Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Just received as a holiday present which goes alongside our collection of brewers (cold drip, cold infused, manual espresso, stove-top pressure, stove-top vacuum, greek stove-top, US drip, Melita drip, Chemex drip/pour-over.) First time top-notch creme came from a machine with a single-serve portioning. Although I wasn't and am still not crazy about non-biodegradable pods (that cannot be composted), the Nespresso's are aluminum and go into the recycling with the pop and beer cans. Looking at the processing, the reasoning for the aluminum pods over the plastic and mesh cups is that the pressure of the water is much higher in the Nespresso units than the competitors versions, which is forced through pinholes in the pods. Plastic versions would blow-apart in the same conditions. But the bottom-line is drink quality and compared with both K-cups and Tassimo, the Swiss have the process nailed. There is some noise during operation, but nothing like running a burr grinder, nor does it last long - since servings process in mere seconds. The design behind the pods seems to put barcoding around the perimeter which tells the unit how much water and how long to process each pod (2 kinds - espresso and standard cup/Americano sized). The inter-pod cleaning cycle is quite thorough and doesn't cross-flavor like the K-cup units do (which is why you really don't mix tea and coffee K-cups in a sequence.) Height adjustment on the cup holder goes up to a Venti (20 oz.) cup when not used - highest is for espresso cups. Pre-heat time is 15 seconds flat before the first cup. In-between cycles are a minimum of 4 seconds to swap pods and re-lock. Both espresso and Americano pods are user-adjustable for desired water quantity - meaning if you prefer more water in your final standard cup, or less in your espresso, you can either adjust the amount as a pre-set by performing the cycle manually once and letting it repeat that, or just hold the button down until the desired amount of water is sent through the pod - full manual mode. Frother/milk mixer can do both hot and cold milk in a max. of 2 minutes - cold froth for iced cap drinks is ridiculously fast. Fully immersible milk kettle and only 3 parts (cover, kettle, and a magnetically held whisk or stirring mini fan (used for non-froth mode) - separately powered from a sit-on power base. Pods in 10-packs puts the pricing per cup at about $1.20 or so. A modicum of flavored coffees and decaf pods are available. Mine came with the 12 pod sampler to try most of the different variants available. The other K-cup and Tassimo units were okay in shared office situations (like visiting a dentist and you just want a quick cup of something.) But for enjoying a daily coffee recurring single-serve set, this one fits the bill best. Break-even will probably be at about 40 cups, so payback with be in a matter of months for us. Long ago I stopped using the original wedding gift full-sized espresso station (a DeLonghi that made excellent cups) simply because unless I was running continuous cups for a party, it took too long to setup and run every single morning just to have a red-eye cup or two, and then deal with cleaning the clamps, grind cup, tampers, and forget it, if you happened to even think about a cappuccino. One big thing - the VertuoLine pods are different from their original series capsules and incompatible with each other. The original capsules were still made of aluminum, but resembled the K-cups Refillable Capsule for Nespresso, 5-Pack The innovation in the VertuoLine (and why it makes more noise now) is how it uses the pods. The pod is actually being spun at high-speed inside the unit while the extraction takes place. It still does the original 10 sec. pre-moisten phase, but then begins whirring the pod on its axis - the slight ribs inside the pods are what are creating the froth, as well as mixing the grounds with the water. This is also why it's unlikely we'll see a refillable/reusable pod version for the VertuoLine. There's a lot more engineering in these pod designs than before, which is what generates the superior quality beverage. Most of the capsule sales are still referring to the older unit design - so pay attention to the shape of the pods for compatibility - these are more like little covered bowls.