OT - Nespresso?

[oldguy00]

OK, my wife wants one of these. We are visiting her folks, and they have a Vertuoline machine. I have to admit, the coffee isn't that bad.
I've been a 'coffee snob' in the past, have owned a Rocket Giotto, etc., but after a while, convenience rules. That, and I've realized that I still like dunken donuts / tims coffee...

SO, can someone please tell me the diff between the vertuoline and originaline?
I've read online, and as best I can tell, Originaline doesn't actually make a full size cup of coffee, just espresso and lungo. One uses pressure, one uses centrifuge.
And the vertuoline pods are more expensive...Is that correct? Am I missing anything?
I like espresso, but we are really only interested in regular coffee.

Thx!

[Mr. Pink]

Way way too expensive. Over a buck a hit, and, with a good pound of beans in the twelve dollar range these days, which gives you lord knows how many equivilant "shots" of espresso or coffee, you do the math. And, if your ecologically conscious, much much more plastic waste. Good quality coffee and espresso though. Perfect for the corporate lunch room if somebody else is paying.

I found a good solution this winter for travel, since I have an espresso machine at home. A single portion French press. I'm not sure why, but makes an excellent large mug of coffee, better than a larger press. Much cheaper, but, fragile - glass. Keep it wrapped up well. Minimal cleanup. Bed Bath and Beyond sells them.

[LJohnny]

Agree with Mr. Pink, it's expensive. Now, I don't do *bucks, but may not be too far off?
Having said that, in terms of convenience, quality of the end product, time from "wanting a coffee," to having it in your cup, no mess, and lets say compared to K cups, no comparison actually. I would never call nespresso a true espresso, that is the punch line. Is the drink OK? oh, yes, it it's good, taking into account all the convenience I mentioned above.
I got my first machine as a wedding gift in 2002 (D150) and have been a user since.

-I have tried the off brand capsules, most of them are crap. Check singleservecoffee forum for reviews and opinions. There are a few brands that are OK and supposedly, one from UK that is better than Nespresso capsules, but pricier, hah!
-Regarding vertuo, never considered changing to this line, mostly because I have the regular machines. I have sampled the coffee and it's fine, but nothing enough to make me change. For the vertuo line, only Nespresso as a source of capsules.
-I have the original line D150, a Citiz and the smallest Essenza Mini. The end product is the same, so if you go for the traditional line, choose a machine based on size, features, since they all make the same quality drink.

For reference, I have never had a real espresso machine, I have had several coffee extraction methods to try: Technivorm, top pourer, Mocha vacuum, array of french presses and aeropress.

[adub]

Buy a moka pot and don't look back.

All of these pod brewers are a great way to create a bunch of excess crap for the landfill- pod packaging and machines that will crap out.

[Bentley]

I'll try and answer the question, but first get by the cost of a buck a cup.

The difference between the original line and Vertuoline or for that matter Evolou is that the original only makes espresso.

I got hooked on the original because of the good coffee and the convienience.

Nespresso purchases the top 1% of coffee produced and by controlling distribution they control the freshness, at least that is the hype.

I like the coffee, the convienence, not so much the price

Ray

[Bentley]

Originally Posted by adub

Buy a moka pot and don't look back.

All of these pod brewers are a great way to create a bunch of excess crap for the landfill- pod packaging and machines that will crap out.

Since you know the business model so well, Nespresso provides postage paid bags to recycle the pods. Unlike the other brand that really does add the the landfill. Thought you should know that before you make those statements.

Ray

[tiretrax]

Originally Posted by Bentley

Since you know the business model so well, Nespresso provides postage paid bags to recycle the pods. Unlike the other brand that really does add the the landfill. Thought you should know that before you make those statements.

Ray

Even if they take them back, there's still a lot of wasted energy in that loop. I wonder if they taste so good because of flavoring. Still can't beat a shot you pulled yourself.

[Idris Icabod]

Originally Posted by Bentley

Since you know the business model so well, Nespresso provides postage paid bags to recycle the pods. Unlike the other brand that really does add the the landfill. Thought you should know that before you make those statements.

Ray

Do they recycle the old pods in to new pods?

I ask because we had some type of coffee machine at our work that used a small plastic sachet that blew out the bottom and filtered through a mesh. We recycled the spent sachets back to the company. Turns out they pressed the sachets into a cover for notebooks and sent them back to us. So we ended up with a few hundred essentially useless notebooks clad with branded coffee sachets, couldn't even get local schools interested in them. Seemed to me like a huge waste of shipping, time and paper just to claim the pods were recycled.

We use a machine now that makes no waste. The coffee it brews does however taste like it has been recycled from our waterless urinals.

