Trusted Reviews Gives the $599 xBloom Studio Pod Brewer Five Stars

Trusted Reviews has given the xBloom Studio, a $599 single-cup pour-over machine with its own grinder and scale, a full five stars. Reviewer Terri Williams, in a review published Oct. 19, calls it one of the most stylish and functional coffee makers she’s tested.

The Studio grinds whole beans on one side (80 grind settings), weighs the dose on a built-in scale, then pours over the grounds from a moving spout in one of three patterns. The pod part is xPods: capsules of whole beans that you empty into the grinder after tapping an NFC recipe card or picking the recipe in the app, which sets the grind, water and temperature for you. According to the review, eight-packs cost $12 to $30, filters are $10 for 100, and the 32-ounce tank can be swapped for a water line.

Williams says her cups tasted like coffee-house coffee, including an xPod, and she admits she usually avoids pods. Fiddling with the settings did give her some cups that were too strong or too weak. The limits she flags are practical ones: it’s tall, it tops out at 11 ounces per brew, and it can’t make a pot.

Our take: xPods work out to roughly $1.50 to $3.75 a cup, well above most K-Cups (our cost-per-cup breakdown has the Keurig numbers). This is a machine for someone who wants good pour-over without learning the technique, not a replacement for a Keurig in a busy kitchen. If you mostly drink one big mug in a hurry, it’s a lot of money for 11 ounces.