The rise of the coffee shop has been nothing short of meteoric in recent years but if you need a daily coffee fix or two then you can end up parting with some serious cash. With the current rises in food and fuel costs now is probably a good time to contemplate having your own coffee shop right in the comfort of your own home. Thanks to advances in home coffee machines lately this is eminently possible. Forget the jar of instant languishing in your cupboard and check out some of the single-serve coffee machines that are all over the place. Having one of these can be almost like having your own personal barista on call 24/7.
Tassimo coffee makers by Bosch are among the most popular home coffee machines on the market and have been for a number of years. They produce a cup of coffee or other hot beverage at just the touch of a button thanks to the 'intelligent' T-DISCS that the machines take. You choose your flavour of T-DISC, which is essentially a shallow capsule, pop it into the machine which then reads its barcode which tells it precisely how to brew the drink. This varies depending on whether it's an espresso capsule, a milk capsule or a long coffee etc. The Brewing takes place within the T-Disc which means the system itself stays relatively clean.
The T-Discs come in a wide variety of flavours which is where the Tassimo pips some of the other popular brand capsule coffee machines such as the Dolce Gusto which have a more limited range of drinks to choose from. The Tassimo has offerings from Starbucks, Twinings tea and Carte Noire to name but a few so you're bound to find something to your liking.
There are different models of Tassimo starting with the T20 entry level model up to the T65.The Tassimo T20 is the smallest of the range with a 1.5L water reservoir. Next you have The T40 which is probably the most common. It has a bigger 2L reservoir, so better suited for family use, and also allows you to manually tweak how your drinks are brewed so you gEt your coffee exactly how you want it. The T65 has a built-in BRITA MAXTRA water filter and LCD screen which tells you when it needs more water as well as a cup stand that lights up.