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ATM: Talk me in/out of buying a Nespresso machine

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Have £100 xmas money burning a hole in my pocket. Strongly tempted to splurge on a Nespresso machine. Why?

Consistency
Ease of trying new variations
Would drink max 14 cups a week so buying beans and keeping them fresh doesn’t appeal

Yes I know the Aeropress is the way to go but I have had one for a while and rarely used it.

I’m open to suggestions of other pod machines – Dolce Gusto, Tassimo etc.

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Comments

  1. How do you take your coffe? If it’s strong and black then a stove top of the type generically known as a Bialetti, though that is a trade name, is the way to go. I was in my local TK Maxx earlier today and they had loads for between 5 and 12 quid. That would leave plenty over to by a grinder, so you wouldn’t have to worry so much about ground coffee losing its flavour.

    And the aeropress is not the way to go. I bought one because I sometimes fancy a mug of coffee rather than a short, but it was utter crap. Smooth, certainly, but it seems to me that the taste is intrinsically bound to the bitterness which the aeropress removes, rendering the resulting coff pointlessly bland. I soon went back to a French press when I wanted a full mug to drink.

      • We’ve got a steel Bialetti for the induction hob but rarely use it – I think I shall whip Mrs T up a morning cappuccino now you remind me. We have one of those little whisks which run on a 1.5v battery – milk in microwave for 45 seconds, whisk, espresso from pot, luvverly.

  2. I have a Nespresso. The convenience outweighs just about all other considerations. Plenty of capsules to choose between so you can experiment and find a few you like. I settled on three that I buy regularly. Like you, I have probably one or two cups a day and taking my first sip about two minutes after the urge to have one suits me. Be aware of the cost. You buy in packs of ten but the order has to be in blocks of 50 for packaging. Typically I buy 100 at a time and with shipping, it costs about £35. Adding in the cost of the milk, that’s about 40p a cup I reckon. A heck of a lot cheaper and tastier than Costa and their ilk but outrageously expensive compared to beans/grinder/stove pot.

    I’ve heard some coffee aficionados turn their noses up at Nespresso, but I find the taste to be great.

    My only other recommendation is to get a milk frother. I’ve tried various different ways of doing it but the Nespresso (or equivalent) milk thingy is brilliant. It heats the milk and froths it in 2 minutes flat and it comes out really creamy. I got this Dualit one that is brilliant.

    http://www.johnlewis.com/dualit-milk-frother-black/p231706525?sku=231706525&kpid=231706525&s_kenid=fc86a267-61a1-4078-bdc1-955c9acb9daf&s_kwcid=402×349791&tmad=c&tmcampid=73

    • Thanks Vince. I’ve looked at the Sage Heston Blumenthal bean to cup machine but it’s above my pay grade and when looking at the promo video it talks of using the pressure gauge to ‘teach yourself’. I don’t want to teach myself to make the ultimate cup of coffee – I just want a consistently high quality brew with minimal fuss.

  5. We have a nespresso at work and I have quite enjoyed it. But it’s the packaging that troubles me. Each cup of coffee individually packaged in plastic seems a bit OTT. Also, the Nespresso shop is a dreadful place.

    • genuine nespresso capsules are packaged in aluminium, not plastic.

      nespresso do operate a recycling program, but is so clunky it would appear to consume more resources than it saves.

  8. I drink two espresso per day which is the same amount of cups you drink. my machine is a second hand isomac brio which crushes coffee on the moment I need it I bought it in 2007 and it still works well. I used to buy beans and keep those in the freezer, I now have a second hand roaster that allows me to roast a batch of fresh coffee every week. My wife uses her own (second hand bought) Gaggia with some Kimbo coffee napolitan roast. The personal uses a saeco automatic with whole beans, We don’t use thoses pods machines because they are sold like printers, cheaps but that’s the stuffyou buy to make them running that costs an arm and a leg, then both inks and pods are complicate to recycle, as a plus if you care for your health I don’t recommend to associate aluminium with water from the tap.

