Espresso pods

An abomination - espresso pods, decaf no less! I thought I'd give them a chance, though, because I've been craving espresso more now that it's getting darker earlier, and often gloomy during the day. However, that means I can't get to sleep at night, and haven't been sleeping well lately. Since I can't be buying a separate grinder just for decaf, I thought I'd give pods a try.

The first shocker was that a pod was only good for one shot. One. Kinda useless normally, but perhaps enough to satisfy a late afternoon craving for the taste of espresso. Cleanup is easy with pods, though, so it wouldn't be a huge deal to pull another shot. The manual for my espresso maker was pretty useless about using the separate filter, but once I got that figured out, I pulled a shot and put it in 8 ounces of steamed milk.

Between the pod and being decaf, I was ready for it to taste horrible. But, like a Palin interview, the bar was set low enough that it wasn't too bad. It was gone in two sips, of course, but it really wasn't half bad. Next time I think I'll do two. 12 pods are $5, so that comes to $.83. Not bad, and they have a short shelf life, so no use keeping them around for long. On the other hand, I could pre-grind some decaf beans maybe a quarter pound at a time so I don't have to switch the grinder back and forth whenever I want some. Hmmm...