Nespresso owners - Get in Here!!!!!

[RobbieTheTruth]

Turn7 said:

RobbieTheTruth said:

Turn7 said:

The thing with Nespresso is the pure ease and total repeatabilty of the end product.....


Coffee at that level becomes pure geekery that also involves a lot of the same BS as top end Audiophile bs.....


As Robbie says, thou, you start wanting more, and then it gets interesting....I was alsways lead to belive B2C was the holy grail, but I dont think it really is now.

I want to find a quality coffee shop so I can try true espresso before I decide on my journey going forward.

I kind of disagree with the audiophile comparison, although there are very diminishing returns the more you spend.

I can immediately tell the difference. I'l get a coffee from a coffee shop, and it's very, very apparent on the very first sip if they are 'third wave' or standard.

Standard being Nero, Costa, Starbucks, McDonalds, Costa, John Lewis cafe etc etc - over roasted beans poorly extracted.

My journey was to find the cheapest way I can make a coffee I'm delighted with, and I would happily serve to any coffee expert in the world knowing they'd be reasonably happy with it.

I think I found the entry point, and it's not thousands.

I was speaking in very general terms.........

Haha, fair enough.

I do think the difference is very blatant though.

Like if someone gave you a can of coca cola, but it contained Asda own cola, you'd notice immediately.

[RobbieTheTruth]

Turn7 said:

RobbieTheTruth said:

Turn7 said:

RobbieTheTruth said:

Turn7 said:

The thing with Nespresso is the pure ease and total repeatabilty of the end product.....


Coffee at that level becomes pure geekery that also involves a lot of the same BS as top end Audiophile bs.....


As Robbie says, thou, you start wanting more, and then it gets interesting....I was alsways lead to belive B2C was the holy grail, but I dont think it really is now.

I want to find a quality coffee shop so I can try true espresso before I decide on my journey going forward.

I kind of disagree with the audiophile comparison, although there are very diminishing returns the more you spend.

I can immediately tell the difference. I'l get a coffee from a coffee shop, and it's very, very apparent on the very first sip if they are 'third wave' or standard.

Standard being Nero, Costa, Starbucks, McDonalds, Costa, John Lewis cafe etc etc - over roasted beans poorly extracted.

My journey was to find the cheapest way I can make a coffee I'm delighted with, and I would happily serve to any coffee expert in the world knowing they'd be reasonably happy with it.

I think I found the entry point, and it's not thousands.

I was speaking in very general terms.........

Haha, fair enough.

I do think the difference is very blatant though.

Like if someone gave you a can of coca cola, but it contained Asda own cola, you'd notice immediately.

oh dear...see, Im a soft drinks dispense engineer by trade......and I still wouldnt know a good Cola if it kicked me up the arse!!

Have no points for comparison - it all tastes the same to me......

Full on Coke or derivative branded.....

Haha mad! I got a Pepsi the other day from the takeaway. Took a sip and was disappointed. Checked the sugar content and read the sugar content was 7.9 insteaf of 10, and the missing 2g was topped up by sucralose.

[RobbieTheTruth]

Sway said:

Mr Pointy said:

Tyre Smoke said:

I don't think (famous last words) I'll want to progress. I'm not that much of a coffee officianado. I just like decent coffee.

Why are you using a Nespresso then? (just kidding, honest).

I used a Nespresso for a couple of years but found it was getting a bit expensive to run, especially as I like long coffees so need to run two pods for each drink. I got an Aeropress for Christmas & I must say I've barely used the Nespresso machine since. Yes it's a bit more faff especially if you use the metal filters but the difference in the coffee produced is tremendous. I'm sure my technique is far from perfect as I top up the water to give a bit more volume but for me it's a big improvement over Nespresso. You can get a full kit for £27 so it won't break the bank to try it.

What I'd like to move on to is the Sage Precision Brewer when funds allow but there don't seem to be many available second hand & I'd be off down the slippery road of better grinders as well.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B079TTDVCD

I've had my latissima for a fair old while now.

