Pod coffe machine

[Mudflaps]

I'm not a coffe drinker so I'd appreciate some guidance regarding what coffe machine to buy? I need one that I can get a variety of pods for, supermarket as well as branded, also the main person using it prefers a milky coffe but served absolutely piping hot. Also may be used for hot chocolate if I can find a nice type. I don't want to spend too much (it's a second Christmas present for dh, his main gift is a helmet which is costing me €1500 but I'll be giving that to him before Christmas so he can use it). Am I expecting too much from a home machine without spending a fortune and sacrificing loads of counter space??

Coffee machines in general don't tend to do 'piping hot' as it scalds the beans and affects the flavour.

Years ago I had a tassimo branded machine which did the hot chocolates as well as coffees. It was awful. The coffee in the pods was stale (goodness knows when it was ground and how long it had been sat in those pods), the 'milky coffee' pods were awful because they used UHT type milk which tasted plasticky. Genuinely terrible. Plus all the plastic waste from the pods.

I've used the Nespresso branded ones in hotels etc, they seem better. Recyclable pods and can use fresh milk and a wide range of choices of drinks. Though there's still the issue of freshness.

I use a bean to cup machine, which grinds the beans to order. The difference in flavour is like night and day. There is a big price difference though and as this is an add on, it's probably out of budget for you.

I agree the coffee is generally just very warm.

Nespresso has always been good to me, and you can use lots of supermarket pods.

I've got a tassimo. It's cheap but a bit crap, tbh.

Not loads of choice and the only way to make a milky coffee would be to buy espresso pods and add hot milk yourself.

I've had it for a year or so and it's fine, but I wouldn't rush to buy another one.

I was looking at the Grind/Nespresso ones but they're pricy.

We have a nespresso pixie which is good, but doesn't do milk. But you can get different nespresso models with milk attachments, used a citiz with milk attachment in a holiday cottage and that was good.
Make sure you get a nespresso that takes the classic pods not the vertuo ones then there's loads of choices in supermarkets etc and you can buy hot chocolate pods that are compatible with it (haven't tried any yet so can't comment).

I've got a Dulce gusto machine, was only £30, didn't expect it to last 5 minutes but it's still working over a year later, fine if you like latte style coffees and hot chocolate and pods are easy to buy in the supermarket or amazon.

We have a Nespresso Creatista Plus and can program it to make different coffees with different specs. I like mine super hot with lots of foam, DH doesn't like his as hot as prefers his milk with a different texture. It's been great for us, we love it!

I'd get the very basic Nespresso pod machine , about £80 and buy Espresso pods. Be careful, they have two kinds and only one is compatible with other brand pods.

Then use the microwave to heat milk.

Nespresso are the best capsule ones I've tried. If you want to buy generic supermarket pods then don't get the Nespresso Vertuo versions as they are propriety only.

See i love my tassimo machine, i put the milk in my cup and microwave for 30 seconds before adding the pod. Supermarkets do a few different pods for them but none are my particular favourite, tassimo website sell lots of different sorts including teas and hot chocolate, i buy mine online from Kaffekapslen mainly because they are cheaper and sell my favourite gevalia pods which is the best one in my opinion. They do an espresso and the milky types where you have a milk pod as well as a coffee pod, these are not as cheap as you get a pack of half milk half coffee so less coffee pods per pack than those where you add your own milk. Cadbury do a tassimo hot chocolate which is a nice treat and there are various caramel, macchiato, latte type coffees as well.

Blimey, OP, you're brave. Don't you know that in MN world, no-one could countenance the very idea that a home coffee machine, let alone, God forbid, one that uses (eek) pods from (oh my God) a supermarket could possibly be allowed? Unless the beans are hand picked, personally imported, ground by teams trained for fifteen years, then delivered by eco rickshaw on a daily basis and brewed by the live in coffee nanny don't you know it will be completely undrinkable? What are you thinking?

Or get a Dulce Gusto like me and get Latte pods. Perfectly fine.

I have both a tassimo and a dulce gusto, I like both, I think the dolce gusto coffee is better quality though, they both do hot chocolate.

I would say if you get a dolce gusto make sure you get one that reads the pods, mine doesn't and if I'm not paying attention i forget to switch it off and coffee is everywhere!

I have a Tassimo Suny, which is a cheap model. We're very happy with it as it makes the coffee we like the way that we like it, but we are in no way coffee afficionados. Any of the pods with milk in are disgusting - in my opinion. I also don't think the hot chocolate drinks are nice at all. You have to heat the milk separately, but that's fine for us - I just put the milk in the microwave while the coffee is brewing. We both have to have decaffeinated coffee and there isn't a huge selection, but we have both managed to find a pod (different pods) that suits us. Supermarkets don't carry much selection in Tassimo, but we are signed up to the Tassimo site which has lots more and has regular offers which make the pods cheaper than in the supermarkets.

I bought my DS a Tassimo pod coffee machine as a Christmas present, they do hot chocolate and coffee pods ( the one I bought came as a bundle with pods included which were Cadbury Hot Chocolate and a Kenco packet for coffee).

It doesn't seem like a huge counter space sacrifice but it's great for him to take back to university :)