By Chuck Martin
The Cincinnati Enquirer

The end of the home coffeepot is near.

That's the prediction from many in the industry who say single-serve coffeemakers could brew the biggest revolution in homemade java since the advent of automatic drip in the early 1970s. The bold, new trend: One cup at a time.

Boston-based Keurig, which introduced its B100 in September, claims to be the first to enter the single-serve home coffeemaker market. Within the last week, Procter & Gamble, with partner Black & Decker, began selling a single-serve system called Home Cafe. Earlier last month, Philips introduced its Senseo machine, which uses coffee made by Douwe Egberts, a Sara Lee brand. Melitta and others also have introduced single-cup coffeemaker versions.

Single-serve machines work impressively fast, spewing a cup of coffee in 90 seconds or less. At the helm, you are your own barista. If you prefer a cup of robust French roast, just pop in the ground pre-portioned coffee and brew away. If your spouse defers to decaf, that cup will be ready a minute later. No noisy bean-grinding or clumsy measuring required.

The new machines operate on the same principle: Instead of water slowly dripping over ground coffee into a pot, hot water is forced over coffee, theoretically producing the same quality cup you get at the corner cafe. Because it's made in small quantity, the coffee doesn't sit on a burner, exposed to air, turning bitter and stale.

The catch is, you're probably restricted to using the coffee designed for each machine. Home Cafe machines, for instance, use coffee "pods" made by P&G - small, disposable filter disks that hold coffee. At first, these pods will be available in only four flavors of Folgers and three varieties of Millstone coffee. Keurig offers a larger selection of "K-Cups"- small disposable plastic containers that contain coffee or tea and a mini-filter.

You can't use Keurig's K-Cups in the Home Cafe, or the P&G pods in the Keurig - although we did discover the Home Cafe and Senseo coffee pods are interchangeable.

Even though this generation of coffeemakers is fresh on the shelf, there is a relatively wide range of prices. At the upper end, the Keurig machine retails for $250. The Home Cafe costs $60. Later this year, Mr. Coffee is expected to introduce a single-serve machine for $60, and next year, Krups will debut a more upscale, dual-cup version for $99. Both of these machines will use the Folgers and Millstone coffee pods.

But the new machines have their hiccups. Two of the three we tested - the Home Cafe and Senseo - sometimes dripped and spattered during and after brewing. Most importantly, we don't think the single-serve machines consistently make a better-tasting cup of coffee than the old-fashioned automatic drip.

So don't throw away that coffeepot, yet.

Keurig B100

Price: $249.95 (Available only at www.keurig.com)

Average brewing time (1 cup): 46 seconds*

Cup size: 8 ounces

Price per cup: About 56 cents.

Coffee: More than 50 varieties of coffee and tea brands available in Keurig "K-Cups." Brands include Green Mountain, Gloria Jean's, Celestial Seasonings and Bigelow. Coffee and tea cost: $13.95 per 25 K-Cups.

Pro: Changing K-Cups is fast and clean. Minimal post brew dripping. Bottom tray removes easily for cleaning and dumping spills. Green light tells when machine is ready to brew. Tall travel mug fits easily under dispenser.

Con: Water requires four minutes to get hot enough to brew. At 15 inches tall, 16 inches deep and 7 inches across, Machine takes a lot of counter space.

The taste: The Van Houtte Mexico Dark and several other coffee brands had robust flavor and aroma, but a few others tasted thin, wimpy. The Celestial Seasonings and Timothy's English breakfast tea blends brewed too strong.

Black & Decker Home Cafe

Price: $59.95 (Available at Target, Sam's Club and other retailers.)

Average brewing time (1 7-ounce cup): 1 minute, 23 seconds*

Cup size: 7, 9 and 14 ounces

Price per cup: 25 cents

Coffee: Four varieties of Folgers and three varieties of Millstone coffee pods, made by Procter & Gamble. Coffee costs $3.99 per 16 pods. Pods available where coffee machines are sold.

Pro: Ready to brew within 35 seconds after water reservoir filled. Brewing cycle allows for making three sizes of cups. Another pod can be added to make coffee stronger. Tall travel mug fits under coffee dispenser easily.

Con: Coffee maker sometimes spatters coffee during brewing cycle and drips after cycle ends. Bottom tray not removable for dumping spills. Removing used pods awkward.

The taste: Millstone tasted as good as or better than automatic drip, although several cups had flavor of paper, like pod filter. Folgers tasted like very fresh Folgers.

Philips Senseo

Price: $69.99 (available at Target and other retailers)

Average brewing time (1 cup): 38 seconds.*

Cup size: 5 ounces.

Price per cup: 22 cents

Coffee: Available in four varieties of pods made by Douwe Egberts, a Sara Lee coffee brand. Coffee costs $3.99 per 18 pods. Coffee pods are available where machines are sold.

Pro: Ready to brew within one minute after water reservoir is filled. Extra pod can be added to make coffee stronger. Part of bottom tray can be removed for dumping drips and spills.

Con: Noisy - sounds like an electric sander while brewing. Makes small cups. Tall travel mug can't be placed under dispenser.

The taste: Coffee had attractive foamy top layer (crema), but looks better than it tastes. Dark roast was weak. Smooth medium roasts best. The best coffee we made was using a Millstone Columbian Supremo pod in the Senseo machine.

* Average times determined by timing three brews

E-mail cmartin@enquirer.com