# Nespresso or A Modo Mio or Dolce Gusto - which way to go?



## les24preludes (Dec 30, 2017)

I'm new to pods, but getting excited waiting for a Nespresso Inissia to arrive. In the meantime my research is telling me that the Lavazza A Modo Mio system brews better coffee, so wondering about a cheap Minu machine. There's also the Dolce Gusto system to complicate things, plus the Caffitaly system as well, which seems less used in the UK than the rest of Europe.

A Modo Mio has better and cheaper coffee so should be a simple decision? Or not? I read that Nespresso compatible pods don't work too well because they adjusted the puncture system to make it less sharp, and the originals remain expensive.

And are Dolce Gusto and Caffitaly worth considering........?

Feedback and experience on these systems and their pros and cons most welcome.


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Not sure how many people really get that involved with Pod machines on here.


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## les24preludes (Dec 30, 2017)

Yes - I can see that this forum is for coffee geeks, gardeners and landscapers. But coffee is coffee and pods are easy to use, and pods are here to stay for sure. Besides, I can't find any other forums that have as much footfall. Seems this forum is well used, and it's a UK forum, so I'm here by default!


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

You will get a ton of hits on google for Pod machine reviews. Far more than you will on here.

All in all, to the layman , they use pods , can make sone reasonable brown drink , the cheaper the coffee you use in them , the more likely it is the drink will be less tasty. As in making any coffee.

http://theperfectgrind.co.uk/best-pod-coffee-maker-reviews/


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## igm45 (Mar 5, 2017)

les24preludes said:


> coffee is coffee


Spend some time on this forum and you will find it can be very complex and varied.

Your remarks are the same as going onto a wine forum and saying 'should I go with Lambrini or Lambrusco?' After all wine is wine...


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

igm45 said:


> Spend some time on this forum and you will find it can be very complex and varied.
> 
> Your remarks are the same as going onto a wine forum and saying 'should I go with Lambrini or Lambrusco?' After all wine is wine...


Blue Nun , everytime .


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

Welcome to Coffee Forums UK

Pods are on the rise - particularly from the likes of Terrone and Colonna Coffee.

They work with existing hardware (eg Nespresso) but not necessarily all models


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## Missy (Mar 9, 2016)

My parents have a modo Mio (the lavazza one) with that you really are limited to their own pods, yes it's cheap, but it's because you are tied into them for the drinks. My parents love the simplicity. The carbon footprint worries me.

Nespresso has a wide range of compatible pods including some from high end coffee producers. They also (I understand) offer pod recycling, though whether it's actually a net environmental benefit to do so isn't fully established.


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## les24preludes (Dec 30, 2017)

Seems like there's a huge reservoir of knowledge on this forum about making coffee, but a kind of secret cult atmosphere where etiquette requires members to say "I have a friend who knows someone who lives next door to a guy who has a pod machine" in case they get blackballed.....


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## igm45 (Mar 5, 2017)

les24preludes said:


> Seems like there's a huge reservoir of knowledge on this forum about making coffee, but a kind of secret cult atmosphere where etiquette requires members to say "I have a friend who knows someone who lives next door to a guy who has a pod machine" in case they get blackballed.....


No danger of that.

I have no friends.

Most on here are lovely and will try and help all they can. It's just pods aren't really used.

It's not about cost either, good coffee can be made relatively cheaply with non-espresso brew methods.


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

les24preluds said:


> Seems l ere's a huge reservoir of knowledge on this forum about making coffee, but a kind of secret cult atmosphere where etiquette requires members to say "I have a friend who knows someone who lives next door to a guy who has a pod machine" in case they get blackballed.....


Errr...

My mum and dad use pods , i bought if for em, it can make acceptable coffee is the pods are ok .

Some people on here have pods at work etc.

You are asking for a comparison between systems , which as pointed out dont really differ apart from marketing and propriatry pods that can be used.

Go look on the Which site for more info .


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## Missy (Mar 9, 2016)

Sorry for the disappointment- I use the pod machine when staying with my parents (and a lot of sugar!!), but most people who post seem to prefer more hands on approaches to making coffee. For £50 you can buy an aeropress and a handgrinder and then the world is your limpet when it comes to selecting freshly roasted coffee from a huge range of roasters, offering beans with tasting notes as diverse as "burning tyres" "jasmine" and "strawberry milkshake" with everything in between.

If I was looking for budget espresso that's what I would do, and if you want a milky drink buy the lavazza milk heater. But if you want a pod machine it's a case of picking a coffee you like the look of and buying their machine.


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## IggyK (May 13, 2017)

I would just wait for your Inissia to arrive and maybe later in your journey try pods from colonna coffee you'll certainly taste the difference between stock Nespresso pods plus more compatible pods from specialty roaster than the Lavazza machine if none at all looks your stuck with Lavazza only selection pods look different.

I had the Nepresso machine at work but the only drink I could handle was with loads of frothy Aeroccino milk.


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## les24preludes (Dec 30, 2017)

Well guys, I splashed out and got the Lavazza Minu pod machine so now have that and the Nespresso Inissia. At least I'll have some variety in the coffees, which is something with decaf which is all I drink. I feel about as inconspicuous here as a tarantula on a slice of angel food, but maybe I can start researching decaf coffees and see what that gives. Thanks for giving me the time of day - we can at least shake hands across the culture barrier.


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## les24preludes (Dec 30, 2017)

IggyK said:


> I would just wait for your Inissia to arrive and maybe later in your journey try pods from colonna coffee you'll certainly taste the difference .


Thanks for that tip. Colonna is expensive, but they do offer a different kind of decaf so when my palate becomes jaded or when life coaching turns me into double the person I am right now it may be time to treat myself.


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## kennyboy993 (Jan 23, 2017)

les24preludes said:


> Well guys, I splashed out and got the Lavazza Minu pod machine so now have that and the Nespresso Inissia. At least I'll have some variety in the coffees, which is something with decaf which is all I drink. I feel about as inconspicuous here as a tarantula on a slice of angel food, but maybe I can start researching decaf coffees and see what that gives. Thanks for giving me the time of day - we can at least shake hands across the culture barrier.


Stay around mate, there's lots of decaf drinkers on here.

There's no barrier to entry on here I can testify to that - apart from the one you may have put up yourself? ;-)

Hope you stick around - many on here had pod machines at some point, many still do.


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## hhardy11 (Dec 30, 2017)

Go for a Moka Pot or Aeropress. You can get very good quality coffee for less money with much better results.


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## Hasi (Dec 27, 2017)

oh wow... here's some hilarious, some worrying, and some wtf material...

I'm stuck between calling for another round and offering mediation.

I gave my dad a handpresso for Christmas a couple years back. That might not be pods but pads that you can use it with. We love making espressos in the wilderness, now, and it's not a bad thing at all to leave the usual path at times. Gives you a new perspective on your doings.

How did everybody's obsession kick in? Maybe because you weren't satisfied with the options?

There's a fine line between advising and advertising - to each their own I'd say. Possibly some people's journey takes them either to or through pod land - we don't know...

Decent decaf is difficult to achieve by hand, the pod companies try their best to not letting their customers down, so hell yea! Go for it


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## les24preludes (Dec 30, 2017)

Hasi said:


> Decent decaf is difficult to achieve by hand, the pod companies try their best to not letting their customers down, so hell yea! Go for it


I started with a DeLonghi coffee maker - ground coffee as I'm sure you would agree with here. I just got tired of the whole process of making the coffee and clearing up afterwards, cleaning the machine and so on. From there I went to instant coffee which is pretty boring in decaf. We went to my brother for Xmas and he had a Nespresso machine with Volluto decaf, and this reminded me strongly of what I was missing. It took off from there.

I'm well capable of getting fired up in research of all kinds, so now I have 2 machines I can go on to the coffee itself and then ..... yes, the water itself. I sat through a whole YouTube lecture from Maxwell Colonna and went on to some guy from the Specialty Coffee Association assembling on his kitchen table a chemistry kit of distilled water, bicarb, eye of newt*,* toe of frog, wool of bat, tongue of dog and so forth. As Lawrence Oates said "I'm just going outside and may be some time...."


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## Hasi (Dec 27, 2017)

I can see the importance of wool of bat! Hard to get, though...

But seriously, keeping everything neat and clean is the necessary evil in the calculation.

Bean to cup machines have a sensor for the most inappropriate and mistimed moments to request emptying, refilling or cleaning something. I moved away from the Jura I had for the same reason. Ok, now that I operate a portafilter cleaning has become more intense, but also predictable and built in the routine. With a pod machine you should almost be down to exception handling when using it properly.

Oh yes, the good old water is a story of its own - there are quite handy suggestions concerning what bottled water to get in the UK (Volvic seems to be just fine, among others). I'm located elsewhere, so can't chime in on that in particular.

Keep on learning!


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## les24preludes (Dec 30, 2017)

Hasi said:


> But seriously, keeping everything neat and clean is the necessary evil in the calculation. Bean to cup machines have a sensor for the most inappropriate and mistimed moments to request emptying, refilling or cleaning something. I moved away from the Jura I had for the same reason. Ok, now that I operate a portafilter cleaning has become more intense, but also predictable and built in the routine. With a pod machine you should almost be down to exception handling when using it properly. Oh yes, the good old water is a story of its own - there are quite handy suggestions concerning what bottled water to get in the UK (Volvic seems to be just fine, among others). I'm located elsewhere, so can't chime in on that in particular. Keep on learning!


I'm a bit in awe of all you guys and the lengths you go to. I'm as much a geek as any of you, though not in the kitchen - music is my arena. I'm just after a simple way of getting a decent cup of real coffee - I'm not a foodie and don't hang out in the kitchen much. I'm off today to pick up my Lavazza Minu, with the Nespresso Inissia coming next week. At least I'll get some variety in the decaf. blends, and the machines were just £29 and £35 new so not a huge investment.

And yes, I'm going with 50/50 Volvic and Waitrose Stretton Hills. I'm a good boy and I do my research! I'll stick around this forum and see what else I can learn. Thanks guys.


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## les24preludes (Dec 30, 2017)

Update:

Made my first cup with the Lavazza Minu and DEK Cremoso. It's better than instant for sure, but I'm underwhelmed so far. I made a mug full with just one capsule and filled it up with semi-skimmed milk from the microwave. Hot enough at least. But a bit weak. I was hoping for more out of a single pod. And not much crema either. From memory the Nespresso was better and more crema, but that was in a smaller cup. So do I play around with cup sizes and milk proportion? Don't have a frother yet either. I like milk in coffee. Water was 50/50 Volvik and Stretton. I could even... wait for it... add a little instant for more strength...... (going really downhill here at alpine speeds)

Any tips in terms of continuing with capsules? I can hear groans of "get a real coffee machine", but any ideas of what I could do to get more out of what I have right now?


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## Missy (Mar 9, 2016)

They've only got around 5g of coffee in them. You're going to need a smaller cup.


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

Go for a shorter drink.

That's my suggestion


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

One capsule > whole mug ?

Perhaps make a smaller espresso and top it up with boiling water .

Re Crema , none of what you are seeing is crema , its just bubbles from any nespresso machine . Crema isnt that tasty ( even from " proper machines " so dont stress about whether out have it or not .

The capsules you have are they labelled , lungo or ristretto or something ?


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## kennyboy993 (Jan 23, 2017)

Use more capsules


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## les24preludes (Dec 30, 2017)

kennyboy993 said:


> Use more capsules


I can quite see the logic in "smaller cup" or "use 2 capsules". That all makes sense.

