I was a long time Nespresso user, it’s like a Keurig but for espresso type coffee. For years you were locked into buying Nestle’s pods, but more recently you could get 3rd party pods for half the price. Then the old machine gave up the ghost and I bought a new Nespresso Vertuo coffee maker.
I had always been suspicious of the Vertuo line as the pods include a barcode, which I immediately likened to Keurig’s 2.0 thing that locks out “unlicensed” pods. But wow, is this thing so much better than the old machine, not just the coffee which is very nice, but the pods.
Unlike Keurig or the original Nespresso machine, this new machine only pierces the foil lid of the pods. The heavy aluminum pod with the barcode is ejected from the machine in pristine condition, they are completely reusable! 3rd parties sell foil stickers that replace the original foil lids, so I can peel off the old lid, rinse out the pods and refill them. I’m not locked into Nestle’s coffee at all.
A quiet 15min spent filling pods would set me up for a week, at a fraction of the cost of new pods, and I’m not throwing out a million pods in the process.
This is awesome. The Keurig’s serve a purpose but man the waste generated seems so damn unnecessary.
Hmm… My wife has loved her standard Nespresso machine, at home and work, for years now. When she first got it, I looked into refilling its pods, but it was a real PITA, so we just found some low-cost pods she liked.
But IIRC, one of the refilling options was sticking new foil lids on, like you’ve described. I think I tried it and it either didn’t work well or was more trouble than I wanted to go to. But I could be remembering wrong, or thinking of similar methods with Keurig pods.
So let us know what you find whe you try it out. If it really is as easy as you say, maybe I’ll look into switching over.
Interesting. I became a Nespresso fan after a European trip; my hotel room had one.
Those machines were everywhere in Europe (and otherewhere), and I freaking loved them. I like a very particular strong coffee, and they always had what I wanted.
i’ve considered getting one, but our Keurig, reading my mind, has refused to give up the ghost.
It’s a bit fiddly, you have to be attentive to the process, it doesn’t reward sloppiness. Like if you want to paint something, you need to load the brush carefully, not throw drips all over, and be present for the job.
What I like about the foil lid thing is that I’m NOT trying to do it at 6:30am when I just woke up. I can do it whenever. Pull out the little refilling kit, load some pods that I emptied and cleaned a few days ago, seal them and drop them in a jar to use tomorrow morning. Some folks sell reusable lids, silicone or stainless steel, but they’re a “fill and use right now” technology.
They are actually getting away with that without being sued?! Keurig’s patent on K-Cups expired in 2012. They have no legal right to license something they don’t own, do they?
My wife bought me a fancy Cuisinart coffee machine shortly after we married. It would make 12 cups of coffee, make expresso or just heat water. About a year ago it quit working. I bought me a 5 cup Mr. Coffee machine at Walmart for $14. It is perfect. I get 2 fills of my coffee mug and I’m using a lot less coffee. Plus it’s small and light enough I take it with me when we are out and about in our travel trailer. I still use my fancy Baratza coffee grinder though.
ISTM it’s like HP’s printers. They have an absolute right to make whichever printers they want that are as persnickety as they want about which supplies the printers are willing to consume.
We, the all powerful Consumer, have a choice: Buy HP, or don’t buy HP.
Ditto for Keurig. Don’t want their lock-in efforts? Don’t buy their products. AFAIK there is no US law which compels them to build machines which will accept knock-off supplies.
The very reason why I stopped buying HP printers. Xerox is worth the extra and ends up cheaper once toner replacement is calculated in.
As a followup, I have finally gone through a pack of 80 foil seals and the whole process works swimmingly. I made two errors so far… made one batch of pods with regular coffee instead of espresso grind. It was still coffee, just not espresso. Second error was ruining 1 foil lid when assembling the pod. The particular brand of seal I bought, Geesta, go on nicely, stay tight, and peel off easily enough.
Apparently they use a patented ink that when scanned unlocks the machine. Ingenious and annoying.
My wife would never countenance pods, way too wasteful. I have a Delonghi espresso machine, and I bloody love that thing. And no waste!
They have their uses. The teachers in my district had a coffee club where people would sign up for unlimited use in exchange for bringing a can of coffee as a contribution. Turns out free loaders were sucking up the coffee and members were having to donate way more coffee than they should have otherwise donated. They shut down the club and put a Keurig in the teachers’ lunchroom. People who want coffee bring their own pods so that they are not having to pay for free loaders. It has worked out very well.
I know what you mean. I bought mine 12 years ago, and it still performs flawlessly.