Coffee pod machine … help!!

[littlem133]

I want to get a coffee pod machine but am driving myself potty choosing. I love the look of the Vertuo Pop but they only use their pods. The Dolce Gusto machines are cheap but don’t use the Nespresso pods which seem to have a good variety. The Nespresso CitiZ look good but are expensive and I think don’t offer cappuccinos and lattes. I don’t have much worktop space. And I only drink decaf! What should I go for?

I would go for a Nespresso one with a separate milk frother. The milk pods don't make great coffee.

I started off with a Dolce Gusto but a lot of the milky coffee pods like cafe au lait aren't even ground coffee, it's powder. And the tank is ridiculously small. So I went over to a Nespresso essenza mini, and used that for about 4 years - in fact I've now taken it to work and it's still going strong. I also got a milk frother to go with it. Then DH bought me a Sage Nespresso Creatista machine with a steam wand and I've never loved a gadget more. I mainly drink decaff and there's a huge range of pods in supermarkets as well as the lovely Nespresso ones. The L'Or decaff is great.

We have a Lavazza a Modo Mio. Less choice of coffee, but we prefer the coffee. We have a separate frother or just heat milk in the microwave.

That’s so helpful! I’ll definitely use real milk and not get pods with milk powder in

The essenza mini looks a good choice with my price range too

What confuses me is there’s different essenzas- Krupps, Magimix, DeLonghi… Why is this decision making me feel so thick?!

I have a Nespresso Vertuo - I don’t think I could live without it! I don’t even like drinking coffee in coffee shops anymore as coffee at home with my machine is much better. I have a milk frother as I like a longer milky latte

Sage pod machine, I forget what it’s called but they only do one

I had a Nespresso but it eventually died and I replaced it with this Coffee machine and I buy the wonky coffee capsules on subscription which works well for me.

I love the look of the yellow Vertuo one but you’re restricted to their pods which might be limiting

The Sage ones are expensive

Definitely Nespresso Vertuo with separate milk frother. I love mine to pieces!!!

Do you have a budget? Check out the Kotlie multi-capsule coffee machine on Amazon. It has an adaptor so you can use a few brands capsules in there and even your own ground coffee. It's £130 https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0F7LRV52K?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_2

I’d written this one off as it looks bigger and I don’t need a double one, but I like the sound of wonky pods!

I have a Vertuo. Love it! My husband is a complete and utter coffee snob with an amazing home set-up but now uses the Vertuo majority of the time. He drinks double espressos but I like more of a cappunnico so have a separate Nespresso milk frother.

Don’t worry about being limited for coffee with the Vertuo- their selection is massive. Here’s what I currently have on the go 😂
That doesn’t even touch the sides of the options they have.

Can anyone recommend a good milk heater/ frothed? I’d like one that gets the milk piping hot if such a thing exists.

I think it’s more the cost as well as only drinking decaf. It’s a lot cheaper and maybe easier to grab some espresso pods locally

We got a nespresso pixie at Christmas. Love it. https://amzn.eu/d/6r7Oa0W Like this but a steel grey one from John Lewis. It’s really compact and nice.

It takes the smaller normal size pods. We had a vertuo (sp?) one in a holiday cottage and did love it, but decided it would be too much hassle to have to order the pods specially. The normal size pods you can just pick up in your normal shop, they sell them everywhere. It’s v convenient and there are loads to try, and often good deals on.

We tend to have smallish lattes - we use the “lungo” pods which you use with the “lungo” setting, giving a larger volume (still quite small, not as much as you might get from a bigger vertuo pod). Then I heat a jug of milk in the microwave and just pour it in. There’s a nice crema on the top of the machine espresso/lungo so it’s nice to just add the milk. I sometimes froth it with a frother. Didn’t want the extra space and more careful cleaning needs of the milk heating coffee machines.

If I want a large latte I’d use two pods worth. But I never bother - I quite like having more of a 300ml coffee rather than 450/500 large latte.

Ooh I like the Pixie and the green one goes perfectly with my kitchen!!

I just make one cup with it it just comes out of the two nozzles at the same time. I guess you can use it to make 2 small espresso cups. The wonky coffee company are great for the capsules you get a random mix of whatever they have which keeps things interesting. I normally hate subscriptions as I feel they trap you but with them you can pause and start it really easily. Works for me anyway.

Nespresso have also recently introduced more decaf pods (I promise I don’t work for Nespresso!)

Do it! It feels really nice and solid and I love the coffee.

Have a look on here as well for pod recycling options near you: https://www.podback.org
We can just drop ours off in our nearest Morrisons 5 mins down the road. Takes ages to fill up one bag.

Current favourite are L’OR lungo profundo intensity 8, from loads of places (purple packet). Also like Cafepod Brunch Blend.
We bought loads of different ones to do taste testing.

d’oh just remembered you said you drink decaf - no idea what is good there! But the l’or ones have been v good so far in general.

I’ve heard l’or decaf are good! And recycling the pods is important to me

I also have this one but due to my coffee habit I've had two nespresso machines too and wore them out. I'd go for cheapest you can find that uses the original pods as you have much wider choice of cheaper pods. I've tried most of them and the L'OR DECAF IS THE BEST! You can hardly tell its decaf whereas a lot of them are weak and insipid. You don't need milk frother, I preheat an inch of skimmed milk in my cup in the microwave and the coffee crema gives enough froth for it to feel like a cappuccino, more milk if you want latte☕️

That seems good advise. Go for the cheapest one I like the look of!