New Product Reviews

This is going to be lengthy so I’ll begin with the end and say I highly recommend the Perfect Pod Maker.

I don’t like hot coffee. In fact, the smell of coffee percolating or brewing makes me feel a little queasy. So it’s not surprise that I’m addicted to decaf iced coffee. I have tried various coffee outlets including Tim Horton, Honey Dew Donuts and Dunkin Donuts and only like the latter. No Starbucks out in this area!

But, I find I dump about 1/3 of the iced coffees I buy at Dunkin Donuts. They either have too much cream, or not enough, or have a sour, bitter taste. One time the cream was curdled. I get frustrated when I want a good cup of iced coffee and know it’s a crap shoot whether I’ll get a good one or will end up basically tossing two bucks in the trash.

I’ve tried home coffee makers. I tried just about every brand of single serve coffee maker including those using pods. Most were very large and cumbersome but for the most part, I just didn’t like the coffee, and I tried every major and minor brand out there.

I was recently in the housewares department of Kohl’s, buying some of the Food Network products (I love their knives) and saw a single serve coffee maker that uses pods, the West Bend Single-Cup Coffee and Water Dispenser. It was small and for $24 I figured what the heck, and bought it. I liked the fact I could use ground coffee or the pods, which was the selling point for me. Bought 2 different brands of pods — a French vanilla and decaf — and tried each. They were good and made a good cup of iced coffee, but not a great cup of iced coffee.

I was looking at the ground Dunkin Donuts coffee in the store, thinking, “I wish these came in pods” and on a lark, when home, typed in “pod maker” in a search engine and sure enough, found you CAN make your own pods. I was thinking I could simply make my own pods with Dunkin Donuts coffee! I did a lot of online research to read reviews of the various types of pod makers, the pros and cons, and decided to go for it.

I drove 30 miles out of town to buy the Perfect Pod Coffee Pod Maker . I also bought 2 bags of Dunkin Donuts Decaf Coffee and 2 extra packages of Perfect Pod filters .

The Perfect Pod Coffee Pod Maker is not a huge appliance and takes up a small amount of counter space. It’s small enough, though, that I can stick it in a cabinet if I want. Unpackaging it was easy and it was so easy to assemble — you just plug it in!

Using it is simple, too. Take a pod, place it in the holder, add coffee and push down. There are little tricks, though. First, I take the pod holder and fold over and crease the top piece so it lays perfectly in place over the bottom of the pod. You want a perfect seal so placement is important. You can put in as much or as little coffee as you like. When you add the coffee, make sure no loose coffee is on the edge or you won’t get a perfect seal. Now you simply fold over the top piece and press down. The instructions say to hold down for 2-3 seconds but I do it for 6-8 seconds for a better seal.

This morning I made up a dozen pods for future use and only had a problem with one, when I didn’t make sure the top fit the bottom right. I keep the pods in a square cracker keeper — the size of a sleeve of square crackers — and it fits right in my cabinet. I figure it’s a little better than making up a pod each time I want iced coffee. I love knowing it’s the brand of coffee *I* like and the amount *I* like, and you know when Dunkin Donuts has their next sale on ground decaf coffee I’ll be buying several bags and putting them in the freezer.

The Perfect Pod Coffee Pod Maker doesn’t make pods that are compatible with every single serve coffee maker out there. There are a few brands it either won’t work with or you have to do a little bit of work to make the pod fit right. Like I said above, I use it in the West Bend Single-Cup Coffee and Water Dispenser and find a full pod with 10 grams of coffee and 6 ounces of water gives me the perfect iced coffee if I fill the cup with the proper amount of ice cubes. I know too many and it will be weak and not enough and it will be too strong for me.

The Perfect Pod Coffee Pod Maker is a nifty little appliance that won’t take up much room in your pantry, won’t empty your wallet and will let you enjoy your favorite brand of ground coffee (or tea) in your favorite pod-style coffee maker.

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