Coffee pod

"Coffee-pod" is also a name for the Chinese Senna, Senna obtusifolia.

A Senseo coffee pod, upside down

A coffee pod by another manufacturer

Coffee pods (also called coffee pads) are pre-packaged ground coffee beans in their own filter. In certain non-English speaking countries, such as Germany and The Netherlands, the word "pad" is used instead of "pod", for semantic reasons.^[1]

A variation, coffee bags, were developed to provide the convenience of instant coffee but maintain the flavor of brewed coffee. Modeled after tea bags, they consist of a gauze bag containing a mixture of instant coffee and finely ground roast coffee, which is to be steeped in hot water for approximately five minutes.

A coffee capsule differs from a coffee pod in that the coffee is packed in a plastic or aluminum package instead of a paper filter, and it is usually designed for use with a single brand or system and is therefore not interchangeable with other systems.^[2]

Comparison of single-cup systems

Different single-cup systems are not interchangeable; some systems force machine owners to buy capsules from a single company (usually the patent owner), locking the machine owner into a single source of coffee. Coffee pods are made by a variety of manufacturers and are interchangeable between brand of pod and model of pod brewer most of the time. Last updated: 25 September 2010.

System	Owned by	Vintage	Machine manufacturers	Capsule/Pod manufacturers	Markets	Notes of interest
A Modo Mio	Lavazza	2007	Saeco (Philips) branded as Lavazza/Gaggia	Lavazza	Italy, Europe	Lavazza vertical
Caffitaly (Caffita)	Caffita System SPA	???	Various inc. Princess of Netherlands, Tchibo, Gaggia until recently	Various, inc. Gaggia, Ecaffe	Italy	Widespread Italian user base
Dolce Gusto	Nestle	2008	Krups, branded Nescafe	Nescafe (Nestle)	UK, US	Nestle vertical
Easy Serving Espresso Pod (ESE)	Italian ESE Consortium for Development	1998 (standard) and previous	Various (Delonghi, FrancisFrancis, Handpresso, Kitchenaid, Krups, Saeco...)	Various	Worldwide	Open, generic standard not tied to particular vendors, pods fit most traditional espresso machines. Not all pods are 45mm (the standard diameter).
Flavia	Mars, Inc.	1984	Flavia (Mars)	Flavia (Mars)	UK, US	The "fresh pack" (the capsule) is the brewing vessel, so that the drink is not tainted by previous user. Controlled by Mars.
K-Cup (Keurig)	Green Mountain Coffee Roasters	1992	Keurig, Breville, Cuisinart	Many, primarily Green Mountain	Mainly US	My K-Cup available as a reusable filter for using any filter coffee.
Nespresso	Nestle	1986	Eugster/Frismag branded as Krups, Magimix, Siemens; Delonghi make Latissima model	Nespresso	US, UK	Nestle-controlled system
Coffee Pods	None	???	Bunn, Philips, Melitta, Grindmaster, Cuisinart, CafeXpress, etc.	Douwe Egberts, Reunion Island, Wolfgang Puck, Melitta, Fratello Coffee Roasters, etc.	Worldwide	Not owned by a specific corporation. Many more manufacturers of pods and brewers exist. Also biodegradable.
T-Discs (Tassimo)	Kraft	2004	Bosch branded as TASSIMO	Various, inc. Starbucks, Maxwell House. Mostly subsidiaries of Kraft. (see T-Discs)	North America, Europe

References

1. ^ The German and Dutch pronunciation of English "pod" would not have evoked a particularly fashionable product, in German this would be a "Kaffeepott" 'coffee mug', while in Dutch, it would remind customers of "koffiepot" 'coffee pot'.
2. ^ "What Are Coffee Pods?", from the page Pod Pack. Retrieved 10 June 2011.

See also

• Coffee service
• Easy Serving Espresso Pod
• K-Cup
• T-Discs
• Flavia Beverage Systems
• Senseo