Actually Pat in order to better understand the scenario (of people trying to push pods into the market) you also have to just look closely at some of those that are doing the pushing. If you go to the shows (International Catering Trade Fair, ir Fine Food or whatever) and come across someone peddling pods, listen to them & and taste what they offer. In most cases I think (and ofcourse this is only a personal opinion) you will find (after you have listened and tasted) that these are people probably dont know what they're talking about (if actual coffee quality per se is an issue). On the one hand you listen to the spiel about cleanliness, quality & portion control (and therefore money) and on the other hand the coffee they hand you to taste is 'orrible, showing they either dont know how to make coffee, or their pods are...??? I dunno. I hate it when stand holders *push* you to try something you didint necessarily need or want at the time of offering, then try and tell you how good it is while you're choking on it. Are these people actual coffee people or salesmen? There is an easy test for pods. All you have to do is send someone out to by buy a certain brand of N***spresso pods, get a group of Crema Forum people together and do a taste test on the pod coffee. Draw a line on the floor, one side is for those that reckon the coffee was good and or on par with a brew made with good fresh and freshly ground coffee, and the other side is for those that reckon the coffee was not up to a comparison with good fresh, freshly ground coffee. Ah I love the smell ( aroma?) that wafts from a vacuum sealed pack of pods..."freshly opened"......that is if you like the smell of stale grinds. Regardz, FC.
