Kitchen

[patticakes]

We are considering buying one of these machines but don't know which one.  There are five of us and only one person in our family likes flavored coffee but the rest of us love regular medium brews, cappucchinos and lattes, etc.  I'm looking for advice which one to buy, frother or no frother, etc. and advice as far as which capsules and where is the best place to buy from.  Help.....

[Pezzie]

@patticakes.  We have a Nespresso Vertuo machine. Have had it for a few years.   The coffee is delicious.  If you go to the Nespresso website, it will give you a breakdown of the coffee capsules, where they are from, flavor profile and intensity, and the different types of machines they offer.

Some machines come with frother and some without.  Alll up to you whether you think you will use one.  Our machine came with one, but it's never been used.   One thing you need to know, the coffee is expensive! If your entire family is going to be using the machine, coffee will be expensive.

We had a Keurig, but Nespresso coffee is much better.  However, I am the  only one using it, one pod a day, so cost is not prohibitive.

As for where to purchase the pods.  You can buy directly from Nespresso, Amazon and I believe other high end kitchen shops, such as William Sonoma etc.  

If you buy a Nespresso, hope you enjoy the coffee as much as I do.  

[Caaareful Shopper]

@Pezzie   I appreciate your response so much!  I'm thinking of trading my Keurig for a Nespresso also.  You answered all my outstanding questions of the information I was already gathering.

Thank you again.

[Sooner]

@patticakes  We have owned them for more than 10 years now.   We have had a number of models and love them.  Only one NOT to buy is the Next model.  They are quite a problem.  I don't hear that about any other model.

The main consideration is do you want only espresso and small coffee size, or larger amounts of coffee and more variety?  If so, they go for the Vertuo size machines and capsules with more sizes and variety, and not the original line.

Frothers or steam frothing options on the coffee makers are fun if you enjoy cappuccinos or other drinks like that with milk or nut milks.  The steam pipes on the machines make a hotter little better product but are more work to keep clean.

Do you want to make coffee drinks or just coffee?  The frothers work quite well and are super easy to clean up.  Steam pipes a little more maintenance to keep clean.

We have had Pixie model for me, along with the Creatista (have that now), Latissimo (works great but milk won't stay fresh more than a day or two in the container), and these machines have worked great!  The Creatista is about 4 years old now.  I have had a lot of Williams-Sonoma coupons, points and hit sales over the years and upgraded, given old machines to friends.

We now have the Creatista and I bought my husband a Next a couple of years ago for larger coffee sizes.  He uses both of the machines as it turns out and makes a lot of the Lungo size original line capsules in my machine for a single cup of coffee.

Nespresso is great to deal with on customer service and shipping, fast, reliable and fresh products nicely packed.  Watch for free "stuff" like mugs, etc.  Low amount for free shipping too.  And they recycle free--UPS will pick up the packages.  And I love those small stainless spoons (three sizes) they sell, and got them when I needed more than coffee for an order.

Just stay far away from a Next machine and go with another model.  Their site is a good place to look, the U.S. version that is.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. 

[patticakes]

I think we're favoring thte Vertuo pluss deluxe with frother but I stil have some questions.  I'm getting mixed info regarding cup sizes.  Will any of the Vertuo machines make the 14 oz cup and also which pods do you use for this?  Also, some frothers say Aeroccino 3 and some do not.  Are they the same?  Thx for the info.

[Sooner]

1. @patticakes The Vertuo line is more for coffee drinkers, while the original line is geared toward espresso, cappuccino lovers, which is me.  My husband uses the lungo setting a lot on that machine for a smaller cup of coffee.

Right now they seem to have discontinued the 14 oz. settings, going with a larger 18 cup setting carafe size in the Vertuo.  The Vertuo makes more sizes and bigger cup sizes than the Original does.  The Vertuo makes 2 espresso sizes, then 5, 8 and 18 oz., while the Original machines and pods make ristretto and espesso, then only go up to the 5 oz. lungo. 

They had a lot of issues with the Next, and I have not heard of issues with any machines other than the Next.  We had one, had trouble and sent it back. The replacement has worked for a year,

The Aeroccino frothers basically work the same way, with cold froth, warm froth and warm milk.  I think it is looks, size and colors that are the difference.  We have several we got free with machines and they all work alike.  

There are other companies that make frothers, I have no experience with that.  I also don't know about the other milk type machines Nespresso makes. 

Hope all that help!