Braun TA 1200 Tassimo > Reviews > COFFEE HEAVEN !

Author's product rating:   

Performance	Excellent
Ease of use	Very easy
Cleaning & Maintenance	Very easy
Safety	Very safe
Value for money	Excellent

Advantages:	quick and easy to use
Disadvantages:	pods can be difficult to get

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

The silver version of this machine is currently available for £69.99 in Argos , although the black colour way remains at £99.99

I received this sleek , shiny silver machine as part of a Christmas gift , and immediately loved the design .
It's compact and curvy , and lacks the usual daunting hi-tech array of complicated controls , milk frothers and filters that you normally encounter with a good coffee machine .
These have always scared me off as I'm a total techno-nurd .
I must admit that at first I thought that maybe it wasn't going to produce a very high quality of drink due to its simplicity , but I soon found out this was not the case .
The machine uses Twinings tea , Kenco coffees and Suchard Hot Chocolate , an impressive range of consumables considering that most manufacturers usually stick with one particular brand which they may have some kind of affiliation with or interest in from a business point of view .
Braun have broken the predictable mould and obviously gone for quality and a range of top suppliers

The pods themselves are supplied in packs which in turn contain two separate cardboard dispenser packs of pods , a well thought out and useful idea . They are easy to open and convenient for both neat storage and access .
The Hot Chocolate variety contains a total of 16 pods , in two packs of eight , the tea has 20 pods , and the Café Crema and other coffees have between 18 and 20 , but the Cappuccino has only 9 .
This is because you need two pods per drink . The first is an espresso coffee , and the second a condensed milk which forms the frothy head .
At the moment both Asda and Sainsburys are offering four packs of the pods ( mixed and of any variety ) for £10 against the usual price of around £3.25 per pack .

Back to the machine itself .
The operation is simple . You fill the rear water tank with cold water , turn the rear switch to the " On " position then lift the front top flap of the machine and insert a pod of your choice into the shaped holder .
Closing the flap automatically pierces the pod and the bar code on the top of the pod is scanned by the machine
This code contains all of the information required to make each drink to perfection , such as water temperature , amount of water to be heated and dispensed , and whether or not the machine uses pressure to make a frothy top such as on the Cappuccino and Crema
After scanning , the " heating " light will come on , and this process is surprisingly fast . Next , the " Auto " light comes on , and at this point you need to press the Stop/Start button to tell the machine to make the drink automatically . You can use the manual mode , but I don't think you would get a better result .
Once the button is pressed , the machine mixes and dispenses the drink quickly and cleanly , then lapses to the " Manual " button , at which point you may add more hot water if desired by pressing and holding the Stop/Start button until you have the strength of drink you require .
Then its just a case of enjoying the results .

There is no need to clean the machine between uses , as the initial mixing occurs in the pod before being jetted down the dispenser tube . After this the plain hot water follows which removes any residue completely , so there is no fear of having your tea tainted with hot chocolate .

The machine is supplied with a cleaning disc which also removes any lime-scale build up , and your initial operation on first unpacking the machine should be to run this disc through . There is also a small brush if you need to clean in any of the smaller spaces , such as around the pod holder , but from my experience so far this shouldn't be very often at all .

My machine came supplied with a pack of Twinings tea and a pack of Suchard hot chocolate , both of which are excellent , and I purchased the Café Crema and Cappuccino myself straight afterwards .
We finished Christmas dinner with the Café Crema and everyone agreed it was very enjoyable . I put out sugar and cream so people could make the drink to their own taste , and despite adding ingredients and stirring , the froth remained undisturbed .
When I make my Cappuccino I tend to put the sugar into the cup before using the machine , as I find that the high pressure delivery mixes in the sugar for me and I don't have to disturb the head of the drink by stirring .

I don't feel that the pods are overpriced when you consider what you would pay for a Cappuccino in your town centre … in fact , I think they are extremely reasonably priced considering that Braun have created their own " captive market " .

Had I not received this as a gift , I would definitely pay the £69.99 or even the £99.99 for this machine .
It certainly isn't one of those faddy gadgets that will end up in the back of the cupboard in a couple of months time . I'm sure I will have lots of use and pleasure from mine , and I've already seen how impressive it is at a dinner party .
Each guest gets to choose a completely different drink , and all are made to perfection in minutes , giving the host time to sit with their own coffee and chat before everyone else has finished and gone off to put their feet up
Bonus !!

All in all , an excellent , stylish , compact and easy to use machine that delivers quality results .