Single Serve Nespresso Without Nestle. Or put another way avoiding as much single serve tax as possible while also being reasonably kind to the environment.
Single Serve Nespresso Without Nestle
Or put another way avoiding as much single serve tax as possible while also being reasonably kind to the environment.
Keurig is the dominant single serve coffee option, in the US, at this time. If you enjoy the flavor of coffee, and aren’t drinking it just for the caffeine, you’ll know Keurig machines make quite possibly the worst cup of coffee. I might venture so far as to say worse than instant.
So what’s a planet loving, coffee loving, lazy MFer to do? Enter Nestle and the Nespresso. Now I’m sure you’re brain is screeching to a halt. Those assholes!? Well, those assholes, as luck would have it, no longer hold patents on their original pod designs. Let me explain.
Nestle/Nespresso’s first attempt at a single serve pod machine is great. However it has been out there for a hot minute. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nespresso This means their patents and grip on the system and the pod designs is no more which opens the machines as a market to much cheaper competitors. That also means you don’t have to buy any of this stuff directly from Nestle.
In recent time Nestle, of course, doesn’t like giving up a monopoly on their coffee machines/pods so in the interest of brewing larger cups for the US and to keep hold of their monopoly they’ve invented the VertuoLine of single serve coffee. DO NOT BUY THIS!
Since they now have two types of pods they’ve delineated the two by VirtuoLine and OriginalLine (or sometimes misspelled OriginaLine?). Weird branding I know but there needs to be a way to tell the difference. The other key difference to look out for is the original pods are tapered cylinders where the Virtuo pods are domes of various sizes.
If you want to give Nestle no money at all you can go buy a used machine. If you’re not into buy used, or if you don’t mind that Nestle probably still gets some small slice from machine sales then you can still buy new.
So what about pods and the environment? Well, unlike Keurig who started with all plastic pods and only recently switched to some sort of recyclable plastic, the Nestle pods have been Aluminum from the jump (as far as I know). That means they are fairly easily recycle-able. You can also compost the used coffee if you choose.
So lets take a look at what you need to make the jump to tasty single serve that doesn’t break the bank and is largely environmentally friendly.
- Machines (least expensive to most expensive at time of writing):
- Bestpresso Espresso Machine https://amzn.to/3PTrPuw
- De’Longhi Nespresso Inissia Espresso https://amzn.to/3OfU05B
- Breville Nespresso Pixie https://amzn.to/3Oh7rCi
- Breville Nespresso Essenza Mini https://amzn.to/3OqGFaV
- De’Longhi Nespresso Essenza Mini https://amzn.to/44Lkb9F
- De’Longhi Nespresso Lattissima Touch https://amzn.to/3PVzs3t
I personally own the De’Longhi Nespresso Essenza Mini and I’m very happy with it. It’s been reliable and fast. If I had a complaint it’s that the water reservoir is too small requiring at least daily refilling. See above regarding said laziness.
Coffee (random selection based on my personal taste, find what suits you!):
General search for Nespresso OriginalLine, scroll past Nespresso official pods (so insanely expensive!) https://amzn.to/3rykNRN
- Elle Cafe Colombian Medium Roast https://amzn.to/3PYjYf2
- Illy Signature Italian Blend https://amzn.to/43vc8N4
- Fresh Roasted Coffee LLC Drago dark roast https://amzn.to/3pQlV2F
Coffee Knocker:
CAFEMASY Coffee Capsules Recycling Knock https://amzn.to/3DmFQsZ