One of the more common questions we get from our customers is, is there a connection between the cost of a coffee pod machine and great tasting coffee?
A coffee machine does not make a great coffee – the way coffee beans are roasted, ground and packaged makes great coffee
This is why Vibe Coffee does not sell coffee machines, you don’t need an expensive machine get great vibes!
The foundation to getting great tasting coffee in your home or office comes down to three things…
#1. How you treat the coffee bean:
The freshness of the beans, the roasting process, the grinding process,
#2. The coffee pod packaging:
This is about how the ground coffee is carefully packaged to seal in the freshness as well as the quality of the pod and the seal. It’s important to seal in the freshness and to release the coffee as water flows through it.
Vibe Coffee has got you covered on both #1 and #2 above!
#3. Water Temperature and water flow:
The temperature of water flowing through the coffee pod is important to get right– hotter is not necessarily better. And, the length of time the water runs as it’s flowing through the coffee pod.
How Coffee Pod Machines Work – breaking it down:
To understand more about the role the coffee pod machine has in creating great tasting espresso coffee, below is a simplistic summary of how a coffee pod machine works.
Step #1:
The coffee pod is placed into the machine and is punctured on the top (narrower) side of the pod (the image below is the actual Vibe coffee pod).
Step #2:
Once you select the coffee drink size on the coffee machine, it pumps the correct amount of water into the back end of the coffee pod through the punctured holes.
A typical coffee pod machine will offer two settings for the size of coffee (small or large). This sets off a timer that keeps the water running for a specific length of time.
Step #3:
The water passes through heat elements, designed to reach the correct brewing temperature and is pumped into the coffee pod under pressure.
Step #4:
As the water comes through, it interacts with the finely ground coffee and gently flows through to the front end of the coffee pod.
The pressure of the water ruptures the protective cover found on the front side of the coffee pod, allowing water to flow through the ground coffee at a controlled rate. This creates the ideal process of extraction, releasing rich, crema-topped espresso into the cup.
The protective cover remains intact to ensure no coffee grounds are released into your cup.
This extraction process is how coffee pod machines act as a tiny espresso machine.
That’s it!!
Answering Customer Questions:
The above explanation stimulates four questions from Vibe customers…
- Why are there so many coffee pod machines to choose from?
- Why are there coffee pod businesses who push you to buy their coffee machines?
- Is there a connection between the cost of a coffee machine and the quality of coffee you receive?
- How much should I be spending on a coffee pod machine?
#1. Why are there so many coffee machines available in the market?
The answer to this is simple, it’s a business. The demand for great-tasting coffee in the home/office is high and appliance brands want to capitalize.
The second reason is, coffee machines are mechanically simple. This makes these coffee pod machines low in cost to manufacture.
#2. Why are there coffee pod businesses who push you to buy their coffee machines?
There are two reasons:
Reason #1:
See the answer above, it’s a business decision.
Reason #2:
The second reason is known as the “Printer and Ink ‘Gotcha’”:
Many coffee retailers want you to buy their coffee pod machines, to lock you into buying their coffee pods. This is why certain coffee pod machines are offered at low prices.
The risk is you may be purchasing a coffee pod machine requiring unique coffee pods you cannot buy anywhere else. This is the “Gotcha”.
As the “Printer and Ink ‘Gotcha’” name suggests, this is a known strategy perfected by the top office equipment brands around the world. They sell you a printer at low cost knowing you are forced to purchase ink cartridges from them.
#3. Is there a connection between the cost of a coffee machine and the quality of coffee you receive?
When it comes to the process of creating the espresso, the short answer is, there is no correlation between the cost of the coffee machine and coffee quality. If you spend more money on a coffee machine, your coffee will NOT taste better.
However, coffee machines can be more expensive because of the additional features relating to the preparation of milk for the espresso. This is important for people who love adding milk to their espresso.
Side note: There are inexpensive alternative methods to heat up and froth milk for an espresso coffee.
#4. How much should I spend on a coffee pod machine?
There is no set answer to this question. Our advice is to watch the big retailers and capitalise on the sales they have every month.
We at Vibe Coffee have coffee machines that never cost more than $250. But there are even better deals to be had.
The only advice we provide when buying a coffee machine is, to make sure it fits our coffee pods which are designed to fit Nespresso® capsule system machines.
We hope this helps! May your good vibes keep on coming.
