Advantages: Timer, ease of use, HOT coffee quickly,
Disadvantages: Not as attractive as some trendy machines

...What appealed to me about this machine was the timer and the lack of a glass jar. Having used this machine now for over 18 months I can confirm it is the best coffee machine I have ever owned. Not the most attractive machine, but ease of use easily compensates for this. Water is loaded from the top "jug" to a wide open container at the side, avoiding spills. The "jug" is then replaced and a filter holder and reusable filter placed in the top. I set the timer for the morning and wake up to freshly made coffee every morning. For instant use it takes only a few minutes to make hot coffee which is easily dispenses through a valve at the front. Takes most sized coffee cups and with a bit of imagination you can fill the thermos up directly too. Is still going strong after 18 months and coffee tastes very good.... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Water level easily visible, no filters, programmer timer,
Disadvantages: needs more coffee. Can't store beans in the grinder. Filter can be damaged.

...off all appliances before leaving the house just in case). Fourth, the programmable timer. I can set the timer to start the grinding and brewing process automatically at the exact time I prefer. So I don't have to remember to make the coffee for my wife who wakes up after I leave in the morning. It does it automatically (assuming we remember to fill it with beans and water the night before). Because of the timer feature, there's also a built in clock that my wife likes as she can set it on the correct time (the kitchen clock is set 10 minutes fast to help me avoid being late). Fifth, no mess. I mentioned this before but the design is ingenious. The grinder is built into the filter so it's not like the ground coffee has to travel anywhere like in other models. Cleaning is as easy as taking the filter out and washing it. I was worried... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Quick, easy and a breeze to clean
Disadvantages: Cups of coffee made are rather small

...PHILIPS SENSEO COFFEE MAKER Being a student guarantees one thing: late nights. When the time comes to write those impossible essays and reports, you had better have a jug of coffee handy. I used to use the drip coffee maker downstairs, and fill up the jug to the top to do me for the night. Now, the problem there is cold coffee (since the hotplate is downstairs), and stale coffee. It was drinkable, but certainly not enjoyable. I should firstly give a brief history of my love of coffee. Five years ago Starbucks opened up in my town. I was probably one of its first customers, buying up new bags of coffee each week to sample. Each visit, I would listen closely to the staff there as they discussed each blend. After much coffee drinking, I ended up working there for two years, and my love of coffee grew, as I became a coffee master... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Great tastes, smells and different flavours. Excellent varites
Disadvantages: Nothing (except B M J price)

...As some of you may have noticed I have been away for a quite a while now. I have missed writing, but just haven’t had the time, starting Sixth Form, working, and so much more. I thought I would come back with a bang, writing about what I know best – coffee. Lets get one thing straight – you either love it or hate it. I personally LOVE it. It makes me happy, wakes me up and makes me think straight. It is the best legal stimulant available and there are so many varieties. So this brings me on to what I am writing about – Whittard Of Chelsea Coffee Beans. Have you ever walked into Whittard’s? The smell is amazing, overpowering and (even) stimulating. I get so many people coming into my shop saying “You must love working here – just for the smell” or “It smells so good in here –... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Freshly ground, available in small quantities
Disadvantages: A bit more expensive than other coffees

...I am normally a tea drinker but there’s something about the smell of freshly ground, freshly brewed coffee, isn’t there? It always makes a home feel, well, homely. I was passing Whittard a couple of weeks ago and the enticing dark, smoky aroma drew me in. I think that’s why Whittard tend to have open-fronted stores in large shopping malls! As I browsed, I noticed an amazing bargain. They were offering the Bodum 8-cup glass “bean” cafetiere for £10, when coffee makers of this kind usually cost upwards of £30. I couldn’t believe they could afford to sell it at that price and I quickly snapped one up. Having totted up how much money I’ve spent on fresh ground coffee at Whittard since, however, I can see this was an extremely shrewd piece of marketing on their part. I’ve become... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Great tasty substitute for milk
Disadvantages: None - I love it!