    I think that you should ask your question there or check out the machines reviews because they know what they are writing about: http://coffeegeek.com/

  9. I used a Nepresso at work a while back with some very particular Italians who take coffee making very seriously. They were fine with it, though I found the coffee to be too overpowering in taste. I use a Bialetti at home and have done for years. It makes a good strong cup of coffee and suits me fine. There is a reason such a machine has lasted such a long time and I would go for this. Get a small one for you and a larger one for friends and you’ll still have change from a £100.

  11. While were gathered here, a couple of Bialetti tricks I always use, useful if, like me, you have an electric hob which is slow to warm up.

    I switch the ring on then put some water in the kettle to boil. I fill the reservoir of the Bialetti with boiling water and put it on the pre heated ring. All this seems like a lot of hassle, but means that the water is pushed through the grounds in seconds for a really fresh cup, avoiding the boiled taste which can be the bane of the Bialetti users life.

  12. I’ve had a Nesspresso machine for about 5 years. It probably cost about £100 back then. I think it’s the best thing ever but I generally only drink a single or a double espresso……sometimes a Lungo. If you want a pint of coffee like you get in the shops, my machine wouldn’t do it. My girlfriend has a different model and has an Aeroccino thing that goes with it. It froths up and heats milk instantly so great for cappaccino etc. I only buy the capsules online, and buy 200 at a time to get free delivery….it usually costs £58, so that works out 29p per coffee! Starting from cold, I can switch it on, fill the tank, heat the cup, make the coffee and be drinking it within 2 or 3 minutes. No mess or smelly machines either, just push the button again to rinse out the machine, and every week or so, put the 3 washable parts in the dishwasher. There are probably a couple of dozen different types to try and they’re always bringing out special editions but I just stick to the same 2 types…….capsules that is!

    • I feel strangely sleepy now. It’s like In The Night Garden for caffeine heads, but yes, it’s correct. It never ocurred to me to leave the lid open when brewing though; I suspect that would spray coffee over my hob. Bialetti have personalities and you’ll learn to judge when to take it off the heat by sound alone.

      Also, that’s a suspiciously clean looking Bialetti, possibly brand new. Like teapots, they should never be cleaned – just rinsed with boiling water. And new Bialetti should have a couple of brews made then thrown away to get rid of the initial metallic taste.

        • Every once in a while espresso pots -do- need a clean.
          If you start getting gritty chunks in the bottom of your coffee cup, f’rinstance. Especially if Big Black Floaters start appearing.

          • I only use these hob jobbies when at a particular friends holiday place, and the coffee is fine, but the main drawback for me is if you want to do more than one of the (tiny) pots’ worth in quick succession. Once it’s up to temp and you have the first load through it’s a pain emptying and re-loading.

            I have one of the Breville grinder/espresso machine combos which is probably also out of your budget and was out of mine to be honest, but I received it for my 50th. It does measured doses of the coffee automatically, but I still struggle to get something out of it comparable to a coffee shop for some reason.

            From experience the Nespresso is all about the convenience, to the point I still find it tempting. Long term cost would be the factor though, the model seems to be like desktop printers – machine sold for a loss or at cost and they make it up on the ink.

    • You’re not the first and won’t be the last to say it but ‘shite’? Really? Compared to freshly picked beans roasted, burr-ground and brewed within a minute on the Guatemalan hillsides perhaps, but I have a strong feeling that in fact Nespresso capsules deliver an espresso consistently, quickly and easily that would satisfy all but the fixed gear fraternity. Don’t get me wrong, geeks and hipsters of every stripe add hugely to the gaiety of the nation but, like Mod, it’s too much like hard work for me.

      • I drink plain black filter coffee, generally supermarket own brand. Nowt fancy. The kind of coffee you can make in a little espresso pot. No need for a big stupid machine. But when I was given some nespresso, in a friends house, it tasted shite. Sorry but it did. No idea why.

