Tassimo T65 Single Serve Coffee Maker Arrives for Review
Tassimo has sent us one of the new Tassimo T65 T-Disc single serve coffee makers to review. Right away you can see the difference in the attractive packaging, and how the removable cup stand will allow you to use larger travel mugs. We also love any appliance in our kitchen that features a cool blue led light - and the T65's illuminated cup stand is the bomb. We'll have a full review soon, but details on this new brewer are below.
The T-65 Tassimo Bosch single cup T-disc brewer features a new Multilingual LC display. We're pretty sure the multi-lingual display will help Tassimo launch into new and existing markets without the need to localize the machines for each market saving money. There's also a new set of lights for cup stand illumination.
Key new features of the Tassimo T-65 Single Serve Coffee Maker (read our T-45 review for all the features of the Tassimo system):
Multilingual LC display
User-friendly visual and linguistic instructions
Guides users through all functions and service steps in five languages (English/ French/German/Italian/Spanish)
Ultimate ease-of-use through self- explanatory instructions
Explanations for every step of use
Cup-stand light
Three lights above the cup stand for illumination
Switches off automatically when brewer is not in use for more than five minutes
We’ve been sampling some of the European T-Discs which started appearing on www.tassimo.com these past few months and decided to continue our tour of Europe with one of Austria’s preferred brands of coffee: Jacobs. As a result, today we’ll be reviewing the new Jacobs Monarch T-Discs which you’ll see are not that different from their previous Kroenung T-Discs.
Upon brewing, faint hints of caramel start to emerge from your typical aroma of medium-roasted Arabica beans. Billed as having an irresistible “verwohnaroma” (aroma) with “citrusy notes”, we can’t say we found any of that present except for the taste which had the characteristics of your average medium roast with the exception of the faintest caramel notes and, we could be mistaken here, perhaps a tiny hint of lemon as well. It seems most European T-Discs have profiles that are becoming more and more identical, so we had a bit of a difficult time differentiating this T-Disc from its Kroenung counterpart or other competitors such as Kenco’s medium roast and Carte Noire’s Petit Dejeuner had it not been for some key factors such as acidity and aroma.
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September 25, 2009
Review: Carte Noire Kenya T-Discs for Tassimo
As we've reported in the past, Carte Noire is quickly becoming one of France's preferred coffee brands and have always sourced the finest Arabica beans available worldwide. They also produce our 2nd favorite espresso T-Disc, so when we heard they were starting to introduce various single-origin flavors in Europe, we quickly ordered their Carte Noire Kenya T-Discs... the first one available "ce côté de l'étang" (this side of the pond) as the French would say.
Upon brewing, we were greeted with a unique mix of aromas which included predominantly dark chocolate with faint hints of molasses (what is it with coffee companies and dark chocolate lately?). The taste was just as unexpected with notes of what can only be described as bittersweet Baker's dark chocolate that contained at least 80% cocoa. Wow, talk about "exotic"... this caught us off guard and left our taste buds rather confused.
Improved Tassimo T65 Single Cup T-Disc Brewer Now Shipping
Tassimo is now shipping a new updated Tassimo T-65 single serve coffee maker. The Tassimo T-65 will either ship in addition to the current Bosch T-45 or completely replace this brewer at retail (read our review of the Tassimo T-45 brewer here). We'll have exact details on the replacement versus new model as we find out. So what's new? The T-65 Tassimo Bosch single cup T-disc brewer features a new Multilingual LC display. We're pretty sure the multi-lingual display will help Tassimo launch into new and existing markets without the need to localize the machines for each market saving money. There's also a new set of lights for cup stand illumination.
Key new features of the Tassimo T-65 Single Serve Coffee Maker (read our T-45 review for all the features of the Tassimo system):
Multilingual LC display
User-friendly visual and linguistic instructions
Guides users through all functions and service steps in five languages (English/ French/German/Italian/Spanish)
Ultimate ease-of-use through self- explanatory instructions
Explanations for every step of use
Cup-stand light
Three lights above the cup stand for illumination
Switches off automatically when brewer is not in use for more than five minutes
Highlights drink appearance
Right now we only see the current shipping T-45 model at Amazon and other retailers here in the US, but CoffeeWiz.com should have the T-65 updated Tassimo T-Disc brewers in stock soon. We'll try and get our hands on a review unit, and do a side by side comparison soon.
