One of the most unique single-cup coffee brewers on the market today is the Tassimo. Formerly made by Braun but now made by Bosch, the Tassimo uses an unusual brewing system based on specialty minipackets known as T-Discs—small, branded discs including bar codes the machine will read electronically to brew single cups of coffee, cappuccino, latte, hot chocolate, or tea by the brand’s specifications.

The branded T-Discs include such coffees as Starbucks, Gevalia, Maxwell House Café Selection, Seattle’s Best, and Carte Noire, but Tassimo small drip coffee makers also offers discs for Suchard hot chocolate; Twinings, Gevalia, and Tavo tea; and, Starbucks Primo, Gevalia, Maxwell House Cappuccino, Maxwell House Latte, Jacobe Latte, and Gevalia Cappucino espresso blends.

There are three Tassimo brewer machines available, at prices from $129.99 (for the basic model) to $199.99 (for the Premium), with a mid-range $169.99 for the Suprema. The basic appears in black matte and features the same manual taste and strength adjustment found on all three models, and is the only one of the three with a 68-ounce water tank; the Suprema features a 61-ounce tank, an LCD filter monitor, a Mavea Maxtra water filter, and adjustable cup stand; the Premium features a 61-ounce tank, a multi-lingual LCD filter monitor, a Mavea Maxtra, and a lighted, adjustable cup stand.

Some customers and critics have compared the Tassimo to the Keurig single-cup brewer that features six models priced beginning between $60 and $70, which makes them an apparent bargain for high-end single-cup brewers and uses a brewing pod system known as the K Cup, with sixteen brands available including Green Mountain, Ghiardelli, Emeril, and Green Mountain. The Keurig is also designed specifically for office or other working environments, which its advocates say gives it an advantage for rugged durability. By and large, it seems to boil down to individual preference, even if Keurig users acknowledge the Tassimo brews faster.

The Tassimo’s notices have improved since the days when Braun made the machine, with Braun-era complaints usually centering around its noisy brewing, slower heating, and periodic water spillback. Those complaints have all but disappeared since Bosch began making the machines. The Braun-era Tassimo also featured a somewhat smaller (fifty ounce) water tank.

Coffee Maker Today praises the Tassimo basic model (formal designation: Model TAS1000UC) for simple operation and the range of customised brewing options via the T-Disc system even for a basic, no-frills machine. Single-cup brewer site Single-ServeCoffee.com found the post-Braun Tassimo’s adjustable cup stands (on the higher-end Suprema and Premium models) and standby, automatic, manual, and descale controls and indicators and on-demand brewing appealing.

And OneCupCoffeeReview.com liked the Tassimo either Braun or Bosch-made, but criticised the company for not making T-Discs available at other outlets than the company itself, as opposed to the Keurig K-Cups that can be found in some retail outlets not bearing the Keurig name.