        And those adverts are undeniably annoying.

  17. Short of actually getting the bus to a Costa three times a day, isn’t it the most expensive way of having a coffee imaginable?

    I realise that this is not a consideration for most Afterworders, but still…

    • Personally, I keep my humidor at precisely 2ºF above room temperature.
      And I don’t even smoke.

      Currently gently sozzling on a mixture of Sainsbury’s Blackfriars London Gin, tonic, red grape juice and Zubrowka vodka. Tastes like marzipan, kicks like a mule.

      • You want to put cigars in your cigar humidor? You’re insane.

        Like these barbarians on this thread who seem to want to ruin perfectly good coffee machines by making coffee with them. Talk about missing the point! The point of them is, durrr, to look nice in your kitchen.

        I suppose they’ll be using expensive hi-fi systems to play MUSIC on next!

        The world’s gone mad.

  22. They’re great. Practical, easy and decent tasting coffee. If you buy one have a look on Amazon as some of the prices are excellent and you get a rebate between £45 and £75 to spend on coffee pods. Pick the right machine and it could cost you around £30.

    We have one that has a milk container on the side that pumps frothed milk into the drink for lattes etc. Works very well but we tend to drink black coffee most of the time.

    Also, the service is pretty good. Ours started misbehaving a couple of weeks ago after 22 months and they collected it for repair and lent us a machine while it was away.

    You can get better coffee (although a nespresso espresso is better than many you get in some of the coffee shop chains) but you won’t get a simpler machine that fits in the kitchen with minimal space and fuss.

  23. I’ll just chip in that you are not tied to using Nespresso coffee, there are plenty of compatible pods out in ebayland for less than 20p a pop. Personally I’ve settled on pods from Taylors of Harrogate after 3 or 4 years of experimentation.

  24. we’ve had a magimix counter top nespresso and now have a built in miele machine. both produce very nice, hassle free coffee. downside – not cheap and you can certainly produce better coffee with very well chosen fresh ground beans and a regular and cheaper espresso machine.

    we also have a couple of bialetti pots, which make great, very strong coffee, but what they make is not espresso.

  25. I use the poor man’s Gaggia, which is a Dualit Espressivo, as well as an Aeropress. The Aeropress is great, but as Gatz says, the fact that it produces such a balanced coffee is also its downfall because it tends to bland everything out. It’s not for making espresso. Nor is a Bialetti. Nor is a French press. Anything that doesn’t produce a crema will tend to make a decent but generic coffee because different flavours are produced during different stages of the extraction process and the bitters come last, in the crema.

    When I’m out I order an Americano, and it fascinates me to see how it’s made. I was in Mini Mischiefs the other day, and the woman making my coffee — in a lovely Gaggia — pulled the whole thing through the shot, making me not an Americano, but a Lungo, a ‘stretched coffee’ which is not to my taste because it’s a nasty, over-extracted mess.

    • I don’t really understand your last paragraph. I thought all coffees were just a shot of espresso mixed with different amounts of water/milk. Obviously a double espresso has 2 shots. My machine makes a Lungo…..exactly the same way it makes an espresso….it’s just double the amount of water. I like the espresso or double espresso, but they’re far too strong for the FPO so she has a Lungo. I simply assumed that an Americano was just an espresso with (say) 4 times the amount of water? I assume that’s what you got in the coffee shop the other day? What should the barista(?) have done?

      • Yes, I think we’re talking about the same thing. What she was doing wrong was pulling the whole drink through the one shot, so she prepared the shot in the basket, popped the basket into the machine, switched it on, looked around for a bit and then handed me the cup when it was full. Which is a lungo. To me a lungo tastes horrid because the shot is over-extracted. All the bitters at the end of the shot take over. That one was a really long lungo as well, so it was particularly bad..

