Coffee pod machines. What's the best?

[MsMarvellous]

We have a tassimo that was bought as a gift years ago and it's finally giving up the ghost.

Before I wander out into the wonderful world of coffee machine buying what are the best options these days. I found the price point on tassimo pods/discs acceptable so something with ongoing costs in that region would be great.

I know fresh coffee machines are generally considered superior but I like the lack of mess and simplicity of the pod type, so really after one of those.

What do you have? Do you like it?

@silentsister why make it worse than it already is? Of course coffee isn't carbon neutral, but the mining of materials, processing of materials and manufacture of pods only add to that.

It's a bit like saying that it doesn't matter if your fresh fruit and veg is over packaged and taken home in a new plastic carrier bag each day because there's a carbon cost associated with farming and transporting your oranges

I have a pod machine with reusable pods. They are crap. Maybe I'm using them wrong but the coffee is so weak.

Gaggia Brera that is over five years old and looks new. I’m not a big coffee drinker at all but my husband is and he uses it every day. Easy to clean and the coffee is hot which is what he likes.

Stumbled on this thread via my news feed - for people interested on the environmental impact of pod coffee, read this: www.wired.co.uk/article/coffee-pods-nespresso-recycling

It's not as bad as you might think

The v60 drip is my favourite coffee method for home. It’s always perfect, I buy I bleached filter papers which go straight to compost with the grounds.

What happens to the plastic pods? Are they reusable or just yet more plastic waste
Dolce Gusto are trialling a recycling scheme where you send them back by click and collect and they are recylced as garden furniture. Also can by reusable pods and put any ground coffee in.

As a PP has said, nobody moans about the environmental impact when somebody posts about long haul flight, having a 3rd or 4th child, etc. So give it a bloody rest when somebody posts about coffee machines, for God’s sake!! Literally 90% of you are moaning about the environment and it is out of all proportion to the actual impact of Nespresso machines.

Or please - do start whining in droves about large families and long haul flights if you are serious - otherwise you leave yourself wide open to accusations of being a virtue signalling wanker.

There was a thread a few days ago where people were moaning about the environmental impact of pets, particularly the meat eating ones.

One of several reasons I'm highly unlikely to have children is that it's the single least green thing you can do, because you add a whole extra human worth of carbon emissions to the planet... but I tend to stay away from the boards where discussions of how many children to have are most common, so I don't often sit here and talk about it.

we have a delonghi bean to cup machine it wasnt cheap to buy but ten years later is still working very well would definitely recommed it and buying the beans works out cheaper than pods would be and definitely better for the enviroment

Lavazza pod machines far better for environment than nespresso and have more coffee in per pod and taste better

We’ve had a Gaggia espresso machine.

Used for countless coffees every single day for the last 15 years. It needed service once, but it’s still going strong.

Coffee grounds go on the compost. I can highly recommend it, cheaper, better and environmentally friendlier than the pods.

I have a Nespresso.

I have no children
We don't ever buy single use plastics
I have used a mooncup for 10 years
I use washable cotton face pads
All of our washing and cleaning products are natural and eco and we refill at our local sustainability centre
We exclusively use public transport
We use rain water tanks only and use it sparingly
Our electricity comes from only sustainable sources
All meat is bought from the farm

Etcetc

I have a Nespresso. The pods are aluminium which is infinitely recyclable. We even take them back to be recycled on public transport and therefore they are the very very least of my environmental worries. Granted I wouldn't use the plastic ones even in a coffee based emergency

I presume every one of you who criticise pod machine users have never used or bought
A disposable nappy
A wipe
A household item or food packaged in plastic
Sandwich bags or cling film
Plastic Straws
Crisp, cakes or bread in crinkly plastic

Because the above is what washes up on my local remote NZ beach...and not one of them is recyclable.

Do you also reject tin foil or any drink or food in a can (shock horror, also packaged in aluminium)?

The reason that Nespresso don't make the machines is because they make all their money from the pods. I've even seen a recent scheme similar to a mobile phone contract, where you get a free machine if you sign up to pods on subscription.

Their new machines have different pods because the patent ran out on the old ones and the supermarkets make them cheaper. They now have a few years to charge a premium for the new pods.

They are environmentally abominable and expensive.

A bean to cup machine is more expensive in the first place, but a lot cheaper to run and so works out much cheaper longer term. They make better coffee too.

We have a bean to cup and a nespresso. The nespresso is used daily whilst the bean to cup rarely. Convenience wins. We recycle the pods.

We have a Delonghi expresso maker (which makes normal coffee and lattes too - not just expressos) . There are no pods, you just add ground coffee and water to the machine and it makes excellent coffee. Our friends who all love coffee and have pod machines all say our coffee tastes better than theirs. Indeed everyone who has coffee here asks for several cups because it's so good! The machine only cost a little over £100. I point blank refused to get a pod machine as I'm sick of all the plastic waste.

Nespresso is fantastic

I bought a dolce gusto and whilst I think it makes good coffee, I regret not getting a Tassimo. There is a terracycle scheme in my local church that accepts tassimo pods but not dolce gusto.

I took the pods apart thinking I could at least bung the plastic part in the recycling bin, bit inside they have a metal part that I can't remove.

We've got the Delonghi expresso one too and it's surprising easy to use and quite neat and compact and not that messy even with a klutz for a DH.

Environmental concerns are valid whether they are large or small, why not make a small environmental change that actually has little impact on your lifestyle? it's just a slightly different way of doing something..... lots of people making lots of small changes will have a cumulative impact as will lots of people saying it doesn't matter because it's only a little thing. Also making small changes initially makes you change your mindset and this helps people make and stick to bigger changes in their lifestyle. So why not consider the small things as a starting point.

Whiskyagogolook on their website they are starting a recycling scheme

Nespresso. I buy completely biodegradable pods - not Nespresso branded, but compatible. Better coffee too.

Halo

Roar Gill

Grind

Even Eden Project

Loads of options without plastic.

Just because something can be recycled doesn't mean it should. It still takes up a massive amount of energy.
We have a Ninja coffee machine and a cafetierre. We grind our beans and use them straight away. Minimal mess, minimal wastage. The only waste are the grounds. I couldn't justify using pods giving the damage it is doing to the environment.

@bruffin thank you, I'll take a look!