For Great Espresso Try an Espresso Pod

Coffee pods and pod system coffee makers streamline and simplify the process of making espresso coffee and espresso-based coffee drinks such as cappuccino and caffè latte. If you're already a lover of such coffee drinks and want to find the easiest, most foolproof way imaginable to make them for yourself at home, the coffee pod system is definitely for you.

Why are coffee pod espresso makers so popular? The answer lies in their ease of use, their consistency, and their speed. Conventional espresso makers require first to go out and buy just the right espresso coffee beans and to store them in your kitchen. Then, for each cup, you have to grind the coffee beans to the right, finely pulverized espresso grind. Next, you have to measure out just the right amount of ground coffee and tamp it down into the espresso filter, compacting it just enough so the hot water will pass through slowly yet easily for the proper extraction. Finally, you have to clamp the filter into the machine and brew the coffee. That doesn't begin to mention the mess of disposing with the used coffee grounds and cleaning out the filter.

The Ease of Making Espresso with Coffee Pods

Coffee pods eliminate all that fuss. Each pod is a premeasured portion of freshly ground coffee sufficient to brew a single cup. Depending on the pod system machine for which it is destined, the ground coffee may be sealed between two discs of filter paper, and then wrapped in an airtight foil packet; or it may be sealed into an airtight little foil or plastic tub. Either way, the coffee pod is popped into the pod system coffee maker, and the coffee machine does the rest, passing hot water through the coffee in the pod at the perfect brewing temperature and pressure, then into your waiting cup.

Manufacturers of pod system coffee makers aim to offer a wide variety of coffee pods to suit every coffee lover's taste. That includes offering espresso roast coffee in an espresso grind. The best pod system coffee makers will also heat and pressurize water so that it passes through the espresso coffee pod at the optimum temperature and pressure to extract the perfect strength and thickness of a classic espresso coffee, complete with the rich caramel-brown foam known as crema crowning the coffee.

Look, also, for pod machines that include a milk-steaming nozzle. This will enable you to steam milk of your choice, whether nonfat, low-fat, or whole milk, in a small metal pitcher, heating it up and frothing it to make the hot, foamy milk you will need to transform your freshly brewed espresso coffee into cappuccino coffee, caffè latte, and other espresso-based coffee drinks.