I'd like to try something better - especially with working from home. Don't want to be spending "money"...

Aeropress, manual grinder and some beans?

I like light, non-bitter coffees - mostly as flat whites. I do like a bit of flavour...

Aeropress is delicious for nice light roasts - but it's very 'clean'.

For a Flat White, you want a nice thick, rich, syrupy espresso to cut through that textured milk. An Aeropress won't do that.

I would recommend an Aeropress for lovely filter coffee as an alternative though.

[RobbieTheTruth]

Sway said:

RobbieTheTruth said:

Aeropress is delicious for nice light roasts - but it's very 'clean'.

For a Flat White, you want a nice thick, rich, syrupy espresso to cut through that textured milk. An Aeropress won't do that.

I would recommend an Aeropress for lovely filter coffee as an alternative though.

When you say 'filter coffee' - you mean a white coffee with regular milk?

If I wanted a 'level up from nespresso' for a flat white (ignoring milk frothing, I've still got my latissima) - what are the options at around the aeropress costs?

Yes, just a regular mug of coffee.

If you want a level up from Nespresso - it's Bean to Cup with good quality third wave light roasted beans from a specialist roaster.

I wouldn't recommend Bean to Cup over a manual set up, but it's a better option than Nespresso.

Think of everything as a scale 1-10. Your flat white scale would be roughly as follows:

If 1 is a Nescafe sachet with powdered milk, and 10 is a perfectly pulled shot of espresso, with expertly roasted coffee, with lovingly textured milk, then a Nespresso Latisima is about 3-4. A shot of Nespresso with manually textured milk might be 4-5.

A Bean to Cup is better, but will never be more than 6.

[RobbieTheTruth]

paulguitar said:

I just drink plain black coffee, sometimes an espresso, but usually an Americano. I've been using Nespresso for over a decade, before that I used a caffetiere.

What's the next step for me to improve my coffee, without too much faff?

Same as above, without faff, Bean to Cup. It will pull a better shot than Nespresso, and you'll be able to get much much better coffee beans.

If you are drinking black espresso, you haven't got the hassle of steaming milk, so I'd consider manual.

Again going on scale (revised specifically for a shot of espresso), a pod machine is 1-3, a bean to cup about 4. You can hit a 9 at home without much faff if you're prepared to invest.

If i was drinking black - I'd do it. You'll really notice that flavour.


To point out - an Americano is a shot of Espresso topped up with hot water, so I'm basing recommendation on that.

You can get delicious mugs of black coffee using Aeropress, Chemex, V60 etc but it will be a very clean, filter taste.

[RobbieTheTruth]

paulguitar said:

RobbieTheTruth said:

To point out - an Americano is a shot of Espresso topped up with hot water, so I'm basing recommendation on that.

You can get delicious mugs of black coffee using Aeropress, Chemex, V60 etc but it will be a very clean, filter taste.

Thanks for the suggestions. I actually should have called what I drink 'lungo' I think. It's just another Nespresso but in a bigger measure.

Having lost my job due to CV, I don't currently have the means to invest heavily in any serious kit, but might consider an Aeropress.

Yeah, that's just a longer shot.

My advice would be crack on with the Nespresso until you're all sorted jobwise, then take it from there.

Aeropress is great, but you'll need a good grinder.

Buying pre-ground fro Supermarket just relegates it to Nespresso levels.

You could go to your local third wave place and get them to grind a bag for Aeropress, but the quality will diminish day by day.

[RobbieTheTruth]

Lee Jones Jnr said:

Emperors new coffee here and in the other thread.
Essentially like wine, there’s crap, there’s decent and there are people pretending that there’s more to it than there really is.
I have a espresso machines dotted around, the coffee is good. I have £7k machines in the bars, the coffee is good. I sometimes stop at a tuktuk coffee stand and pay £1.70, the coffee is good. I sometimes stop at Starbucks/Dunkin Donuts/Nero etc and pay £4, the coffee is good.