...I first discovered Coffee Mate last year when dog sitting for my mum and dad. My mum isn't the best shopper in the world, as I discovered when making a coffee, only to find there wasn't any milk in the fridge. However, sat next to the coffee jar was a tin of Nestle Coffee Mate. Not too keen on trying it, I resolved that it would do until we bought some milk. I don't know why I wasn't keen on the coffee mate. I remember having it in a drink years ago and it was tasteless and didn't melt into the coffee, so there were little white bits floating on the top. However, it's obvious that Coffee Mate has been perfected since then because a coffee in my house aint a proper coffee unless it's got Coffee Mate in it. *About Coffee Mate** Coffee Mate is made by Nestle UK Ltd. Nestle describe this product as 'the original brand... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: You can smell the coffee.
Disadvantages: The more I drink the more I want.

...Anyone that knows me or has read my ten things I couldn’t live without will know that I cant live without my coffee. It is my children’s savior because without it I’m evil. Seriously head spinning fangs showing the whole works. So I need a good coffee. One that even after adding milk you can still taste the coffee. I like to be able to smell the coffee as I’m making it and you can do this with Kenco Rappor. I’ve tried lots of brands in an attempt to find the right taste from cheap nasty stuff to expensive sour stuff. Kenco Rappor is an instant coffee, which comes in a square jar with a bright red lid for normal coffee and with a green lid for decaffeinated with Kenco embossed on it. The jar has Kenco Rappor on the front of the label and has all the relevant information address, e-mail address and a free... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Saves on hightened uncaffeinated rage due to lack of milk
Disadvantages: Reasponsible for the death of my mouse

...Now you all know me ( well most of you do ) and you all know that I am a self confessed coffee addict. I will praise good coffee and slag bad coffee off so badly I could probably be sued for libel, or slander ( which ever is the written one !! ). Thus far I have written ops on other Nestlé coffee products namely Nescafe, Nescafe Cappuccino and Nescafe Coffee in a Can to name a few. While the Cappuccino sachets and the cr*p in a can got rather bad reviews from me I did give the thumbs up to normal Nescafe so I though why not even the score and write about not just another Nestlé product but a Nestlé coffee related product. Thankfully Ciao! placed the Cat in the listings for me quickly enough, enabling me to write this op. So a quick thanks to Ciao! for not moving at a snails pace for a change !! Now I don’t know about you... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Smells great, tastes great, perfect finish. Home brew cafe style.
Disadvantages: Caffeine addiction is a terrible thing.

...When I was a kid there were lots of things I didn't understand. One of these was drinking coffee, another was smoking. At the grand age of 13, at the Summerfields Friday night disco I had my first and last taste of a ciggie. I hated it and decided that from thereon never again (who says that a stubborn streak is a bad thing)? Incidently, at that disco I was asked out by the teen stud of the rival school, much to the amazement of my friends. A memorable day for strange reasons. Anyway, I had knocked smoking on the head. Drinking coffee, another strange phenomena. I thought it smelt and tasted revolting. As a helpful girl, always making cups of Mellow Birds for my mum, I'd often try a cup myself but could never drink it. With or without sugar it was just nasty. The smell of flask coffee on long car journeys to the seaside just about... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Coffee flavoured. Hot, wet, stimulating
Disadvantages: Some may find it too 'middling' - either too bitter or not bitter enough

...Remember the ‘old days?’ When instant coffee was a powder that looked and tasted of watery sludge? How times have changed. Now, better instant coffee comes in granular form…and you can get instant coffee in numerous flavours (hazelnut, cappuccino…), with different levels of ‘richness’ (dark and rich, or golden and mellow). However, here in my office in the armpit of London, we get Nescafé Original granules. A well known, middle of the road coffee. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ What This Op is NOT ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You will not find here a complete history of coffee, or a detailed description of the growing and preparation of coffee beans. What I’m hoping YOU, the consumer, want to know is how the stuff tastes, what it looks like, and what it costs. After all, you... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful