So i'm looking for a pod coffee machine, but I can't decide between either the Tassimo system or the Dolce Gusto system. Prices for machine and pods are pretty even, So what are peoples preferences to either? Cheers, Sam
My preference would be for 'none of the above' as the coffee made by both systems, imo, tastes like crap.
This. Nepresso is the only moderately serviceable pod system out there. Much more so than any moderately priced bean to cup in my experience.
I had a Tassimo a few years ago. Sure, it was convenient and the coffee seemed to go down ok with non-coffee drinking visitors, but I disliked it. It's significantly cheaper and almost as easy to get a much better drink from an Aeropress. Or Moka pot. I did recently stay in a hotel with a Nespresso machine though and that was actually pretty nice.
I used a nespresso machine at work and the coffee was as good as from my cuisinart espresso machine at home. The pods that Amazon do are pretty decent too
I have two Vertuo spinners, one at home and one on my desk at work. They are more versatile than the standard Nespresso machines, with a couple of caveats: The pods are expensive (40-60p per cup), and they are proprietary so no aftermarket pods are available. They only make coffee, no exceptions. That being said, if you grab a My-Cap kit from the States, they are pretty easy to hack and refill with your favourite brand (Illy, Lavazza etc.). This is somewhat more of a faff than using new pods, but if you're a regular addict it will save you some cash down the line. The biggest advantage over standard Nespresso is the various cup sizes available, from 40ml to over 400!
I will piggyback on to this thread as I am open to anything, never having had a home machine. I am considering a Nespresso but not sure what is good, I was looking at one that can also do a morning cappuccino This looks up to the job https://www.johnlewis.com/nespresso-creatista-plus-coffee-machine-by-sage/black/p3116015 Any pod type better for similar money? Not against bean to cup as that is what I use in the office, pods just seemed to be easier as there will be periods of non use when I am office based.
Y'all are snobs, Tassimo can work fine, you just gotta choose your pods carefully. All the Costa ones taste like dirt. The Carte Noir ones aren't much better. L'Or espresso and Kenco Columbian are the only workable ones I've found. But those are legit pretty good. Nespresso is better for espressos, but can that bitch make a caramel latte for you? Hell no it cain't. TL;DR: Nespresso if you just want espressos. Tassimo if you're willing to do some trial and error and find pods that aren't garbage (about 75% of all available pods are garbage). Tassimo if the idea of being able to instantly make caramel lattes for ~50p per cup appeals to you. Some other posh fancy thing covered in stainless steel and suggestive probe-handle-things, if you're a snob. edit - oh, but Tassimo has more variability in the quality of the machines. There are super cheap tassimo machines. They're reportedly crap. We got a ~£120 machine with some sale discount and it's great (with the right pods). edit edit - DON'T buy tassimo hot chocolate pods. Apart from being a complete waste of money (duh - it's like 10 times more expensive than just buying instant hot chocolate) it's surprisingly awful and tastes much worse than normal instant. edit edit edit - yes I know there's four times more text below the TL;DR than above it. Sue me.
Remember, and I'll reiterate: Nespresso and Nespresso Vertuo are completely different systems. The former can make about a zillion types of espresso, but that's it. The latter can do a smaller, more curated selection but with varying sizes and superior quality. Vanilla, hazelnut and caramel are all options, as well as brews designed specifically to be made with milk. It's a good system, good enough that it is used for more upmarket vending machines. I can't claim to have tried all the competitors, nor am I much of a snob, but I can't tell the difference of the final beverage compared to my brother-in-law's £2000 system.
+1 for Aeropress. Looks like utter garbage, but after reading many, many positive reviews of it I was given one for my birthday last year and it's great. Much less faff than a cafetiere, will make a coffee straight into my travel mug, and can go over ice for an iced coffee in the summer. We also have a tiny galley kitchen, so having a machine taking up counter space was a no-go for the wife. My dad has a Lavazza machine that makes a decent coffee, but needs special cups that come with it if you want it to make you a latte.
I ended up buying a Delonghi Magnifica after years of disappointing home coffee machine purchases. I had pretty much given up and reverted to a moka pot but then moved house to one that had an induction hob, so that put an end to that too. The Delonghi bean to cup machines are absolutely brilliant. My partner's friend was a Costa barista trainer and she set it up for me (coarseness and strength etc) and it's just as good as barista coffee in her opinion - and in mine too. Yes they're pricey but if you're a coffee aficionado, it's one of the cheapest proper bean to cup machines that will give you amazing quality coffee at home.
there is that.... but I have to say, she does know coffee inside and out and now works for Stokes Coffee. She even managed to do latte art with the milk frother on the machine, so it's definitely up to the job of making a proper coffee!
Surely the quality of the coffee that any machine makes is down to the quality of the beans & how well they're roasted... decent coffee in a crap machine will still be a decent 'drink', I'd have thought.
There's probably an element of that but you need a good machine to get good espresso in the first place. It needs the right amount of water pressure, accurate temp control so you don't burn the coffee and a pour of around 20 seconds or so apparently for the ideal espresso shot, so it's neither too weak or too bitter.
This. There are a remarkable number of elements at play in making a passable espresso, and even more for an excellent espresso. If the temp of the water is too hot it will burn the coffee, if the temp is too cool it won't extract correctly (and maintaining the temp throughout the pull is extremely difficult), the pressure has to be just right, and consistent. The grind is at least as important as the machine - you need the right grind for the right extraction (i.e. too fine and it will clog the machine, or be awful sludge, too coarse and it will go straight through and be a sour mess), and it needs to be consistent, i.e. fines/dust will affect the quality of the coffee you get. So long as it's not burnt to a crisp, the roast profile is generally a matter of preference. The freshness is more important. All of these different factors means that bean-to-cup machines won't really deliver anything better than passable espresso. Even the Matt Perger endorsed Eversys machines are described as "perfectly adequate". Now whether you care or not is another matter - If you're looking for espresso comparable to a high-street cafe, you'll be fine.
