Hamilton Beach 49970 Personal Cup One Cup Pod Brewer
- Fresh coffee made your way
- Brews up to a 12 oz. cup
- One-touch start with auto shutoff
- Brew basket is dishwasher safe
- Easy with no mess
Hamilton Beach Personal Cup One Cup Pod Brewer. For fresh coffee made fast, look no further. The Personal Cup Brewer makes a single cup the easy way. Instead of messy coffee grounds, it uses affordable and delicious Melitta Coffee Pods.
List Price: $ 57.69
Price:
Awesome little maker,
*** Note 8/6/2012 – So I’m finally able to update this thing, now that Senseo is starting to get some product in stock. A few things to note for those new to Senseo, their majority holdings from Philips were recently sold to Sara Lee I believe, and this caused a massive disruption in production and availability for the US, and thus Senseo brand coffee had been unavailable for several months. They have also made the decision to go to online-only shipping of their coffee, meaning you will not find Senseo coffee in stores anymore. The in-store alternative is the Melitta brand pods, which fit the Senseo maker, and should be sold in places such as WalMart. Personally, since Senseo has also increased their costs of their coffee (while also jerking their customers such as myself around for months), I won’t really recommend the Senseo brand anymore. Decent coffee depending on your tastes, so you will have to decide what’s worthwhile to you.
The review for this pod drip brewer will still stand, as it is still working just fine.
***
I love this little thing!
Originally, we had a very nice KitchenAid 10-cup Coffee Maker in our kitchen. It did its job very well, but for a long time I had been eying a Keurig machine. I’d had Keurig coffee in the past, and loved it. Looking at the machines, you’ll quickly see how much of an “investment” it is. First, the machines are incredibly expensive; they make smaller models now, but even those start around $60-$70, and many don’t have stellar reviews in terms of longevity. Next, the K-cups are also very expensive. Sure, you can buy the reusable thing, but if I’m going through that hassle, why do I even need a specialized brewer to begin with? It may work fine for some people’s lives, but in my own, I wanted a machine that eliminated the mess and hassle of measuring quantities and looking for the “perfect brew”.
I purchased the Hamilton Beach Personal Cup One Cup Pod Brewer on a whim; it was on sale, and figured, what the heck, I’ll try it.
When I first plugged the thing it, and poured some water in the back to cycle through, it immediately spattered at me. Apparently, it can turn itself on when you first plug it in (I’ve purchased 2, and both did it out of the box, but haven’t done it since).
I’m not gonna lie, this isn’t some super durable machine; its cheap plastic, but unless you’re planning on tossing it across the room, it should get at least a few years life out of it. I’ve had our machine for about 5 months now (wow time flies), and use it daily without any problems. My wife, whom was always timid of making coffee with our KitchenAid, now likes to make coffee for herself, and sometimes for me as well to start off the morning (tell me THAT isn’t worth $20). The Senseo pods are cheaper than K-cups, especially if bought in bulk.
On to the product itself, it looks sleek, but pretty unimpressive. I don’t know about you, but that’s perfect for my kitchen; every inch of counter-space should be cherished, and this has freed up quite a bit, not to mention the visual space as its half the height of my old coffee maker as well.
Its a simple one-touch operation. To make a brew, slip in a Senseo pod (or 2), add some water to the back, put your mug under the spout, and press the large button on front. That’s it.
As for the taste, well that’s really a personal preference. I like mild, smooth coffee, which this really delivers. I liked the medium blend (a pack is included free) so much, I ordered a huge box of it! I use a small cup of water (approx 6-8oz; I recommend using filtered water), and one pod, but the machine accommodates 2 if you like it a little more “bold” or have a slightly larger mug (keep in mind, no large mugs will fit in the spout). We received a 6-piece mini-mug kit for Christmas, and those have been perfect for making a small little cup to start the day (it also limits my coffee intake, and I’ve been good with sticking to it).
Yes, this machine isn’t anything fancy, but it does its job day in day out with no issues, and works so well that we replaced a very expensive machine, and we haven’t looked back. It worked so well, we ordered one for my parents at their request they were so impressed with it.
If you have a large household of coffee drinkers, this may not be the way to go, but the good thing is it only takes 30 seconds or so to make a cup of coffee, and you can personalize each cup. It would make an excellent personal coffee maker at the office as well. Amazon has a pretty decent selection of Senseo pods as well. If you prefer to buy in-store, Target usually carries the Senseo pods, but doesn’t have much of a selection, depending on the store.
As a side note – The medium blend goes really well with Internationl Delight: Carmel Macchiato Creamer (don’t get the skinny though, that’s pretty…unimpressive). Have it practically every…
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|What a great Little Coffee Maker!!,
1. It doesn’t brew as fast as a Keurig that is “ready to go”…but it takes the same amount of time to brew a cup of coffee as a Keurig that has been “off” over night and you have to wait for the water to heat up. In my opinion, it is still faster than brewing a “traditional” pot of coffee.
