Single cup coffe makers

Even if you haven't used one, you have almost certainly seen them. These coffee makers use little pre-made cups (pods) of coffee, tea or hot chocolate to make one cup at a time. When we were staying with Ken and Jennifer in Raleigh, we used their Tassimo brew system and liked it.


This seemed like it could be the answer to one of our problems: I like a strong, black cup of coffee (yeah Starbucks!) and Julie likes a lighter, flavored cup of coffee or a latte. I came back and did some research.

Seems like it is always something. In this case, the Tassimo counts on heating the brewing water up to 200 degrees, well below boiling, and then pumping it through the grinds. Here in Park City, because of the altitude's effect on air pressure, water boils at about 197, 15 degrees below the "normal" 212. This means that the coffee maker gets upset because boiling water damages its insides and because the sensor never sees the water hit the required 200. Hence, no coffee and a damaged coffee maker. The manufacturer says no higher than 6500 feet, which is about 1000 feet below here.

Go figure!