        To make an Americano what she should have done was added some boiling water to a cup prepared the shot in the basket, popped the basket in, started the machine and then watched very carefully and with a practised eye until the shot changed colour from dark brown to cream then switched off the machine and removed the cup from the machine. It’s the watching of the shot that’s important.

        • Thanks for the explanation. I understand the difference now. I didn’t know it was all so complicated. My machine only makes espresso (40ml) and lungo (110ml), which are both fine provided you use the correct capsules for the lungo (they are all fine on the espresso setting). I now see your problem re the bitterness and I assume the coffee would be stretched out to thin and weak.

  26. Could try & talk you out of a Nespresso based on the fact they are owned by the “Evil Nescafe Corporation” but I will just go along with the majority and say the coffee is nowhere near as good as a stove-top octagonal one.

  28. Nespresso is fine. Not the best coffee in the world, but certainly not the worst and super convenient and consistent. (It’s also worth it simply for how much it enrages people who fancy themselves connoisseurs.)

  29. Incidentally, Bialettis are cool, but also not at all funny if the seal suddenly and explosively perishes, as mine did. A 10 metre jet of boiling coffee and grounds which fortunately exploded away from me and out the back door. It literally painted the side of my shed with grounds. If the seal had gone 45 degrees further anti-clockwise I’d still be wearing the scars.

  32. I didn’t realise nespresso was so bad. My tastebuds are clearly shite. Thanks for pointing it out chaps. You should let the millions of others who stupidly enjoy the taste and convienence of nespresso machines know they are wrong as well.

  35. I remember when peoples’ idea of coffee heaven was the aroma that was unleashed when tearing the foil seal off the top of a jar of Maxwell House, in anticipation of the beverage to come.

    Blanc Brasserie in Oxford always offer a perfect cup of coffee. Just regular coffee, no complications, not too big, not too small. I can’t stand these ridiculous bucketfulls you get elsewhere, either that or a tiny shot. That’s my recommendation. Find a good restaurant.

    We have the Nespresso mothballed at home. We’ve reverted to the old trusty Swedish-style percolator. The Swedes are the nation that drink the most coffee apparently. The best I know is the simple pot with ground coffee boiled up with water on the stove, turned off before it spews out the spout, then left to stand to settle. The way you do it at your summer stuga with no electricity.

  37. Not sure this thread is going to have helped Dougie much. FWIW I got a simple Nespresso machine a couple of years ago and love it as a decent alterative to a basic cafetière. Use it most days and definitely worth having. Tassimo on the other hand is to be avoided at all costs…

  38. I bought a Nespresso machine a few years ago.

    It was a classic flash in the pan situation and now sits unloved and unused in the cupboard with the sandwich maker and other seemed-like-a-good-idea-at-the-time devices.

    The main reason I stopped using it was because, no matter how many of the seemingly endless varieties of “pods” I tried, none of them, – not a single one – tasted anything like real coffee you’d get from a coffee shop. And you can only make Lilliputian-sized cups of coffee anyway.

    This rendered the entire exercise somewhat pointless for me. After all, the whole idea was to drink “proper” coffee at home, saving the morning trip to the nearest coffee shop.

    So it was a waste of $300 as far as I was concerned, although my daughter sometimes dusts it off and uses it when she visits.

    • Sandwich-makers, the work of a slyly-grinning Beelzebub.

      A cheesie toastie made in one of those things is a glutinous, artery-clogging joy. My parents own one and I’m afraid I do occasionally consider murdering them so’s I can inherit it. Mmmm.

      The manufacturers actually instruct you to butter both sides of the bread. You bastards! I’m not made of stone!

      *falls over heavily, clutching chest*

  42. We have had a Nespresso for 15 years or more. GLW works from home so uses it frequently, me less so but probably a couple of times a week. For a quick blast of decent-tasting caffeine without a lot of phaffing about it is fine. Other alternatives are also employed. Never, ever drink tea from a vacuum flask – that is the work of the devil.

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