Tassimo Pro Office Coffee Brewer - Perfect for Your Small Business
Tassimo and Bosch are coming out with a pro line of single serve coffee makers aimed at the small office coffee market called Tassimo Pro. We don't have many details, but we do know the Tassimo Pro has an adjustable coffee cup stand, and looks to be hardier than it's consumer market cousins.
We're also not sure if you'll be able to get the brewer as a consumer, or will have to qualify as a small business. We're also wondering if consumer T-Discs will work in the Tassimo Pro brewer, or if there will be different sized T-Discs for the home business market. The Tassimo Pro small business brewer will debut in Q3 of this year.
We've had several readers write in on this discount over at Amazon. You can get 24 Starbucks House Blend T-Discs for your Tassimo system at just $20.74. This put the cost per cup at roughly ~$.86 - still half the price of getting the same cup of coffee at your local Starbucks. We really like the House Blend (you can read our review here), and think this medium bolder blend fits most coffee drinking profiles.
You may or may not know the Milka brand of chocolate here in North America, but in Europe the purple cow of chocolate rules the land. Milka is a delicious hot chocolate beverage with a tender Milka chocolate taste and a smooth velvety chocolate layer on top. Imported from Europe exclusively for TASSIMO, this package of contains 8 milk chocolate T DISCs and 8 milk creamer T DISCs at $9.99 per package.
Review: Nabob Breakfast Blend 12oz T-Discs for Tassimo
Nabob's latest Tassimo option is their new 12oz Breakfast Blend T-Discs which, according to the packaging, contains more than 30% Rainforest Alliance Certified content... something the company has been trying to achieve with all its discs recently, so hats off to them in that aspect. Any 16oz travel mug or coffee cup/glass should be enough to hold all 12 ounces (we chose a Bodum 16oz Pavina series double-wall glass) and needless to say, we were happy that the Bosch Tassimo didn't leak a small pond of water on the cup stand during the brew cycle (Braun users, we feel your pangs of annoyance as you'll surely be reaching for the paper towels).
Unlike the small variety of "morning blend" 12oz T-discs available on the American market, Canada had yet to see any 12oz discs until now and since Nabob is quickly becoming a top choice amongst coffee drinkers North of the border, we suppose it was only fitting that Nabob be the brand which was chosen to introduce this new size format (although we keep hoping to see a Dunkin Donuts or Tim Hortons disc on the horizon).
A quick view of the company's website reveals that Kenco was originally known as the Kenya Coffee Company which got its start in 1921 when they setup a shop in Mayfair (a district in the West end of London). They started selling roast & ground coffee locally from the shop although most of their sales were via mail orders through advertisements in magazines such as Tatler, Country Life and The Times. They would later be bought after the Second World War and diversified into several coffee shops across the UK by Gardiner Merchant, a food merchant company next door to the original shop. The name of the company was later changed to Kenco in 1962 when they stopped acquiring most of their beans from Kenya. The company would go on to change hands many times throughout the coming decades having such owners as Cadbury, Premier Foods and General Mills.
Before we start, it should be noted that this variety of T-Disc comes in 2 different types of packaging. Some of the older Braun-style packages still have "Classic Blend" listed as the flavor while newer versions (as well as the current Bosch-style packages) now list "Medium Roast". This had always been a bit confusing since the older packages still listed "Medium Roast" on the foil of each disc and left us wondering if we were getting 2 different kinds of coffees. Well, you can rest assured you're getting the SAME coffee out of either package (despite Kraft still listing "Classic Blend" on their Tassimo site).
Review: Mastro Lorenzo Espresso T-Discs for Tassimo
Mastro Lorenzo embraces the Italian culture where fine espressos and crema coffees were born and are part of daily life. Unfortunately, a quick search on their French website did not yield any further information regarding the company's history. We've tried a few of their different T-Disc varieties over the past several months and have found that their aroma and flavor always seem superior to their competitors. Such is the case once again with their espresso T-Disc.