What I'm afraid of is how much caffeine could creep in to a decaf. I have had heart issues with AF and have had a couple of procedures to clear it up. This mostly worked and I haven't been troubled for a few years even with no medication, but I don't want to trigger any further incidents. I lead a very safe life with my instant decaf and I absolutely don't want to run any risk of finding caffeine in any of the capsules I use. That's a big no. So in theory I could use a stronger decaf blend like intenso or Ristretto for the Nespresso machine. But is a stronger blend achieved with nil caffeine, a bit more caffeine or what? Or is it nothing to do with caffeine?

Does anybody know the caffeine content of decaf and how reliable this is from one maker and coffee type to another?


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## ashcroc (Oct 28, 2016)

les24preludes said:


> Update:
> 
> Made my first cup with the Lavazza Minu and DEK Cremoso. It's better than instant for sure, but I'm underwhelmed so far. I made a mug full with just one capsule and filled it up with semi-skimmed milk from the microwave. Hot enough at least. But a bit weak. I was hoping for more out of a single pod. And not much crema either. From memory the Nespresso was better and more crema, but that was in a smaller cup. So do I play around with cup sizes and milk proportion? Don't have a frother yet either. I like milk in coffee. Water was 50/50 Volvik and Stretton.
> 
> Any tips in terms of continuing with capsules? I can hear groans of "get a real coffee machine", but what can I do to get more out of what I have right now?


Think you'll either have to use a smaller cup or multiple pods. A quick look at the pods on amazon showed they weigh 7.5g (including the pod itself) so they don't contain much coffee.

To put it into perspective, a 'traditional' espresso shot is around 7g & most high street coffee chains will use at least a double in a milky drink.

It's one of the reasons I discounted getting one just over a year ago (along with their inkjet printer pricing stratergy where the machines are cheap but you pay through the nose for peripherals) when I was looking for a new machine & plumped for a tebe & grinder instead. They win hands down in no fuss, ease of use though so they definitely have their place in the modern world.

EDIT: No decaf is caffine free but 'Under EU regulations, the caffeine content of decaf cannot exceed 0.3 per cent for soluble or 0.1 per cent for roast and ground coffee.' so you're better off drinking ground coffee to instant.


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## les24preludes (Dec 30, 2017)

I found this - in theory decaf should be safe but for some reason I feel a little light headed after my decaf Lavazza. I may be imagining this or it may be the case that manufacturing errors occur etc etc....

Here is a quick list to reference *Note: all coffee below is measured in 8 oz serving sizes. Caffeine measured in milligrams. All statistics pulled directly from **Mayoclinic.org** research on caffeine.*


Brewed coffee - 95-200 mg of caffeine.

Brewed coffee decaffeiniated - 2-12 mg of caffeine.

Single serve varieties - 75-150 mg of caffeine.

Single serve varieties decaffeinated - 2-4 mg of caffeine.

Instant - 27-173 mg of caffeine.

Instant decaffeinated - 2-12 mg of caffeine.


One important thing to remember is the actual caffeine content of the same coffee drink can vary from day to day because of various factors, such as roasting and grinding as well as brewing time. The list above is *not* an absolute truth but, a good reference point to look at.


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## kennyboy993 (Jan 23, 2017)

There's virtually nil caffeine in decaf - you should be able to tell if you're sensitive?


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

ashcroc said:


> Think you'll either have to use a smaller cup or multiple pods. A quick look at the pods on amazon showed they weigh 7.5g (including the pod itself) so they don't contain much coffee.
> 
> To put it into perspective, a 'traditional' espresso shot is around 7g & most high street coffee chains will use at least a double in a milky drink.
> 
> ...


I dont know whee you live but most cafes are doing 18-20 g in my experience .


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## ashcroc (Oct 28, 2016)

Mrboots2u said:


> I dont know whee you live but most cafes are doing 18-20 g in my experience .


I did say at least & it's also the reason I put taditional in inverted commas.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

ashcroc said:


> Think you'll either have to use a smaller cup or multiple pods. A quick look at the pods on amazon showed they weigh 7.5g (including the pod itself) so they don't contain much coffee.


The weights quoted are usually for the contents, not the packaging.