Absolute nonsense - and if true, a massive waste of a £7k machine if you're getting similar results than Starbucks.

[RobbieTheTruth]

dapprman said:

I got an Aeropress the same time I got my first Nespresso. Quickly learnt how to best use it (inverse fill method). Gave the Aeropress away to a colleague. Never got on with it, the cold coffee, the prayers to hope the water went through the grinds at a slow enough pace to get real flavour, and the fact that heating water to the correct temperature meant that even as a black coffee drinker much of the time I had to use a microwave to heat up the results.

Oh and one time using the inverse method, the plunger/rid slipped as I was trying to put it in, knocking the Aeropress out of my hands, resulting in water and coffee grinds all over the place.

People love them. I think they are good for a long black. If you use a nice, fruity light roast, it really brings out the flavour.

Having it black means the temperature is ok. Adding cold milk and it's gone too cold.

I prefer Chemex/V60 over Aeropress - but I manly have Espresso.

[RobbieTheTruth]

Lee Jones Jnr said:

What Espresso Machines do you have knocking about and what grinders are you using?

And what £7k machine are you using ?

[RobbieTheTruth]

Lee Jones Jnr said:

RobbieTheTruth said:

What Espresso Machines do you have knocking about and what grinders are you using?

And what £7k machine are you using ?

Autocorrect mistake, that’s why it reads oddly.
It should say Nespresso not ‘a espresso’.
I have a couple of Magimix Vertuo machines at home, a Vertuo at the gym and another in the green room at one of the clubs but I’m not sure what make they are.
Prior to that I had the standard/small pod machines, a few different ones from around ten years ago maybe, the last one I bought was a Delonghi that had an attached milk container to make recipes simply, Latissima or similar.
At work at various places I have a Spaziale, an Astoria and two Fracinos which are half the price of the others and still produce good coffee.

Listen, if you want to tell people that you can tell the difference between soil types, beans grown on slopes vs on the flat etc, that’s fine by me. I’m sure that you can.

But you implied the end result from Nespresso, Starbucks and independent is all the same and that is completely incorrect.

If I went to someones house, and they ground up nice fresh beans and pulled a lovely shot through a Francino - I'd be absolutely gutted if it tasted like a Nespresso! And what a waste of time it would be if it did!

[RobbieTheTruth]

dapprman said:

RobbieTheTruth said:

People love them. I think they are good for a long black. If you use a nice, fruity light roast, it really brings out the flavour.

Having it black means the temperature is ok. Adding cold milk and it's gone too cold.

I prefer Chemex/V60 over Aeropress - but I manly have Espresso.

Yeah got mine part based on the views of a coffee geek friend of mine (who also roasts his own). Just struggled to get on with it. Oddly enough I was a heavy user of a mokka pot at the time, having gone back to it every time I tried a different system. The Nespresso was for lazy weekend and the Aeropress to work along side the mokka, particular if I was drinking a lot (and so having to wait for the pot to cool down). 6 years on I still think the Mokka pot makes the best tasting coffee WHEN I do not burn it (got in to the habit of forgetting the pot was on the stove) however I'm still happily using the Nespresso (now Vertuo - I drink long coffees and not enough for the cost to become prohibitive).

I use a Mokka pot sometimes - it's possible to get delicious results.

Using good quality coffee
Grind immediately
Use already boiling water in the base
Take off heat as soon as it starts gurgling

Do all of the above and it's a lovely, smooth brew believe it or not!

[RobbieTheTruth]

Lee Jones Jnr said:

RobbieTheTruth said:

But you implied the end result from Nespresso, Starbucks and independent is all the same and that is completely incorrect.

If I went to someones house, and they ground up nice fresh beans and pulled a lovely shot through a Francino - I'd be absolutely gutted if it tasted like a Nespresso! And what a waste of time it would be if it did!

