How to make your own ESE coffee pod

Senseo, Keurig and many other companies produce coffee makers that make only one cup of coffee at a time. You can make a cup of coffee and replace the coffee pod with a fresh pod of tea, coffee or hot chocolate for the next person. Clean up and disposal of the pods is easy, and there's no complicated measuring. The downside to coffee pod coffee makers is that the only coffees you can use are the ones that come in the pods. Your favourite brand may not make pods, or perhaps you like to mix your coffee flavours and the pods don't allow for that. Coffee pods can also be expensive, especially if you drink more than one cup of coffee or tea in a day. The solution is to make coffee pods yourself.

Find a measuring cup that fits into your coffee pod holder pretty snugly. A 1/3 or 1/4-cup measuring cup should fit almost perfectly. Find a drinking glass that fits inside of the measuring cup, also pretty snugly. The glass needn't be glass; a plastic cup will work just fine.

Set a regular, flat-bottomed coffee filter over the measuring cup, making sure it's centred. Press the glass into the coffee filter so the filter moulds to the shape of the measuring cup. Small coffee filters work best; there isn't as much extra material.

Remove the glass from the filter, but leave the filter in the measuring cup. Scoop any combination of coffees, loose teas, or hot chocolate into the filter so it forms about a 1/2-inch deep layer.

Fold the edges of the coffee filter toward the centre of the coffee layer. Begin on one side and fold down one section of the edge about a finger's width wide, then fold the next section over the first, and so on. Each section will overlap the section before it.

Press your thumb against the centre of the new coffee pod and turn the measuring cup over to remove the pod. Place the pod in your coffee maker and brew as normal.