Tassimo Suprema Machine & T-Discs: Starbucks & Gevalia Cappuccino
Over the holidays, I received a generous gift from Tassimo to try out their coffee brewing system. Initially, I was quite ecstatic since this machine would have cost me $170, not including the coffees and chai tea T-Discs they’ve included with it.
Moving on to the actual usage of this machine, it’s convenient for the mornings when I need a single cup of coffee or cappuccino quickly or the lazy evenings when I just want a cup of caffeine without dealing with cleaning up my tea pot or machine.
Setup was simply taking out the water filter, soak it in water for a while, then stick it in the water compartment and let two full container’s full of the cold water run through. Then just fill it up with the water you want to use for drinking and stick it in the brewing system. Trust me, it’s simpler than what you’re reading.
Come actual brewing time, all I had to do was pop one of those T-discs (the one I’ve used for this particular photo demonstration was Gevalia’s cappuccino) and press the large silver button when the machine was warmed up (which took a few seconds) and it’ll start creating your drink.
As for clean up, just pop open the top where that T-Disc is held and toss it out to the trash. Wipe off any left over drips and once in a while you take out the yellow plastic maintenance disc that’s held (at least in the machine I’ve tried) in the back of the machine, where the water compartment is located.
Cappuccino brewing and brewed
For the three beverages, Starbucks’ Caffe Verona tasted the best of the three, despite the fact it still has their signature “burnt coffee” flavor (I admit, I’m not a Starbucks fan.). The main issue with Gevalia’s cappuccino and Twining’s Chai Tea Latte was simply the fact it tasted milky. When I let my parents (who aren’t coffee nerds/obsessed/purists like I am) try them, they told me it tasted like steamed coffee milk. The coffee wasn’t bad it’s diluted with too much milk. As for the chai latte, besides the milk issue, it’s too sweet and not enough tea flavor.
This machine is very good for obviously, the people who can afford to buy this machine and replenish their supply with a coffee/tea subscription. In regards to how the beverages tasted, some work needs to be done on the fancier latte and cappuccino drinks. The simpler the drink, the better your outcome in terms of flavor. If you need some kind of cost comparison, when you do eventually make up the initial cost of the machine, a cup of Starbucks coffee would cost you a little less than $1 (one 12-pack of Starbucks T-Discs is $11), compared to a small cup of Starbucks coffee from their own shop would set you back about $2 (I haven’t been in a long time but that’s my estimate).