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## ashcroc (Oct 28, 2016)

MWJB said:


> The weights quoted are usually for the contents, not the packaging.


 Yep but in this case, the capsule itself is part of the product so it's weight would be included in it's total.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

ashcroc said:


> Yep but in this case, the capsule itself is part of the product so it's weight would be included in it's total.


Not in any capsule/pod/pre-packed coffee serving I have weighed.


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## ashcroc (Oct 28, 2016)

MWJB said:


> Not in any capsule/pod/pre-packed coffee serving I have weighed.


Ah ok. Since I don't have a machine to use them, I've never bothered to buy any to weigh. Either way, 7.5g of coffee is gonna make a weak mug.


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## les24preludes (Dec 30, 2017)

Update:

I've been playing around with simple ways of making a decaf latte using my Lavazza Minu capsule machine which I now love dearly. Best so far is one pod of Lavazza poured into 2/3 mug of milk heated in the microwave and with a teaspoon of Azera instant and a half teaspoon of M&S instant already stirred in. This makes a surprisingly tasty cup of coffee. It can be a touch bitter, but I find this goes away with a small pinch of salt stirred in. Making progress - decaf now tastes interesting again. My Nespresso machine just arrived so I'll have a few other decafs to play with.


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## ashcroc (Oct 28, 2016)

That's some serious alchemy you have going on. ☺


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## MildredM (Feb 13, 2017)

les24preludes said:


> Update:
> 
> I've been playing around with simple ways of making a decaf latte using my Lavazza Minu capsule machine which I now love dearly. Best so far is one pod of Lavazza poured into 2/3 mug of milk heated in the microwave and with a teaspoon of Azera instant and a half teaspoon of M&S instant already stirred in. This makes a surprisingly tasty cup of coffee. It can be a touch bitter, but I find this goes away with a small pinch of salt stirred in. Making progress - decaf now tastes interesting again. My Nespresso machine just arrived so I'll have a few other decafs to play with.


A pinch of salt stirred in to coffee cropped up on R4 recently (maybe The Food Programme or some such).

At at the end of the day if you like the taste of your concoction then go for it, enjoy it!


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## les24preludes (Dec 30, 2017)

MildredM said:


> A pinch of salt stirred in to coffee cropped up on R4 recently (maybe The Food Programme or some such).
> 
> At at the end of the day if you like the taste of your concoction then go for it, enjoy it!


Yes - I got it off R4 I think, Jay Rayner. It actually works a treat!


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## kennyboy993 (Jan 23, 2017)

les24preludes said:


> Update:
> 
> I've been playing around with simple ways of making a decaf latte using my Lavazza Minu capsule machine which I now love dearly. Best so far is one pod of Lavazza poured into 2/3 mug of milk heated in the microwave and with a teaspoon of Azera instant and a half teaspoon of M&S instant already stirred in. This makes a surprisingly tasty cup of coffee. It can be a touch bitter, but I find this goes away with a small pinch of salt stirred in. Making progress - decaf now tastes interesting again. My Nespresso machine just arrived so I'll have a few other decafs to play with.


This tastes better than 2 pods?


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## Kristopher (Dec 29, 2017)

I have never considered adding salt to my coffee before. Is this a common practice?


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## Hasi (Dec 27, 2017)

oh stop it already


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## Drewster (Dec 1, 2013)

les24preludes said:


> Update:
> 
> I've been playing around with *simple* ways of making a decaf latte using my Lavazza Minu capsule machine which I now love dearly. Best so far is one pod of Lavazza poured into 2/3 mug of milk heated in the microwave and with a teaspoon of Azera instant and a half teaspoon of M&S instant already stirred in. This makes a surprisingly tasty cup of coffee. It can be a touch bitter, but I find this goes away with a small pinch of salt stirred in. Making progress - decaf now tastes interesting again. My Nespresso machine just arrived so I'll have a few other decafs to play with.


WOW - I bet you're glad you've gone down the *simple* route of pods.... 3 different coffee in 3 different measures to make one cup!


