March 5, 2010 12:37 PM

Hello Everyone,
I HATE this coffee machine. (MY INVENTO)
I bought it on E-Bay.
It takes 10 minutes to heat up. IT has to be constantly turned on and off.
IT leaks the coffee tastes like instant coffee.
I am so unhappy and disappointed.
DO NOT BUY this machine.
I contacted the seller on ebay he basically said too bad.
PLus I cannot buy coffee pods for it anywhere except on line.
I invested 100 in this machine -- not very much considering but wow what a let down.

Posted by: mary j at March 1, 2010 9:36 AM

You can get this machine on Amazon now. The price range currently is $183-291. They also have it in Pearl White. Can I have your silver one when you are done with it!!! :)~

Posted by: Eva at February 9, 2009 6:19 AM

Reminder to Canadians on the East Coast: Don't expect to find pods at your local grocery store... you'll have to order them online. I've been to several stores from Ottawa to Halifax and have yet to find one that sells pods, let alone a pod machine. I don't even think the Senseo ever saw a Canadian retail release.

Posted by: SH at January 23, 2009 8:58 PM