From the moment you first start brewing your first cup, you'll notice the intense scent of fine Italian espresso will soon fill the room. Close your eyes and you might think you're sitting at café instead of your kitchen. Give the cup a light swirl and let the nose develop… you'll smell the initial burst of acidic bitterness but you'll also notice slight notes of chocolate hiding underneath. Not surprising, these hints of chocolate are also present in the taste and the acid lends an almost citrus-like quality. Kraft describes this coffee as being 100% pure Arabica, but we can't help but wonder if they mixed-in a few Robusta beans without telling anyone.
The big factor for choosing one machine over the other for most people writing in is price. Both machines are in similar price range - the Bosch Tassimo Hot Beverage System is $139.99 and the Nescafe Dolce Gusto is $169.99, and we can understand why this could be a big factor. The price per single serve coffee cup is also similar, with both machines at the $.50 for a single cup of coffee and the milk based drinks coming in at about $1.00.
As we stated above price is usually a big factor, but we always go on taste and coffee preference. Both machines make very tasty cups of almost all of the hot beverages you would want in a multi-hot beverage system.
coffee, tea, espresso, lattes, cappuccinos, and hot chocolate.
The Nescafe Dolce Gusto can also make a large variety of drinks including the following:
lungo coffee (larger cup of espresso based coffee), espresso, lattes, cappuccinos, and hot chocolate (iced drinks as well)
The big number to think about is also the total number of drinks available. The Nescafe Dolce Gusto has 8 different types of smart capsules you can purchase for it all under the Nescafe coffee brand. The Bosch Tassimo Hot Beverage System has 40+ coffees, teas, and other drinks it can make including coffee from well known brands such as Starbuck's Coffee and Seattle's Best. So if you just picked on the number of drinks the Tassimo is clearly going to give you more choice, but we also always pick on flavor as well.
Tassimo and Keurig Single Serve Coffee Makers at Target Stores Nationwide
The $99 Bosch Tassimo, $99 Keurig B40, and $79.99 Keurig Mini B30.
We decided to do a little pop in at our local Target, and see what's new in the single serve coffee aisle. Target is offering a pretty decent selection of single serve coffee machines and one cup coffee wonders this holiday season. New to Target is both the Bosch Tassimo priced at $99. This model doesn't include the water filter, but it makes the same amazing single serve coffee and other hot beverages.
The Tassimo $99 model seems to be available only at brick and mortar with no
places to purchase this model of the brewer online.
Also new to Target is the Keurig Mini B30. We love this little Keurig, and are really excited it's available nationwide at Target. They also offer the Keurig B40, which is a bit bigger, and more for household use if you're a daily coffee drinker. Target also had a selection Senseo single serve coffee pod brewers, and of course K Cups, T Discs, and Coffee Pods to choose from for all the options above.
You can find a Target in your area by using their store finder, and if you're looking for a review of the $169.99 Tassimo Suprema available online you can read it here.
Amazon.com has the Bosch Tassimo Single-Serve Coffee Brewer (read our full review of the Bosch Tassimo here) with FREE supper saver shipping, and the brewer is in stock. Now if you want to get FREE two day shipping, you can sign up for a month trial of Amazon Prime. We use prime for all of our shopping, and find being able to order replacement T Discs, and other coffee gadgets and wonders with TWO day shipping to be the way to go. You'll also be able to get your holiday shopping done with ease if you're a member of Amazon Prime.
Key Features of the Bosch Tassimo:
Single-serve coffee brewer brews at the touch of a button in about a minute
Uses T-Discs with barcode technology; beverages pour directly from T-Disc into cup
No measuring, no fuss, and virtually no cleanup; customizable size and strength
LED user interface; 67-ounce removable water tank; 2 MAVEA water filters included
Measures 13-1/4 by 8 by 11 inches; 1-year parts-and-labor warranty
As we reported earlier this year, Starbucks has released Colombia T Discs for Tassimo. The coffee is from Latin America, and has a medium-bodied, smooth and well-balanced distinctive nutty flavor. The Starbucks Colombia T Discs come packed 12 T DISCS per package at $10.99 per package.
These Starbucks Colombia T Discs will work in your Tassimo Suprema Hot Beverage System, as well as the older model TA1400 and TA1200 Tassimo hot beverage systems.