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## Jon (Dec 3, 2010)

les24preludes said:


> Seems like there's a huge reservoir of knowledge on this forum about making coffee, but a kind of secret cult atmosphere where etiquette requires members to say "I have a friend who knows someone who lives next door to a guy who has a pod machine" in case they get blackballed.....


Lol. I have a Nespresso machine.

It's in the cupboard.

I bought it when Colonna brought out their pods but although the taste was good the value was hard to justify. I'd really have to use two pods to get a vaguely reasonable amount of coffee.

Having said that, if you don't already have a grinder and machine it's a cheap (upfront) way of producing tasty coffee IF you use good pods.

Big if.


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## Jon (Dec 3, 2010)

les24preludes said:


> Update:
> 
> I've been playing around with simple ways of making a decaf latte using my Lavazza Minu capsule machine which I now love dearly. Best so far is one pod of Lavazza poured into 2/3 mug of milk heated in the microwave and with a teaspoon of Azera instant and a half teaspoon of M&S instant already stirred in. This makes a surprisingly tasty cup of coffee. It can be a touch bitter, but I find this goes away with a small pinch of salt stirred in. Making progress - decaf now tastes interesting again. My Nespresso machine just arrived so I'll have a few other decafs to play with.


I'm taking this with a "pinch of salt".


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## les24preludes (Dec 30, 2017)

kennyboy993 said:


> This tastes better than 2 pods?


Probably not, but 2 pods gets expensive. Incidentally - the pinch of salt really does counteract any bitterness. Seems like a win-win thing. Don't actually know how it works. This may have been explained on R4 but I forget now. There are some explanations if you Google salt in coffee. Apparently it also reduces bitterness in wine. Just a pinch - no more. You can't actually taste it - you just notice its effects.


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## Kristopher (Dec 29, 2017)

les24preludes said:


> Probably not, but 2 pods gets expensive. Incidentally - the pinch of salt really does counteract any bitterness. Seems like a win-win thing. Don't actually know how it works. This may have been explained on R4 but I forget now. There are some explanations if you Google salt in coffee. Apparently it also reduces bitterness in wine. Just a pinch - no more. You can't actually taste it - you just notice its effects.


Just out of interest - since my other half has been trying to convince me to buy a pod machine. How expensive do your pods work out at. I've seen various pricing and deals but didn't know what it actually came too when you consistently purchased them.


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## les24preludes (Dec 30, 2017)

Kristopher said:


> Just out of interest - since my other half has been trying to convince me to buy a pod machine. How expensive do your pods work out at. I've seen various pricing and deals but didn't know what it actually came too when you consistently purchased them.


For the Lavazza Minu the pods started out at the end of 2017 at £3 for 16 at John Lewis. That was cheapest available price then, and this year they went up quickly to £3.50 for 16. I then bought 9 of them for around £31, for which you get free pickup at any Waitrose branch. Handy since you can pick up some Stretton Hills water at the same time plus a couple of bottles of Volvic to mix 50/50. The price of a box of 16 pods seems to have settled at under £4 - they're £3.99 on eBay. So currently just under 22p each. Compare that to 55p to over 60p for Nespresso pods - about a third of the price and the coffee is genuine Lavazza. So I'd say Lavazza is clearly the way to go here. The Minu machine was £29 at John Lewis and it's simple, small, effective and a really good design. Nespresso might get all the publicity but Lavazza is the better deal by some way. As I said, I mix it with Azera which is the best reviewed instant coffee and that's currently £2.74 for 100g at Tesco, another good deal. I'm very pleased with the coffee I'm drinking - much better than instant alone and tastes like real coffee. Very quick to prepare and no mess. I'm in a good place right now.


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## Missy (Mar 9, 2016)

If you've got a B&M close by they usually have the lavazza pods in stock, lurking around the "instant cups of Bovril" etc.


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## MalcolmH (Dec 10, 2016)

I know the OP has made a decision and gone with a Lavassa system but thought Id state my experience with ESE pods.

