Tassimo Review

So my office recently decided to add another capsule brewing system to the mix: a Tassimo T65 Cul brewer. It’s plumbed in (just like our Keurig) but it’s a little smaller. I’ve been using it for a few weeks now and thought I’d offer some thoughts and throw a quick review of it on here. I’ll do a review of some of its more interesting features later, but for now I thought I’d give them kind of review that I did for my Nespresso Pixie, where I talk about size, speed, convenience, and give an overview of taste.

Size: it’s a pretty small system, definitely smaller than our huge Keurig, but bigger than my Pixie. I think that in an office environment, where size is less of an issue than it would be at home, the focus should be more on performance. It is a fairly ugly thing though, all molder and cheap feeling plastic. Even the system whereby you stick a T-disk into the machine feels cheap and flimsy. In the Keurig, the Lavazza Espresso Pointe, even in the Pixie, inserting a capsule feels mechanical and satisfying. I do think it is innovative that they use a reader to figure out what kind of disk you are using so that the machine can adjust temperature and water volume.

Speed: why is this thing so slow? It’s slower to brew and espresso than my Pixie and slower to brew a coffee than the Keurig, and to be honest it doesn’t do either of those things particularly well…

Convenience: I like the number of options I have with the machine; the disk dispenser by the machine has a few varieties of coffee, espresso, hot chocolate, and foamed milk. As a result I have been able to make a few funky beverages with the machine (like lattes, mochas, etc) that I can’t with the Keurig. So a point to this machine there. Now as to whether any of those drinks were any good…

Taste: ugh. The espresso is terrible, the coffee selection is weak (and the coffee itself is terrible) and the milk foam is bland and chemical tasting.

Overall: not impressed. If the managers here wanted a machine that can brew espresso, they should have gone with a Nespresso or Lavazza machine, and as far as coffee: we already have a Keurig! After tasting all the options and making a number of attempts to brew a good beverage,  I don’t see myself using this machine again.