I was at Sur la Table yesterday and saw a demo of this machine. I had a latte in my hand in 30 seconds. It was good.
Here’s my story: I’m kind of a coffee snob. I grind my coffee fresh. I use a burr grinder. I love coffee. But some mornings I’m in a dead rush and don’t have time to wait for my 10 minute pot of coffee to make way too much coffee so that I can fill my travel mug and dump the rest out. And I love me a latte.
So I’m thinking why not an espresso machine for mornings when I don’t have time, or when I’m in the mood for a latte, or when I need a shot of caffeine before a long night?
The only thing that worries me is the concept of these little pod things and how good/fresh the coffee really is, and if it’s really going to appeal to my coffee-snob sensibilities.
Anybody use the Nespresso machine/pods? What’s your opinion? Should I do it?
You are beholden to Nescafe for the rest of the life of the machine, and they charge a severe premium for the privilege of those stupid little cartridges. They cost a fortune.
Sure, they’re convenient, but the playoff is that the mechanism isn’t accessible: if something goes wrong, you have to get a Nespresso engineer out at huge expense.
Next, you are fixed into the six or so coffee types they make - I have tried them all, and can taste no difference between them (apart from the decaf, which tastes like ass).
Penultimately, the coffee in the cartridges is no fresher than a vacuum-sealed pre-ground pack, and if you keep your own hermetically sealed, or in the freezer, it’ll be just as fresh.
Finally, they’re wasteful - they create trash constantly.
My advice is to get a regular espresso machine. I have one at home, and, having used both, I can tell you that it takes approximately ten seconds more to make a cup of coffee in a regular machine than a Nespresso one does, is cheaper to run, and more flexible.
My fiance and his work friends bought one to save money at work. They figured the pods would be easier to use - now they’re trying to sell it and wish they had bought a regular coffee machine. He says it’s nowhere near as good as barista coffee or homemade.
Aside from the mediocre coffee it’s a pain buying the pods. You have to deal with the sales assistants who act like pretentious high-end coffee dealers even though they sell stuff that’s one step above instant supermarket crap.
Meh. Skip the pod system. Use your burr grinder to grind your espresso fresh every morning. That’s what I do. It adds less than 2 minutes to my AM schedule to grind the beans, heat the cup, load the machine, and brew my shot, which I take out the door with me.
I use a Starbucks Barista model, but previously the Capresso worked fine for me for years also.
In one chapter of “The Man who ate everything” he tests Expresso makers (it could be in the sequel, but both are great reads). I don’t remember the results.
*In general, *any shiney new kitchen machine will be used a lot for several months, used much less for a couple more, then be relegated to the closet. E.g. my breadmaker.
We got one a while ago. It’s cool. Makes great coffee (we get the pods delivered) quickly, and looks pretty nifty too. It doesn’t, of course, offer the kudos of grinding one’s own, but it offers a sort of iconoclastic joy in annoying coffee purists
Seems to be a dichotomy here between “buy pods” and “grind your own”. Don’t you get pre-ground espresso in vacuum packs/tins over there (presuming the OP is, in fact, on the other side of the pond)?
I dunno- I enjoyed the latte they made me, and I get starbux lattes a lot, so I’d say it’s comparable. I’m interested in knowing exactly how wasteful it is- I’d think since the pod is made from aluminum, that even though there are grounds inside, it might be recyclable somehow? I’d love to know the answer to that.
The Nespresso fills a need that other machines don’t. It makes espresso quickly, with a minimum of fuss and machine management. I have one, and enjoy it, though it’s more used to provide instant hot water for tea than to make espresso these days.
I like the espresso that it makes, and it’s incredibly simple to use. The cartridges cost about $0.50 each, more than if you did it yourself, less than letting a barista do it for you. I can see them being considered expensive and annoying in an office environment, but if you’re pulling 1 or 2 shots a day through it it’s not exactly going to be a trash hog that sends you to the poorhouse.
If you like the coffee it makes, don’t mind the machine/pod expense, and want an espresso in your cup 1 minute after entering the kitchen, the Nespresso is a good choice.
As I understand the process, the aluminum bit is the podholder, the thing the pod goes in. The pod is made of ground coffee and the filter. The aluminum bit gets washed and re-used constantly, and the pod is tossed.
Hey, if you’re gonna use it to make lattes, then grinding your own beans and brewing yourself becomes less urgent. I enjoy the espresso straight, but once it’s mixed with sweetened, frothed dairy product and other flavors, I can’t tell the difference between great and adequate espresso.
No, the pod is made of aluminum and ground coffee, and the whole thing gets tossed. See this picture. That’s the household version. The “professional” version I used had less elaborate pods, that looked like little flying saucers. The “filter” is created when the machine’s mechanism pierces the foil lid of the pod with very fine holes.
Does it steam milk? From checking out some links to the machine, it only seems to be an espresso machine… which means you have to buy a separate mile steamer/frother.
If you already have a burr grinder, you’re half way there. We have this machine at home and use it all the time. It is absolutely great. From the time you turn the machine to warm up, it is about 3 minutes until the shot of espresso is ready (including bean grinding/portafilter loading time). And it also steams milk. It seems to be in the same price range as some of the mid- to upper-range Nespresso machines.
QtM and jjimm, my question about waste and recycling has to do with whether I could throw the pod into the recycling bin. I guess if it has grounds inside it, then maybe not?
You’d have to check with your local recyclers, but we couldn’t - landfill only. (Whereas my home espresso maker allows me to compost all my spent grounds - out of the machine, tap once, out comes the plug of grounds, straight into the composting bin.)
Some models do, some don’t. The one you linked to, model C180W does not, the one I have, C190, does have a steam wand like the machine you have. Actually, the wand does steam or hot water, which is nice for a quick cup of tea.
We have a le cube nespresso in the office. The coffee tastes just fine, and they seam to be up to about 8 flavors plus a decaf.
I second the comments about the convenience factor, it is great to be able to pop in the cartridge and have a more than adequate espresso 20 secs later.
The downside is that it is just so convenient I regularly turn myself into an over caffeinated gibbering fool.
