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Coffee Pods

(66 Posts)
gulligranny Tue 06-Sep-16 11:22:12

DH and I keep being offered drinks made with coffee pods from an expensive machine, but actually we don't like them. We usually settle for tea, and then make coffee our normal way at home; in a cafetiere, strong, poured half and half with hot (not steamed) milk.

The Pod coffee never seems to be hot even with steamed milk, even the "strong" varieties have little flavour - anyone out there use & like them?

Granarchist Thu 08-Sep-16 08:50:55

I'm a Nespresso user and use hot milk or pop the mug in mwave for 10 secs after adding cold milk. Otherwise it is too cold - my dd always heats her mug first. Aldi does a seriously good instant though.

hicaz46 Thu 08-Sep-16 08:43:14

Love our coffe pod machine. I like a decaf latte or cappuccino partner likes a strong espresso so it suits us both. Also use good old instant at times through the day.

gma Wed 07-Sep-16 22:43:36

I have a nespresso machine and I love it! I am not a Great tea drinker, perhaps one cup a day in the afternoon. Nespresso first thing in the morning, strong instant mid morning, perhaps tea in afternoon and nespresso after meal in evening and water when ever I want a cold drink! I recycle the pods via a free envelope! I have a cafetière for use when there are several of us, but give me pods every time ...love them!

GrammaH Wed 07-Sep-16 21:41:14

Or even cafetieres!

GrammaH Wed 07-Sep-16 21:40:35

I've had a Nespresso for 3 years after encountering one in a hotel. I just love it! No problems with temperature, I have a milk frother if I fancy cappuccino & pods are recycled . I drink decaf, there's a good choice . DS has a Dolce Gusto, don't like the reconstituted milk in it. Can't stand instant & categories take too long.

Welshwife Wed 07-Sep-16 20:08:26

I understand that here in France they recycle the 'mush' in the pods for fertiliser and the plastic pots go for recycling too.

hopeful1 Wed 07-Sep-16 19:51:53

We love our pods for a treat on Sunday and one mid week, they are quite expensive. NOT that my daughter and SIL took that into account on their last week stay. They drank the lot, didn't even ask!,

Seasidenana Wed 07-Sep-16 18:32:53

I have two Dolce Gusto machines one in the kitchen and one in the bedroom. I have mobility problems and it's hard to get moving in the morning so I really value my coffee upstairs in bed before I start my day. I love this coffee and never drink anything else at home now. I understand people's comments about the environment, but I think this is a small problem compared to the waste many people send to landfill. I send very little since most of my rubbish is recycled in one form or another. My two cups of coffee a day keep me going and are not blocking drains with coffee grounds either !

marionk Wed 07-Sep-16 18:25:18

We have a cafetière cosy for ours, in fact we have 2' 1 is like a tea cosy but taller and slimmer, the other wraps round the glass bit. We also have a pod machine and put our empties in the recycling bin

NanaMacGeek Wed 07-Sep-16 18:20:20

We use a stove top Moka pot which makes good, hot espresso coffee. It's very quick as you only use a small quantity of freshly boiled water in the base of the pot so, on the gas hob, it takes a minute to start bubbling away and not long after that it goes quiet and you know the coffee is ready. We have experimented with lots of different roasted beans and invested in a proper burr grinder (not really all that expensive) so can change the grind should we wish to use a cafetiere or filter papers. Mr MacG and I make our morning coffee a ritual (that's all the coffee we have - just once a day) and take time to enjoy it while we make our plans, shopping list etc.! Perhaps a little more fiddly than a pod machine but the coffee grounds go on the garden and the Moka pot gets washed up.

HurdyGurdy Wed 07-Sep-16 18:02:21

First post on Gransnet, but a long time lurker

We had a nespresso machine and got rid of it. It never made hot coffee. BUT, on Ebay I bought some reusable pods, so that we could use our own ground coffee in the machine, rather than keep using the pods. So we then had tasty, but cool, coffee - bleargh.

We now have a Tassimo (competition prize) which is fab. Hot coffee and a lovely range of coffee types. I haven't found any resusable pods yet though, but I keep looking.