2. I don’t like really strong coffee, so if I’m using a smaller mug I can get away with using 1 pod of medium roast coffee. I’ve read some reviews of people who think 1 pod is too weak…I think that is a taste preference, and also depends on if you are using more water for a larger mug or not. Just my opinion and not a criticism of people who like really strong coffee. If you like coffee really strong, then 2 pods of medium roast might not work for you. Hard to say. 🙂
3. The pods are cheaper than a Keurig. We use this coffee maker along side our Keurig, and it helps us to save a little money by alternating machines. Both make good coffee, but each machine’s coffee tastes different…this tastes more traditionally brewed than our Keurig. I know that might sound odd, but that is the only way I can describe it (and if someone else knows that I’m talking about and knows the answer to this mystery, I’d love to hear it!) Because of the taste difference, I prefer flavored coffees on this machine rather than the Keurig for some reason. Again..not sure why, but I do.
All in all, this holds it’s own against a coffee maker 5 times the price. For someone who is looking for a single serve without the single serve price, this is a really good coffee maker!
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|With managed expectations, a great option for tight budgets!,
First, I bought this item at Walmart on clearance. Bought one for $10 intending to take up to the office. Our hot water spout on our water cooler at home (yes, it’s that bad here) went out and this has replaced it. I ended up buying a second later at $9 (both included the free bag of pods) for the office since we’re keeping the first one at home. My wife and I use it almost daily to make coffee, tea, and hot chocolate. We interchange the tea bag for a coffee pod (depending on the tea, I will either leave the bag in my cup or actually use the basket) and have great results. I prefer using this over the microwave for hot water as it doesn’t take much longer and stays hotter longer. It’s quick, efficient, and easy to clean. Hot chocolate will splash up on the basket if you put it in the cup first, so be warned. We’ve been using them for about three months with no problems. Here are my main talking points:
1. Single cup reservoir: you get about 8oz from a single brew and have to fill it up each time. This, to me, isn’t that much of a problem as we keep it near our water cooler and I can get a 16oz cup of water from the breakroom at work to get me through the morning. I plan on buying a water jug for the office and will keep a gallon or so handy at my desk and just refill as needed. All in all, this is not a deal breaker for me although more expensive models have larger tanks (and a bigger footprint). For those making cups to go, this may not be the best option as you would want to brew two cups to get what you need.
2. Quick: thing brews quickly – doesn’t take any time at all. I actually find that it’s done before I’m ready to drink most days. It’s also no louder than any other coffee maker that I’ve found although I’m referring primarily to the 8 or 10 cup machines here – never had a personal one.
3. Inexpensive: for my take, it was a test to see how much I like having a personal brewer. For the $10 I spent, I got 18-36 cups out of it (yes, I reuse my pods for a second cup sometimes… not terribly strong cup of coffee but I’m kind of cheap :o), get a $1.00 off coupon for the next bag of pods in store, and can even get another free bag for registering with Senso online (hello dummy email account!). So, for $10 it was a worthwhile investment and turns out, I love having a single cup brewer.
4. Works: it’s not as fancy as the other makers you can buy, just fill it up and press the tab to get your cup started. Coffee comes out hot in no time, and you’re ready to go. I can see maybe wanting some of the other features but, for the most part, this simple functioning machine does exactly what I need.
5. Versatility: As I said, we make coffee, tea, and hot chocolate in this thing. We put a tea bag in place of the coffee pod or just leave it in the cup to brew as the water comes down. For me, it depends on the tea and what I’m doing. For instance, when making a chai latte I will brew the bag in the cup and leave it for a few minutes, then add sugar and milk. Wonderful as going to the coffee shop. Also, it’s got a small footprint that makes it easy to store – doesn’t take up much room in our small kitchen or my desk space at work (cubicle environment). I use an extension cord at work but that is mostly due to where outlets are, and you can tuck away extra chord inside the machine if using close to the plug.
I give it five stars because it meets or exceeds all my expectations – make sure you know what you want out of it and you will be pleased. This works GREAT for someone like me, with minimal expectations who just wants coffee on demand without the budget for the top tier makers. Even at $20, I think this is a great deal. Check Walmart first though – never know what you’ll find!
Side note: I’m still looking for a reusable pod for this to save money on pods (UPDATE: we’re considering buying an Ecopad – tried product link but couldn’t find the product we’re actually looking at and it’s difficult to know which is which so we haven’t pulled the trigger)- $5 gets you 18 pods. I reuse each day so not terrible, but as stated I’m pretty cheap.
12/16/2011 – UPDATE: my wife purchased a Keurig B40 model at Walmart as an anniversary present for me so I can compare the two units a little bit. I will say that the K-Cups make a great cup of coffee (got 12 in the box with the machine) but I’m still not a fan of the waste. We have EcoBrew reusable cups arriving today or tomorrow from Amazon for it. My initial thoughts: this maker moves faster – the Keurig takes 4 minutes to warm up. This unit is also quieter and has a MUCH smaller footprint. Keurig has a reservoir (48oz) which is nice but still has to be filled every few days. Also, the B40 has a small cup and large cup size – why would I make a small cup if I can get a large cup out of it (remember, I’m cheap)? Larger setting is nice for travel cups though, and…
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