Invasion of the podmaker

A couple of months ago, I wrote about my introduction to coffee pods via my sister's one-cup coffee pot, and since then, I've seen the pod machines all over the place. If you would have asked me then how I felt about the pod invasion, I would have told you that pods are meant for peas and aliens, not for coffee. With my arms tightly clenched around my french press, I would have enthusiastically argued against keeping coffee grains captive against their natural instincts to swim freely in a pool of hot water on the way to becoming a cup of coffee.

OK, I'm exaggerating, but in short, I didn't like pods, but after having a cup and realizing that it wasn't half bad, I learned to be complacent to the growing market for pod-using coffee machines.

With more and more machines using the pods, the arsenal of coffee and tea pods that is growing in freezers and pantries is getting out of hand. Do I want French vanilla or bold roast? Chamomile or English breakfast? Decaf or regular? The limits of our day-to-day beverage desires are stretching larger than our kitchen storage will allow, and if your apartment is anything like mine, then space is of the essence.

That's where gizmos like the Perfect Pod Maker come in handy. The pod machine allows you to create individual pods in just a few seconds by heat-sealing the edges of a paper pod around any filling you choose. You can put in your favorite ground coffee, or you can combine flavors or caffeine levels to fit your taste buds or current coffee buzz needs. You can also combine loose tea leaves or make your own herbal blends.

The Perfect Pod machine is available for around $70 and comes with pod papers, but if you need to purchase an extra set, they're only about 9 bucks. You can also buy a pod holster, which holds the pod inside some coffeemakers (like Keurig) and uses a self-tamping spring to extract a better cup. You can see a video of how to make a coffee pod here.