Envious Wed 07-Sep-16 17:58:45

Had a pod coffee maker for a long time. Gets exspensive. Used a drip for a while. Found a instant coffee I'm enjoying very much. it's from Israel and very fine in texture it's called Elite Instant.I found it on clearance at a local store but it can be found on Amazon. Loved my moms coffee growing up she used a stove top percolator. Very strong and flavorful.

gagsy Wed 07-Sep-16 17:25:59

You do have t pour boiling water in the cup first to heat it. Otherwise the coffee is lukewarm at best!

karenghanley Wed 07-Sep-16 16:51:08

Coffee pods are awful for the environment, all end up in landfill.
Better to stick to the old methods!
I use filter funnel, 2 thermos flasks, filter paper (unbleached) coffee and water!!

moobox Wed 07-Sep-16 16:25:51

I like the coffee from a Nespresso machine, either their pods or compatibles. I use it for espresso and latte normally. I am not so keen on Massimo, de Gusto etc.

J52 Wed 07-Sep-16 16:18:07

After years of trying various methods we have reverted back to making filtered coffee straight into an insulated jug, which keeps it hot throughout breakfast. We then make fresh throughout the day, when required. The best taste In our opinion.

The grounds can be used to fertilise roses, seems to work.

lizzypopbottle Wed 07-Sep-16 16:09:58

I have a soft 'spoontula' that's brilliant for getting the grounds out of my cafetieres. If you make sure all the liquid has drained, the grounds are really easy to remove. I put them in the bin.

sarahellenwhitney Wed 07-Sep-16 14:41:26

Never having used one of these machines, but would like to, I have oftened wondered if the user has the choice of temperature for the milk.I do prefer asbestos mouth hot drinks.

Wobblybits Wed 07-Sep-16 14:09:22

Spot on Pamish. I fill our filter coffee maker first thing, 10 minutes later we have a ten cup jug ready for breakfast, the grounds go on the compost heap. It doesn't take up any more room than a pod system.

SwimHome Wed 07-Sep-16 14:04:38

What's wrong with a cafetière? Everything if you work in a small office and have less than a square foot to make coffee, a minute toilet wash-basin to wash up in, and nowhere to throw the grounds. A DeLonghi machine and paper cups solves it all, and very nicely too.

Pamish Wed 07-Sep-16 13:56:50

Can't believe all these defenders of 'throw-away' pods, of course they don't get thrown anywhere than into landfill where they last for 1000s of years. They can't be separated out, it's things made of mixed materials like these that create our problems with rubbish. Presumably over time there will be a dawning of awareness so (a) people stop buying such things and (b) they don't get made any more.

You can buy expresso machines that don't use pods, you fill the container yourself with your own choice of beans at 1/100th the price. Clever marketing has made the pods OK for now but it won't last.

Do you know that used coffee grounds are snail/slug deterrent? I collect bagsfull from my local coffee shop to mulch round special plants, then dig them in as compost. Can't do that with these pod abominations.

lizzypopbottle Wed 07-Sep-16 13:19:21

I love my cafetiere coffee. 10.30am my body starts prompting me to get the kettle on. ??I have large and small sized cafetieres and each has a neoprene cosy to keep it warm while the coffee is steeping.

nancyma Wed 07-Sep-16 12:56:19

I use plastic reusable pods from Amazon. You can use any ground coffee you want to fill them, easy to do and less expensive. Each pod can be used between 30--50 times before needing to be replaced.

miep Wed 07-Sep-16 12:40:38

It's a Dolce Gusto machine, which I chose because the price was good and as both of us drink black coffee, we didn't need the 101 options that Nespresso offers, flavour wise. We pick the coffee to suit the time of day or our moods - I might have a really strong coffee to wake me up in the morning, whereas F likes a slightly weaker blend in the afternoon (with a shot of brandy if it has been a very hard day!). It takes about 1/2 a minute to make a cup, I can add cold water to mine right from the machine and the decaff version is good too. What's not to love? I'm off to make a cup now...

Lupatria Wed 07-Sep-16 12:38:25

i love my tassimo and, thank goodness, asda are now selling the pods. if you buy from tassimo themselves there's a minimum order and they won't accept anything other than that. i think thge minimum is £30 and, living on my own, that amount of pods would probably go off before i finish them!
however i've also bought the pods of tea although i don't drink tea and nobody in the family does either. but i did buy some fruit tea and green tea both of which i'll drink now and again.
i don't like the costa coffee pods so buy the tassimo ones - so much better.
my daughter however won't drink anything but instant coffee - and extremely weak at that! can't have brought her up right!!