Mega Crema Regular - coffee pods - 108 pieces

Mega Crema Regular are coffee pods in the common round standard size, suitable for Senseo® machines of every generation. You can also use them in pod machines from other brands that take this size of pod.

Do make sure you use the right holder: one pod goes in the 1-cup holder, two pods in the 2-cup holder. Senseo® is a brand name of Koninklijke Philips N.V.; these pods are produced independently of them and are suitable for use in Senseo® machines.

As soon as a bag of coffee pods is open, oxygen reaches the ground coffee and the aroma slowly fades. By splitting the stock of 108 pods across three bags of 36, you only ever open a small part while the rest stays airtight.

That way you get the benefit of the better bulk price without the last pods tasting flat. Seal an opened bag properly with a clip or keep the pods in a pod storage tin, somewhere cool, dry and dark.

For an ordinary cup of coffee you use one pod in the 1-cup holder. For two cups at once, or one large mug, use two pods in the 2-cup holder.

If you drink two cups a day at home, 108 pods will last you nearly two months. At three cups a day you are looking at around five weeks. For an office or meeting room where the machine runs all day, this size is mainly intended as a bulk pack.

In almost every case the pod is not the problem: it is the machine or the setting. If you are using one pod, place it in the 1-cup pod holder. In the 2-cup holder, too much water passes through a single pod.

Also select the smallest cup size. The more water that goes through the same pod, the thinner the coffee becomes. Lay the pod flat in the centre of the holder and press the coffee down lightly, so the water cannot run around the edge.

If the coffee still tastes weak, descale your machine. A machine full of limescale lets the water run through too quickly, so the coffee has too little time to release its flavour.

Mega Crema Regular is made from medium-roasted beans: rounded in flavour, not too heavy and with no bitter finish. Exactly the sort of cup you keep drinking all day, black or with milk.

The layer of foam on your coffee forms because a pod machine forces the water through the finely ground coffee under gentle pressure, mixing coffee oils with air. An even, firm crema is usually a sign that the pod is lying nice and flat in the holder and that your machine is clean.