If you’re thinking of buying a coffee machine to brew and create your own morning cup and are curious if coffee machine pods are better than coffee makers that use ground beans then read on as we discuss the differences and help you decide which one to buy.
We all want to feel like trained baristas in our own homes sometimes, and with the correct machine we can achieve this and create our own drinks from morning till night (if you like).
Deciding if you should go for a bean to cup coffee machine or a pod machine? Read on and weigh in the pros and cons before purchasing anything.
Bean to Cup Coffee Machines
A bean to cup machine is an espresso machine that will handle the grinding of your beans, tamping it and then brewing it for an aromatic, delicious shot of espresso. Some machines have a milk frothing system that will process the milk for making cappuccinos and lattes.
Pod Coffee Machines
A pod coffee machine also known as capsule machines offers the easiest and most convenient way of making espresso without the whole coffee machinery system.
Pods are loaded with ground coffee beans that are compact and ready for brewing.
Pod machines today like Nespresso also offer different blended coffees that are ready for brewing.
Convenience
As a daily coffee drinker myself, convenience has a big part in choosing the best coffee machine. I want something easy to prepare on the mornings as I get ready. We don’t like something that takes too much of our time specially as we are preparing the drink that will give us the extra energy we need.
Regular espresso machines and filter coffee machines does not offer the same convenience and ease when it comes to preparing our coffee. The market for pod machines and bean to cup machines has grown dramatically over the last few years.
For bean to cup coffee machines, you only need to load your freshly roasted coffee beans, touch a button and wait for your shot to be ready. The whole process with milk frothing can take up to 3 to 5 minutes, and after that your coffee is ready to go, complete with textured milk.
It’s the same process for pod machines, just pick your pod (which can have espresso or a different blend of coffee), load it to your machine, push a button and your machine will do the work, the whole process can take only a minute.
If you like your cappuccinos and lattes in the morning, bean to cup machine is for you, but if you prefer a blended coffee flavor or just plain espresso shot, pod machine it is.
Ease of Use
Since both bean to cup machine and pod machine offer the greatest convenience, it’s no surprise that they are also easy to use. You can have your coffee in 3 to 5 steps.
The most expensive machines have screens that show a timer or what process are you in, some have touch screen buttons and some machine can be controlled and monitored with your smartphone using an app.
Price
A bean to cup coffee machine can cost up to $3000 depending on the features it has. If you want a milk frother, more personalization and choices for your coffee, and smart controls, be ready to spend a lot.
For a pod machine, you can get something below $100 with free pods but don’t expect the best features. Depending on the settings you have a pod machine can cost as high as $1000, and keep in mind that you have to pay separately for the pods. A pod can cost around $70 to $300.
Things to consider before buying your bean to cup coffee machine
The most basic bean to cup coffee machine will cost you a few hundred bucks and will not have the settings you might need. Check out some things you might want to consider before buying one.
Milk Frother
If you like having cappuccinos and lattes in the morning, we suggest you get a bean to cup machine that has a milk frothing system. Your coffee will come out ready to drink with a foam of milk on top.
Personalization
Some will have different settings where you can adjust the drink size, how strong your coffee, and sometimes you can even adjust the aroma. While a lot of us wants to experiment with our coffee, some people also like to choose on a pre-set setting for their coffee and a lot of machines nowadays have both of these settings.
Smart Controls
A lot of coffee machines today offer controls via your smartphones which only requires that you have enough amount of coffee beans, water and milk ready. With this, you can make your coffee first thing in the morning while taking care of other things. Great ain’t it?
Automatic Cleaning
Something that I personally dread, cleaning of coffee machines. It’s hard, complicated and with all the small internal parts, it’s just a hassle. Good thing that a lot of coffee machines offer automatic cleaning nowadays. Some will automatically clean itself after brewing your coffee and this process can last 20 minutes or less! Technology has really come a long way specially for coffee.
Things to consider before buying your bean to cup coffee machine
There is no doubt that buying a pod machine can save you a lot of money compared to buying a whole system of bean to cup machine. But keep in mind that the lower the price, the more basic your pod machine is. And if you want the best features, you will need to spend a few hundred dollars more. Below are feature you need to consider before buying.
Milk Frother
Just like bean to cup coffee machines, a lot of pod coffee machines brands offer a built-in milk frother that you can enjoy together with their blended coffee. But keep in mind that having a milk frother will increase the price you need to pay.
Price of the pods
Unlike a bean to cup coffee machine that only needs coffee beans, pod machines need pods built for the specific machine. Brands like Nespresso have tons of selection of blended coffee flavor pods to choose from. A 10 piece, assorted flavor pod can cost around $40 – $70 and can go up to $100 depending on the flavor.
Personalization
If you want different kinds of coffee in different sizes, make sure to check if your chosen pod machine can customize your drinks. For some people this is a dealbreaker while for some It’s not since you get different flavored pods.
Other Things to Consider
Environment
We all have a responsibility to our environment, whether we like it or not, we need to be considerate and aware of the waste we make.
So are bean to cup coffee machines and pod coffee machines harmful to our environment?
With pod coffee machines, this has been the number 1 issue. They produce a lot of waste from the pods. While some brands offer reusable pods where you refill and reuse each pod, it’s still a problem with other companies.
Companies like Nespresso and Massimo have their own recycling management, but this means that you need to collect and send the pods to a specific location or a collection center which is a bit of hassle if you ask me. Nowadays, that pod machines are getting more popular, it’s estimated that over a million pods are used and send to landfill every year that can take up to 500 million years to breakdown.
This problem is not evident with bean to cup coffee machines since they use beans. The only waste they produce are the packaging from the beans and milk they use, which is a lot lesser than pod machines.
Cleaning and Maintenance
Like we mentioned above, the most advanced and expensive brands today have an automatic cleaning system. You don’t need to worry about small removable parts, specially for the bean to cup coffee machine. But keep in mind that this automatic cleaning system comes with a price. So if you don’t have a few hundred dollars to spend, be prepared to spend a lot of time cleaning the bean to cup coffee machine.
With bean to cup coffee machine, you need to make sure that all parts are clean after every use, including the removable parts.
Size
Another thing consumers consider is the size. While it’s obvious that pod coffee machines are smaller than bean to cup coffee machines, you need to know that the smallest pod is only 32 X 23 cm and the biggest can get 42 X 32 cm.
Bean to cup coffee machines can be bulky and huge due to its bean to cup process, you need to have a countertop ready.
Conclusion
I can’t personally choose between the two machine. They both have their ups and downs.
While bean to cup is convenient, easy to use, produces less waste, and with coffee beans being cheaper, it’s also harder to clean without the automatic cleaning system, pricier and bulkier.
On the other hand, pod coffee machines are also easy and convenient to use, smaller and can take less space in your kitchen, and the machine itself can be cheaper but produces a lot of waste and pods costs pricier.
Both machine will give you good and aromatic coffee for your morning cup or evening latte.
Whatever you choose make sure you enjoy every sip!
