The One Where We Review a Tassimo

Our Tassimo Review may contain affiliate links

Are you wondering which Tassimo machine to buy? Or whether a Tassimo is right for your home? 

Today I want to share our honest review of the Tassimo coffee machine, which we’ve been trialling for the last month.

To start with let’s be clear: I love coffee. I almost bit their hands off when the people at Tassimo offered me a coffee machine to review. And the idea of Tassimo seems like a perfect fit for us. I’m a big fan of coffee. I’m quite lazy in the kitchen. And since I live with just Flea (who doesn’t drink coffee) making a whole pot of coffee is impractical.

So a Tassimo should be perfect for my morning cup of coffee. But is it?

And after our review, which Tassimo machine do we think is best?

Tassimo Review: First Impressions

The Tassimo model we were sent is the Vivy, and it retails for around £90. When you unpack the machine, you have to feed water through the tank five times to clean it.

The machine is much smaller than our regular coffee machine, which means it doesn’t take up too much room on the counter, and it’s easily hidden away in a cupboard if you want to do that. The Vivy is a really compact Tassimo model, which is helpful when it’s fighting for space between the Ninja Creami and the Air Fryer.

The instructions were very simple, and we worked everything out and were set up in less than an hour.

How to Use Tassimo Pods

Once set up, the Tassimo is simple enough to use. You buy a box of coffee discs, called T-Discs, which are inserted into the machine with a bar-code facing up. The machine reads the barcode, and delivers the right amount of water, at the right temperature, for perfect coffee, every time.

The machine is nice and compact with relatively few buttons (simplicity is good, in our world). And £90 is a pretty great price for a coffee machine. Our previous machine, which brewed fresh coffee from loose beans, cost more than £300.

How Much do Tassimo Pods Cost?

At first glance, a Tassimo looks like great value. If you’re spending £5 a time on coffee from a local shop, even using Tassimo once a day means the machine will have paid for itself within a few months.

But the downside if you’ll need to buy the pods or discs. The price of the pods has fallen dramatically over the years, and you can now buy packs of 64 coffee discs for under £20 on Amazon, or 80 hot chocolates for £33. This makes the disks a lot cheaper than a brew from your local coffee shop.

What We Loved About Tassimo

I loved that the Tassimo is small, easy and convenient.

The discs or pods are widely available, and in so many flavours that you are spoiled for choice. As someone who works from home, it’s lovely sometimes to just have a little treat in the middle of the day without going out, or spending a lot of money. Each cup of coffee takes around 90 seconds to make, meaning this is just as fast as boiling the kettle.

And what’s not to love about a coffee machine that uses pods, and minimises the mess to clean up after? The Tassimo is so easy to keep clean.

5 Best Tassimo Machines

If you’re looking for a Tassimo machine, here are our five favourites for small households, and why we love them:

Nespresso Essenza Mini Coffee Machine, £154

This lime green model is super cute, and from Magimix, meaning it’s great quality. It’s the most compact Nespresso machine on the market. It has a rapid heating time of 25 seconds, meaning it’s really fast, and an eco mode for lower energy use. Currently £154 on Amazon.

Tassimo by Bosch Suny Special Edition, £34.99

This economy model is great if you’re on a budget, it has a simple one-button operation and height adjustible stand so you can use different cups and mugs. It makes a coffee in around 30 seconds, and reviewers say it’s easy to use and simple to clean. With a 2-year guarantee, what’s not to love?

Tassimo My Way Coffee Machine, £109

This cream Tassimo model comes with its own water filter for even better coffee, and a powerful 1,500 watt motor and large 1.3 litre capacity. You can set your preferred coffee strength and milk level, and store your preferences for next time.

Bosch Tassimo Happy Capsule Machine TAS1002N 

Another space-saving machine from Bosch, the Tassimo Happy Capsule Machine TAS1002N is fully automatic, suitable for all cups and compact while offering a decent 1400-watts. It’s small, powerful and has an automatic steam cleaning feature after each drink so you don’t get taste cross-contamination. Currently one third off on Amazon at £66.

Bosch Vivy 2 TAS1401GB Coffee Machine

It’s small, cute, pink and a great price point – what’s not to love?  Customers like the ease of use and value of the coffee maker. For example, they mention it’s easy to use and maintain, and is a cheaper and quicker alternative to bigger models.

Downsides of the Tassimo

There are some downsides to using any of these Tassimo machines. My main concerns were:

• Set up was slow – flushing the machine out five times before first use took almost a full day. Yes, I’m impatient.
• The coffee itself is okay. Not amazing, but not dreadful. You will want to try a few different pods to get the ones you like best. 
• Tassimo can very wasteful – I never realised that when you make a cup of coffee in a Tassimo, the coffee grounds are encased in a rigid plastic disc about twice the size of a teabag. And that disc goes straight in the bin. If you make two cups of coffee, twice a day, that’s 28 discs in the rubbish every week. It would be 56 if you opt for some of the latte or cappuccino discs, since the milk for those drinks comes in an entirely separate pod. So it’s important to recycle your coffee pods.
• Too many of the Tassimo cappuccino and coffee pods we tried came sweetened. For anyone who drinks their coffee without sugar, it instantly renders anything made in the Tassimo undrinkable.

How to Recycle Tassimo Pods

If you want to recycle your Tassimo pods, you can. Tassimo has created a network of “TerraCycle” locations, where you can drop off bags of used Tassimo pods. The pods and wrapping materials are cleaned, melted into hard plastic and remoulded into new products. These products can be bought via TerraCycle.

As to how sustainable this is, I’m not sure. After all, you’re still using plastic unnecessarily, and realistically, how many Tassimo customers are going to make the effort to take their coffee pods to the nearest Tassimo recycling point? Our closest recycling option for Tassimo pods is an HOUR away by car – I’m willing to bet that nobody in my town is making that effort.

If you do want to use this type of coffee machine, the best option is to buy a Nespresso machine and use compostable coffee pods. I’ve not been able to find any compostible pods for the Tassimo, but if you do know of one, please let me know!

Tassimo Review: Our Overall Verdict

So, what’s the verdict? While it’s not for us, I think the Tassimo could be a good option if you occasionally make one or two coffees at a time, and if you drink sweetened drinks, or black coffee. I know people who rave about the taste of the coffee from the Tassimo, so while it might not be to my personal taste, it could be perfect for you.

But for us, the best option has been to use our regular espresso machine, with ESE pods. These are paper-based pods, a bit like teabags. This means you get the convenience of a Tassimo, but with your favourite coffee, hot frothy milk AND a clean conscience.

I hope you found our Tassimo review helpful! Have you tried a Tassimo? What did you think?