I was quite excited to get my hands on the Melitta One:One Coffee Brewing system. We have seen a lot of press coverage for these one cup coffee makers and the hype is that they are the wave of the future for coffee here in the US. We are in the middle of testing three different types of one cup systems and this was the first one out of its box.

As you can see from the illustration, the Melitta One:One comes in an attractive box, emblazoned with the title “Pod Brewing System”. Inside is the machine, instructions and some sample pods. I unpacked it, gave Melitta high marks for using recyclable materials inside and set the coffee maker on the test kitchen counter.

Pictures just don’t do this machine justice. It’s an ultra swish and stylish device that really does look like a brand new concept. Everyone who saw it, during testing, commented on its sleek lines and clever use of high grade plastic. If this was a beauty contest the Melitta One:One would be right up there.

Beauty is not skin deep in this case, as the Melitta One:One also appears to be very well constructed. You never know with modern plastics. The thinnest of materials, if properly used, can last forever, but when it comes to metals you can use your common sense to see how durable an item is likely to be. The top of the machine is hinged and needs to be opened every time you make a new cup. It looks like it was designed to be used to open beer bottles or to crack rocks. It is clearly over-engineered in an attractive, non-corrosive metal finish. Melitta seems to have designed the Melitta One:One for years of hard work, so now it's time to see if you might want to use it for that long.

The basic idea here is to use a pre-measured amount of coffee or tea in a tea bag like “pod”. You put the pod in a chamber at the top of the machine. Hot water, at an exact temperature, is then forced through the pod to produce a remarkably consistent and hot brew that is made in just a few seconds.

This really is a different concept from the normal drip, percolate and other ways of brewing a cup. If the machine is on, you are sipping a great cup of piping hot coffee about 10 seconds after pressing the button. From the moment you grab the coffee pod of your choice to the final step is less than 30 seconds. That’s fast even for a coffee junkie like me!

The Melitta has a two mug reservoir at the back and you can choose between a cup or a mug of coffee. The cup seemed distinctly stronger and this gives you some control over the strength of your brew. You can only use the pods once so making a mug to get the slightly weaker brew does not waste anything.

Warm up time for the machine from “off” is just around a minute from cold. The on-off button flashes until the machine is ready. Once it turns a solid red you are ready to brew until the reservoir is empty. That means two full mugs or around 4 cups before you need a refill. The reservoir has a cover so there’s no harm leaving it full, provided that you use the machine fairly often. If you leave it standing for a few days then refreshing the water is a good idea.

The machine is very quiet while it heats up. You can hear it working, but it’s about as loud as an electric kettle. The brewing process is a bit louder, but nothing to disturb a sleeping household or a conversation.

I was a little concerned about practicality when I discovered that there is no timer or automatic feature. I use a filter brewing system at the moment (guess what’s replacing it?) and it features a timer to allow me to brew coffee at a preset time. Well forget that! The ability to make a really fresh cup in a few seconds makes that requirement obsolete. My first cup was brewed by the time I walked to the fridge and grabbed the milk, definitely not an issue, even for the most impatient drinker.

Does it make a good cup? A resounding yes is the answer. I tried the Melitta supplied coffee and teas and was really delighted with the results. Melitta has always had a good sense of the current fad in coffee and they really nail the taste issue here. Their flavored coffees are just right. The decaf is tasty and free of any metallic aftertaste and the teas work as advertised. The tea was a bit too strong for my taste, but I like my tea very weak. I used extra low fat milk to get a combination that worked for me.

One of the issues of using a “system” to do anything is the concern that you are locked into a single manufacture’s consumables. This is not really a problem in Melitta’s case as they have a great range of coffees and teas for the Melitta One:One, but I wanted to be sure. A quick trip to the coffee section of my local supermarket seemed in order. There are five or so brands of coffee pods on the market. This offers you a wide range of alternative coffee and tea, if you really need to get something different. I tried some decaf pods from another manufacturer and they worked fine in the Melitta. I could tell that they were not exactly the same, but in a pinch you could use another brand without too much trouble.

To summarize so far -- The Melitta One:One is a pod based brewing machine that makes hot, consistent coffee and tea. It is attractive and well built. The machine is easy to use and quiet in operation. At $49.99 what’s to stop you dashing out and buying one – not much! The main issue with this innovative approach to coffee brewing is -- does it cost a whole lot more that conventional coffee brewing and if it does can you justify that difference?

Here I was really surprised. The average cost of a pod is around 27c. You can get them online or by phone from a toll free number. The pods are incredibly light so shipping cost is not really a factor. I tried making a similar strength cup from fresh ground coffee using a Melitta drip system that I have had for a couple of years. Basically the cost of coffee was the same.

Maybe the pods are fractionally more expensive than cheaper coffee, but here’s the reason why it really doesn’t matter. Each pod is sealed in an airtight nitrogen filled foil pack. No need to refrigerate your beans, no need to grind them just before you brew, nothing to spill, nothing to waste. Even after dozens of brews there was no mess around the Melitta. The spent pods are comparatively dry and don’t drip if left in the machine for a few moments after brewing. You really do gain something from the speed of brewing and having mess free kitchen tops. It’s really no contest against other brewing methods.

This really is something new. I have tried every type of coffee maker; drip, cafeterier, percolator, vacuum brewer, filter and so on. Each one takes practice to get the right strength of brew and many of them are messy and expensive to use. My current drip based brewing method is nearly twice as expensive, per cup, as the Melitta and take over twice as long to brew.

This is a great machine. It looks good. Produces great coffee in sixty seconds or less and is no more expensive than other methods. Would I buy one for my kitchen – you bet!