Presumably as someone with such sensitivity to quality coffee you would be devastated to have to suffer a coffee made using a cheap Fracino machine?

I stand by what I said:

£3 bottle of wine - rubbish
£10 bottle - decent
£500 bottle - decent
Someone who says they can do the £10/£500 Pepsi challenge - liar

Maxwell House - rubbish
Nespresso - decent.... etc... etc...

Francino machines are fantastic.

If you're getting 'decent' Starbucks level muck out of it, it's wasted in your establishment

[RobbieTheTruth]

Lee Jones Jnr said:

RobbieTheTruth said:

Francino machines are fantastic.

If you're getting 'decent' Starbucks level muck out of it, it's wasted in your establishment

Mine must be counterfeit. They are both missing the ‘n’ on the branding.

Ok, good one.

You think Starbucks, Nespresso and coffee made with a manual Espresso machine are all the same grade.

If you cant tell the difference, then you know nothing about the subject matter so why bother commenting.


I'm not a fan of wine. Don't know what regions taste like what, don't know how to pair it with different foods. It's all the same to me.

I don't however, go into threads about wine, and tell people it's all the same when it clearly isn't and my opinion is worthless.

[RobbieTheTruth]

Tyre Smoke said:

Jesus wept. You know on a hot day after a lot of physical exercise? Even an ice cold pint of Carling is welcome. Same with coffee. I can tell the difference between the flavours in my Nespresso pods but I don't feel the need to start massaging and caressing the beans before I lovingly roast them for the perfect cup of coffee. My life is just too busy.

All that messing about is for the other thread where they are the coffee equivalent of Whitworth spanners and can describe perfectly the flange guide for the trunnion on their 1948 Morris. Not forgetting the perfect match of paisley socks to go with every pair of sandals.

This thread is the coffee equivalent to which Mondeo do you drive?

Yeah, but telling the difference between your Nespresso pods is hardly comparing Apples and Oranges. The differences on Nespresso range from burnt to slightly less burnt.

Agree to an extent with the beer point. At that point where you need a coffee, anything will do and a Nespresso is welcomed over a Nescafe.

Nespresso has it's place. I own 2 machines. I'm always pleasantly surprised if there is a Nespresso in my hotel room etc. It's a nice upgrade from instant.

I offer advice to people who want to experience something at a completely different level, but the sacrifice is cost and time.

Nothing wrong with both (like me). Nespresso for 'instant', and manual for special.

[RobbieTheTruth]

Gren said:

Been happy with my Lattissima for a few years now. Makes a half decent espresso for me each morning and a latte for the missus. I know it's not the best coffee but for the push of a button that I can be bothered with it works for me.

Anyway.... the frother on ours is starting to get a bit temperamental and I've never been impressed with the lungos using the standard capsules - same amount of coffee with more water basically. Strength has never been the Nespresso forte (see what I did there?) so the lungos suffer. So I'm thinking about 'upgrading' to a Vertuo and am looking for some PH experiences.

Is the coffee better? The pods are certainly more expensive
Does it really make better lungos and above?

Also there's no Lattissima equivalent so I'd be getting and Aeroccino 4. Any thoughts on that?

Out of the two of them, I prefer the Vertuo.

If I wan just going to use if for short espresso and add frothed milk separately, I'd stick with standard - because you can pick up pods anywhere.

Vertuo uses barcode technology, so no own brand pods anywhere. They make long drinks, so of you get a full mug of coffee. You can do espresso too, but most of the pods are geared up for full mugs.

[RobbieTheTruth]

Tyre Smoke said:

All the coffee I've had out of my Vertuo so far has been frothy. If I use the Aeroccino3 it's really frothy.

Even an espresso has a head on it.

Can't complain at the coffee quality though. But apparently I'm a Neanderthal when it comes to coffee.

Yeah they come out frothy, so you don't really need to worry about steaming milk.