[Bentley]

Originally Posted by Idris Icabod

Do they recycle the old pods in to new pods?

I ask because we had some type of coffee machine at our work that used a small plastic sachet that blew out the bottom and filtered through a mesh. We recycled the spent sachets back to the company. Turns out they pressed the sachets into a cover for notebooks and sent them back to us. So we ended up with a few hundred essentially useless notebooks clad with branded coffee sachets, couldn't even get local schools interested in them. Seemed to me like a huge waste of shipping, time and paper just to claim the pods were recycled.

We use a machine now that makes no waste. The coffee it brews does however taste like it has been recycled from our waterless urinals.

My understanding is the separate the grounds from the aluminum and they recycle the aluminum (I'm sure a third party) and grounds are composted.

They are a Swiss company, I'm sure they go about this the right way

[saab2000]

I have a Nespresso. It is excellent. I use the Originaline machine and the capsules are about $.75 for a cup. It is vastly superior to a Keurig machine.

You can bring in used capsules to the stores for recycling or store them in bags they provide to be shipped to Nespresso for recycling.

They are aluminum, not plastic.

I will admit I use one purely for the convenience factor. It's incredibly easy to have a great (small) cup of coffee first thing in the morning in literally about a minute. Normally I'll have one, or maybe two of these and that's it.

This is the machine I have. Don't be fooled by the branding. It's not a Kitchenaid (not that there's anything wrong with Kitchenaid) but it is a real Nespresso machine that is marketed with Kitchenaid to have a design that is coherent across Kitchenaid's brand. The innards are pure Nespresso.

[oldguy00]

Originally Posted by saab2000

I have a Nespresso. It is excellent. I use the Originaline machine and the capsules are about $.75 for a cup. It is vastly superior to a Keurig machine.

You can bring in used capsules to the stores for recycling or store them in bags they provide to be shipped to Nespresso for recycling.

They are aluminum, not plastic.

I will admit I use one purely for the convenience factor. It's incredibly easy to have a great (small) cup of coffee first thing in the morning in literally about a minute. Normally I'll have one, or maybe two of these and that's it.

This is the machine I have. Don't be fooled by the branding. It's not a Kitchenaid (not that there's anything wrong with Kitchenaid) but it is a real Nespresso machine that is marketed with Kitchenaid to have a design that is coherent across Kitchenaid's brand. The innards are pure Nespresso.

Saab,

Just to be clear though, the coffee you make with it, it is about half the volume of a typical 'cup' of coffee? I guess what they call a lungo?? Or do you then add water to make an americano?

[LJohnny]

Yes nespresso is branding machines for Breville, kitchen aid, and one more that I can't remember...

I like the nespresso system as well. The time it would take me to optimize a real espresso, is time that I don't have. I appreciate the art, it is just not the best time investment for me.


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[LJohnny]

Originally Posted by oldguy00

Saab,



Just to be clear though, the coffee you make with it, it is about half the volume of a typical 'cup' of coffee? I guess what they call a lungo?? Or do you then add water to make an americano?

Not Saab, but for most nespresso machines, you can adjust the volume of the "shots." I think the very entry level a few years ago had a set volume. However I recently got the Essenza Mini and that has customizable volume. I got that for travel


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[OtayBW]

Originally Posted by Bentley

They are a Swiss company, I'm sure they go about this the right way

It's Nestle, out of Vevey (~near Geneva). I have lived in Switzerland and appreciate the Swiss engineering and cultural/socioenvironmental ethic very much, but Nestle is not without controversy.

[saab2000]

Originally Posted by oldguy00

Saab,

Just to be clear though, the coffee you make with it, it is about half the volume of a typical 'cup' of coffee? I guess what they call a lungo?? Or do you then add water to make an americano?

It is probably about half the volume of a typical American cup of coffee. I use Nespresso cups and they fill up quite nicely. I have it set to maximum volume. It's not an espresso cup but not a full size coffee cup either. I do not add any water or cream or sugar. I don't know if they add flavorings but I have tried some of their flavored coffees during the holiday seasons and they're not for me. I prefer natural flavors, if such a thing exists.

I consume it the way it comes out of the machine on a full setting. I have a drawer full of different colored capsules and mix them up blindly each time I reach my hand in. It's a different cup each time!

For those curious folks who might live in a larger city, there's probably a Nespresso shop nearby. I bought my machine in the Washington DC area at Tyson's Corner a couple years ago during a so-called "Black Friday" sale. I got 40% off the machine and it was about $250 or so and I bought a bunch of capsules too. I'm pretty attentive to washing it and there's still mineral buildup in the plastic water tank. It probably needs a decalcifying cleansing at some point.

I like the finished product and no, it's not a typical American-sized cup of brownish, coffee flavored water.