New Improved Brown Ecopad, the Refillable Coffee Filter for the Senseo

This is a great add-on for the Senseo, as many others have noted.

You get the best results if you have your own grinder or if you have access to finely ground coffee (e.g. espresso grind). Store-bought ground coffee from Dunkin' Donuts or Starbucks turns out ok but not fantastic--in my opinion because the grind is too coarse. I haven't experimented a ton yet, but I can report that plain old Bustelo espresso from the supermarket gives you a nice cup using the ecopad.

One tip I haven't seen mentioned: Occasionally after using the ecopad you'll open the machine and find a build-up of water on top of it. This is water that could have been coffee in your mug if it had been allowed to pass through the pad. My theory as to why this happens is that the plastic top of the ecopad can block one or more of the Senseo's five water jets. The top of the ecopad is mostly mesh, but it has a plastic circle in the middle and three thin plastic legs connecting this circle to the outer rim. It's the legs that can block the jets. All you have to do to avoid the water build-up is rotate the ecopad when you put it in your Senseo so that the jets are not blocked by the legs. On mine, if you insert the ecopad so that you can read the logo and it's perfectly centered horizontally, that's going to lead to some water waste. Turn it counterclockwise about 10 degrees and you'll be fine. I've repeated this fix twice so far with good results (no water build-up), so hopefully someone else will find it useful also.

UPDATE: It seems that my method isn't 100% foolproof. I get water build-up sometimes even after doing what I described above. We're not talking about a lot here, but still. Either I'm turning the pad too much or something else is going on, i.e. the coffee is tamped down too much in the pad, preventing water from flowing through. I'll keep experimenting. Comments are welcome.

These come in a two pack, and sit in the two pod holder provided with the standard Senseo brewer. My wife and I both like the idea that they also come from the Netherlands, which is where the Phillips Senseo coffee brewer comes from. The cost is very reasonable, especially when you buy as many of the pods as we have. (Less than $10) After giving them a gentle wash in running hot water, they are ready to use right from the bag. Don't be worried about the packaging they come in, it looks cheap - but they are really very well made.

To fill, you just pop the filter top, add coffee to the cup, pack a little with a spoon, and replace/snap on the filter top. Then place into the Senseo brewer basket, so that the tab on the bottom of the eco-pad fits into the base of the two pod holder. It fits a little snugly, but it will fit when pressed in. Place the brewer basket into the brewer and close the lid as you would normally, and brew with either the one or two espresso button.

At first, we used drip ground coffee and got fairly weak results when we used the two espresso button. I tried one, then waiting, and one again - but still got weak (tea) results at the end of the run. Then I ground fresh beans into a very fine espresso grind level, almost like it was a fine powder - and tried it. That made a HUGE difference in coffee quality from beginning to end. It almost started black, and ended looking like good coffee I still would have drunk. And the taste was 100% better as well, even better than the standard pods you buy in the store. Plus you only use about 2 teaspoons of coffee per cup/serving.

After use, you want to remove the eco-pad, dump your grounds (we put ours into a composting bin) and wash the pod with warm-cool water. It comes out clean, but a good wipe out with a finger or a paper towel is advised every few cups of coffee to keep it looking like new.

All in all, I was very impressed with the results - and am looking forward to a simple cup of fresh brew every morning as I head into work. This is definitely the way to go, unless you want to take the time to make a full pot of coffee or espresso. Of course, if you are in a rush, you can still grab your regular Sesneo store bought pods and make a quick one for "on the run" coffee too. No modifications are made to the brewer or the pod holder what so ever.

Bottom Line: EcoPads really work well - if you use fresh, fine grind espresso coffee and take a little care in cleaning afterwards. And far faster and easier than making a full pot of coffee.

We can now make our own coffee pods for our Senseo coffee maker using our terrific freshly roasted, freshly ground coffee. These pods work so well for us.....absolutely no mess (we had tried a couple of other do-it-yourself pods....ugh!) and the "crema" is lovely. I'd recommend these to anyone who wants to have a choice when it comes to a good cup of coffee. We buy our coffee from a local coffee house where they roast in-house. Now our coffee is fresh and we know where it came from and which growers are fair-trade, organic, etc.

I felt bad that I used to buy disposable pods to make my coffee, so I found these reusable ones. Don't get me wrong, these pods eliminate the need for disposables, but make the whole process longer (if you want coffee instantly, you'd be out of luck and maybe a little frustrated). First, you have to fill them by hand... which is pretty easy once you get the hang of it. Second, you can only brew a single cup at a time -- which could take you twice the time if you normally brew a double cup.

That being said, they make a nice cup of coffee and I love that I now have an infinite selection of java to choose from. Plus, the benefit of not having to use a disposable pod is worth it to me. I will definitely continue using them.

I wish I could come up with these little money makers. These EcoPads are SO great! They are very affordable, and make my Senseo machine all the better - because I don't have to buy those $4+ packages of coffee pods. I feel so much better about the environment, and I can choose which coffee to use!