Bosch TAS4011 Coffee Maker Silver Review

I bought this as a solution to an easy to maintain drinks maker and it has proven itself many times over. It serves an identical drink every time you press the button. There''s quite a bit of variety, but once you have discarded the ones you don''t like much, you may end up with only a few different coffees to choose from. It''s easy to clean, most of the hard work is done within the T-disc itself (the disposable bit containing the coffee), so all you need to clean is the single component (which splits into three for cleaning) which injects the water and serves the drink... and maybe give the barcode reader window a wipe. My problem is that the only coffees I drink lots of can only be bought online - Starbucks House Blend, Mastro Lorenzo Crema Intenso and the same brand Espresso. The teas (from Twinings) are good too, and the Suchard and Milka hot chocolates are nice (to dark/milk chocolate lovers respectively) I bought a Kenwood Mokabista (on special offer) to give me more choice in coffees, however I have only been able to produce a weak uncoffeelike liquid from the Senseo pods (in the correct holder) and it dispenses a different amount of drink each time you do it. Also the crema is fake, cold and tastes bad. The tassimo on the other hand, if you like a flavour once, you know that''s what you''re going to get every time. If you order up a cafe crema, you know you''re going to get it, and with a proper crema. The downside is that the pods are made of plastic, which isn''t great for the environment.

Received as a Christmas gift and I love it! The drinks are lovely (- Latte the fave!) and its quick and easy to use. If the drinks are too strong or not long enough there is a facility to weaken it to your desired taste. Its great if you have a few people round and they all want different drinks and the kids love the Hot Chocolate. I looked at the supermarkets for the pods and actually found that if you log on to the tassimo website it can work out cheaper to buy the pods there. In the supermarkets I found them for £2.99 upwards, but they work out about 50p cheaper on the website, and if you spend £25 or more you get free delivery. I have just received a nice box of various coffees and hot chocolates and managed to save nearly £10 by not getting them at the local Tesco (and ebay is the most expensive!!). On top of which, the website has new variations available only on-line. I''ve used it every day since getting it and I absolutely love it!!!!