A stupid question about making coffee with Nespresso

[PopcornPoppingInAPan]

Hello, hubby has a Nespresso machine which he uses to make espresso for lattes, I don’t really drink coffee myself.

When we’ve had eg workmen round asking for a “white coffee” I’m not entirely sure how to make this with a Nespresso - the espresso setting is too short/strong which is fine but the “longer” setting barely fills half a normal mug which feels a bit pathetic even after I’ve added a bit of milk.

So I’ve tended to use two capsules to make two longer coffees and then top this off with milk. But it seems a bit much to be getting through 2 capsules a time, especially when we’ve had a few people round and they’ve reasonably wanted a couple of coffees a day.

Am I doing it wrong? Should I be making just one “longer” drink and topping it up with boiling water then milk, or even doing that with an espresso shot?

In the past I’ve bought instant but then we don’t drink it so we end up binning it when it goes off.

I’m clueless as you can see.

TIA.

Either top up with hot water to make it an Americano or buy another tin of instant. The latter, even if you end up ditching half of it will be cheaper than all those pods.

Just get some instant in and keep it in the cupboard. If you are having to make up a bunch of coffees in one go, two capsules each, you'll be there forever and a day.

For a white Americano which I guess is what they're asking for, I use one strong pod, topped up with boiling water and some cold milk.

But yes, a jar of Nescafe also works!

Just do a shot of espresso with the "short" button, then eject the pod and press the "long" button to fill the cup up with plain hot water. Then add a little milk as required!
It makes the coffee taste worse if you run too much water through the pod. You're only meant to do the volume of a small espresso shot through an espresso pod, then eject it.
I've heard the long button works better for "Lungo" pods, but I'm not convinced! I always only use the short button when the pod is in situ.
Otherwise I find the coffees has a nasty burnt taste.

I run the larger setting through the same pod twice then top with some milk

Get your husband to change the pour settings so you get a fuller cup (or Google it yourself).

Definitely don’t run water through the same pod twice, it will over extract and taste disgusting. If we wanted a mug of coffee when we had a Nespresso machine we used two espresso pods, then topped up with hot water/hot milk as required. For builders I’d buy a jar of decent instant, way cheaper and much quicker, more convenient and perfectly acceptable.

I apologise if I have misunderstood - can you not just get the mug size Nespresso pods and top with milk rather than espresso size?

Instant coffee does not go off. What are you doing to it? And how many workmen do you have round your house that this is a problem?

we just use the long press for any type of capsule & top up with milk

You can calibrate the machine really easily to make a longer or shorter coffee size that fits your cups/mugs. But your husband has presumably already set it at the sizes that he prefers. If the "long" is still too short, either reset it altogether or, if you don't want to mess with the settings, just press the button again to top up with a bit more water. I do it all the time, it's fine, and I really don't think that it makes the coffee taste bad, just weaker.

Instant goes weird after it’s been open a while. The granules go a strange colour and clumpy, (and no it’s not from putting a wet spoon in.)

Buy a small jar of instant coffee - or collect the little packets you get when you stay in a hotel.

You can’t always change the machine settings - ours does small espresso size and a larger espresso size and that’s it. No adjustments possible.

Do as you suggest - one pod for one espresso, add hot water from the kettle, then add milk.

Or if people will be around for days you can get instant and then if you find it hardened and bad a year or so later, chuck it.

It does go off, it solidifies into a single lump!

I don’t think different size pods (if that’s a thing?) is the answer as the amount of water produced by the machine would be the same.

If we had a team of the same builders here for a few weeks and I knew they wanted coffee I’d just buy instant.

But over the last month we’ve had 2 insulation people, 2 flooring people, a decorator and 2 guys from uk power networks today. They’ve each been here for only 1-2 days (decorator for longer) and only some have drunk coffee but those that did wanted a couple.

Sorry, bit of a niche problem! But it crops up from time to time, and we may get an emergency plumber round and no time to get instant in case that’s what they want!

I may get some sachets of instant but over the last few years I’ve thrown away two solidified jars and I hate the waste. Would rather just know how to make a proper normal coffee with what we have (which I now do, thank you!).

The Taylors coffee bags make a lovely cup of coffee and after individually wrapped for freshness. I have to have decaf these days and that's even worse than caffeinated instant so I carry those in my work bag. They won't go off

This

Just buy a small jar of instant once a year. Problem solved.

And if you hate waste you wouldn’t have a Nespresso machine in the first place - the pods are terrible for the environment.

this is what I do. I buy the ‘mug’ ones foo and heat up the milk

There is more coffee in them and the water runs for longer, making a full cup.
which Nespresso machine is it?

It depends on the machine. The Vertuo machines dispense a different quantity of water depending on which pod you put in. I think there are four sizes (espresso, double espresso, lingo and mug). With our old machine I would just run more water through the pod if I wanted a longer coffee than the machine gave me. I didn’t find it negatively affected the taste.

It does if you leave it long enough. I’ve thrown away a few jars over the years that lurked forgotten at the back of the cupboard and it can all clump into a solid ish unappealing chunk that doesn’t smell like coffee any more.

If you care about giving your tradies the nicest possible coffee, pour an espresso shot as normal then fill the cup with hot milk.

No they aren’t. They use a tiny bit of aluminium which is infinitely recyclable. We recycle all of ours using the Nespresso pod drop off scheme.
We go through 4 pods a day and every month it’s the aluminium equivalent of 3-4 tin cans. You may as well berate people for buying baked beans or chopped tomatoes or cans of coke.