While I was working I used the ESE 44mm style pods for around 15years and was perfectly happy with it. I had a Francis Francis X1, lovely looking little machine. Only used at weekends, great convenience and the pods were individually packaged in some kind of inert gas (I think) so freshness was pretty good even though a bag of fifty would last months. I used Coffee Sense pods which I got from the Coffee Pod (I think), always got good service and prompt delivery. They served me well and got me to a stage where I wouldnt drink dried powdered coffee again. I think if you go for offers and buy one get one free deals ESE pods are cheaper than Nesspresso capsules and other systems.

But since retirement Ive progressed to an ECM HX and Compak K3 plus scales and timers and so on and yes, its chalk and cheese. But I wouldnt hesitate in recommending pods for casual, weekend only users etc. You can make coffee easily on a par with what youd get at high street chains. Yes, the pods only contain 7g of coffee (44mm ones that is) and Ive subsequently learnt that my esspressos using pods were somewhat watered down!!!, I never used timers or scales then, just filled an espresso cup lol.


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## les24preludes (Dec 30, 2017)

MalcolmH said:


> While I was working I used the ESE 44mm style pods for around 15years and was perfectly happy with it.


Thanks for reminding me! I actually have a DeLonghi EC155 which I just pulled out of the cupboard, and lo and behold it can use ESE pods. So I have yet another option here for pods! I'm going to look at some available ESE pods now. The machine is 15 bar and was well reviewed in its time - still available here and there. This gets more and more interesting.....


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## MalcolmH (Dec 10, 2016)

les24preludes said:


> Thanks for reminding me! I actually have a DeLonghi EC155 which I just pulled out of the cupboard, and lo and behold it can use ESE pods. So I have yet another option here for pods! I'm going to look at some available ESE pods now. The machine is 15 bar and was well reviewed in its time - still available here and there. This gets more and more interesting.....


From the 'coffeepod.co...' get your self 50 pods of 'Cafe Du Monde' (you'll actually get 100 because you get 50 bags free , all for £12.00). Worth a try and better value than the capsules and other systems I think. Have fun


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## les24preludes (Dec 30, 2017)

Thanks for the update. I've moved on a little. Got the DeLonghi EC155 out and it all seems to work after a clean, so I can look at getting some pods. Meanwhile I tried some Nespresso pods - all decaf which is all I drink. I also drink flat white with semi-skimmed at around 1:1. Volluto was pleasant but rather bland even mixed 1:1 with hot milk. Arpeggio was a little stronger and more interesting, but a trifle bitter. Ristretto was noticeably stronger and richer and without the bitterness. Much better aftertaste than the other two. So from my new research into coffee types, it looks like I like a bit of Robusta mixed in with the Arabica. With Nespresso, the pods are noticeably cheaper when you join the Nespresso Club, which I just did.

But now I can use ESE pods this may open out some wider choices of coffee. thecoffeepod.co...... offer a pack of different decafs. This is all putting me on the road to finding out what kind of coffee itself I want to be drinking. By the look of it so far, a stronger blend. This is all fascinating, and I'm really enjoying a more tasty decaf coffee experience.


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## les24preludes (Dec 30, 2017)

Moving on a couple of years, I've been happy with my Gaggia Baby 2002 and Mazzer Major grinder, but my Gaggia stopped working and I pulled out the Lavazza A Modo Mio Minu. This is incredibly quick and efficient and you set the timing manually on the side lever. I'm finding 45-50 secs to be good. I actually have another identical Baby in the cupboard so can go back to proper coffee, but I'd sacrifice the very quick turnaround (under 3 minutes total).

My son uses an Aeropress - that's another option. I have a French Press but it's messy to use. Not a huge fan.


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## Michael87 (Sep 20, 2019)

We had pod machines for a few years before I got my espresso machine/grinder and aeropress.

Very convenient but aside from taste my issue was always degradation over time. Pump gets very noisy, coffee tastes worse, despite regular descaling, and I couldn't stand throwing it after two years. They are not built for life. Whereas my gaggia classic is already 12 years old and works like new.


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