Senseo-compatible Carte Noire soft pods in three intensities.
Four pointers to help you choose soft pods to suit your machine and your taste.
A soft pod is a wide filter-paper disc containing untamped coffee, for low-pressure machines such as Senseo (Philips Senseo Original, Select, Switch, Maestro, Viva Café, Quadrante, Latte Duo and coffee machines using the same format). It fits neither capsule machines (Nespresso, Dolce Gusto, Tassimo, Lavazza, Delta Q) nor an ESE 44 mm portafilter, which takes smaller pods tamped for high pressure.
Water passes through the pod in a closed chamber at low pressure, producing a long coffee, similar to filter coffee, topped with a thin layer of foam created by the machine. One pod in the pod holder for 1 cup makes one cup; two pods in the pod holder for 2 cups make a mug.
A soft pod consists of filter paper and ground coffee, with no aluminium or plastic shell. Carte Noire pods are certified compostable in industrial composting facilities (EN 13432 standard, TÜV Austria): they must not go in garden compost or be discarded in the environment. Check with your local council whether it collects this waste.
The pack is sealed in a protective atmosphere. Once opened, reseal it tightly and keep it somewhere dry, away from heat, never in the fridge, where it is too damp: filter paper does not protect the coffee from air as a sealed capsule does. The best-before date is printed on the pack.
A soft pod is a disc of filter paper containing untamped ground coffee, 7 g in Carte Noire pods. This is the format used by soft pod machines, the best known of which is the Philips Senseo: the pod sits in a pod holder, and the machine encloses it in a chamber and passes hot water through it at low pressure. The result is a long coffee, topped with a thin layer of foam, similar to filter coffee.
The format is not exclusive to one brand: several roasters sell Senseo-compatible soft pods, including Carte Noire at Cafemalin.
All machines that take large-format soft pods:
Not compatible: capsule machines (Nespresso Original and Vertuo, Dolce Gusto, Tassimo, Lavazza Blue / A Modo Mio / Espresso Point, Delta Q, illy Iperespresso) and espresso machines with an ESE 44 mm portafilter. Soft pods are considerably wider than ESE pods and are not tamped for high pressure.
Two filter paper formats that are not interchangeable:
This category contains soft pods. For an espresso machine with a portafilter, see our ESE pods.
Two very different extraction methods:
Your choice depends first on your machine, then on your taste: for a short, intense espresso, a capsule machine; for an everyday long coffee with no shell to throw away, soft pods.
A soft pod is made of filter paper and ground coffee, with no aluminium or plastic shell. Carte Noire states that its soft pods are compostable in industrial composting facilities, certified by TÜV Austria to the EN 13432 standard: they must neither go in garden compost nor be discarded in the environment. Check with your local council whether it collects this waste, for example with organic waste.
Sort the outer packaging with your packaging waste, following your local council's guidelines.
Our Senseo-compatible soft pods are from Carte Noire, a French brand founded in 1978 and part of the Lavazza group since 2016, and are roasted in Lavérune (Hérault). Three intensities, in packs of 60:
Their tasting notes and origins are detailed on the Carte Noire soft pods page.
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