[RobbieTheTruth]

Podie said:

At the risk of talking about Nespresso again.... any other “Ambassador” people trying the Galapagos coffee?

Nah, I probably won't bother.

Rather than getting excited by the new coffees and the descriptions etc - it's best just to accept you'll never get anything more than a 5/10 and just accept it for what it is.

Best advice is to find a cheap, readily available pod thats nice enough and just stock up on that. The Lidl Lungo for about 19p a pod is average enough to be more than acceptable!

If you want tasting notes as described by Nespresso, you need to go manual and grind fresh and portion correctly. Not fire boiling water through 7g of stale, overroasted coffee.

Like I said, there is a place for Nespresso. I've had it for years. I'm pleasently suprised if I go to someones house and I get one, rather than instant. I love it when a hotel room has one. I use it in the office.

In terms of the output, it's never ever going to be anything more than a nicer 'instant'.

[RobbieTheTruth]

wiggy001 said:

Apologies if this has already been mentioned but I'm falling out of love with my Nespresso machine. For a long time I used to mix up my coffee orders, including the special editions, until I realised that every time I had a coffee that wasn't Roma I wished it was. So for the past couple of years all I have bought have been Roma capsules.

However it has dawned on me recently that I just don't enjoy it like I used to. So a couple of questions:

- Has the recipe for Nespresso pods changed or am I imagining less flavour than before?
- Has anyone genuinely found a non-Nespresso pod that they like, especially if you prefer the strong pods? I see Aldi do some that I've not tried before so will give them a punt, but any non-original pods I've tried before have left me disappointed.

Any thoughts?

OP here.

No, you've just gotten used to it being your norm.

You're only ever going to get average results from a Nespresso. It's a nice, welcome upgrade from Instant and a bit of a treat at first, but it's poor to average coffee at best.

The reason is simple. To pull a 'perfect' shot, the general opinion is you take 18g of freshly ground, lightly roasted beans, and pull a 36g liquid volume shot in 30 seconds, at 9 bar pressure, at 92 degrees. The perfect show will take about 30 seconds.

A Nespresso is 5.5g of burnt, stale dust, blasted with 86 degree water at high pressure, with tiny little holes to control the flow.

No matter what new coffee they release, and where it's from, it's only ever going to be Nespresso.


You have just outgrown it. Your options is Bean to Cup, which will be a noticeable improvement but still has a relatively low ceiling, so you'll get bored - or manual, which is expensive, but you can pull a perfect shot with the right grinder and machine.

Edited by RobbieTheTruth on Friday 19th March 21:13

[RobbieTheTruth]

Podie said:

RobbieTheTruth said:

You have just outgrown it.

Sounds like you've outgrown the thread chap.

Not really. It's handy for people who have had and enjoyed Nespresso for a few years, and are now ready to upgrade.

I just don't want to see anyone waste any money on 'upgrading' their Nespresso setup to a more expensive version expecting better results.

[RobbieTheTruth]

Funk said:

Podie said:

RobbieTheTruth said:

You have just outgrown it.

Sounds like you've outgrown the thread chap.

Does sound like there's a degree of 'ex-smokerism' going on doesn't it..

Just kidding Robbie - for most of us Nespresso still hits the spot for ease of use, consistent result and relatively cheap (certainly when compared to the full-blown coffee rabbit-hole the other thread has gone down..!).

I've said many times that I don't view Nespresso as 'the best coffee EVAHHH!', I view it as 'better and easier than instant' rather than competing with dedicated grinders, 18g doses and degree-perfect temps etc.

100% hits the spot for a quick, convenient, consistent drink.

I still have standard and vertuo machines. I use Vertuo in the office and it's a welcome upgrade over instant.

If I moved into a temporary flat for a few months, I'd buy a Nespresso that day and use it.

It is what it is.

My advice isn't to get rid. Just buy the basic machine, enjoy it for what it is and if you want a better experience, go manual - on the understanding it's costly and a bit laborious to get an ideal setup at a reasonable price.