For example, the Nespresso Arpeggio costs $US5.70 for 10 espresso capsules, while the Folgers Black Silk blend for a K-Cup brewed-coffee machine is $US10.69 for 12 pods. But that Nespresso capsule contains 5 grams of coffee, so it costs about $US51 a pound. And the Folgers, with 8 grams per capsule, works out to more than $US50 a pound.
Not to mention the steep environmental costs that come along with chucking hundreds of millions of plastic capsules into the garbage.
There’s a much better way to use a Keurig, actually — the reuseable My K-Cup lets you brew your own coffee in Keurig machines, so at the very least you have fresher coffee that’s cheaper, and there’s nothing to throw away after every cup. [NYT]
Richard
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 6:19 PMIt also doesn’t look anywhere near as convenient, which really is what you are paying for with these machines. I don’t think anyone is under any illusion that there aren’t cheaper ways to go.
brad
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 6:51 PMi’ve been using a nespresso machine for a few years and i think the coffee tastes pretty damn good. yeah it’s a little expensive. but, that’s to be expected considering the convenience factor.
Liam
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 7:23 PMI’ve switched to a Nespresso the wife now makes coffee! The boss bought one at work and saved everyone a fortune buying a $4.50 coffee every morning from the corner coffee shop…..What does that work out a kilo of bean!!
Richard
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 11:03 PMWe got one at work recently. A few note worthy benefits
a) Staff no longer have to go downstairs and pay $3.80 each for a coffee. We’re a small office so most partook in that ritual, and at two coffees a day we’re all saving between $30 and $40 a week each.
b) The company is saving money (on paper anyway) because the trip downstairs could take well over 15mins if other people were in the cafe. Again, times that by several people.
c) The unit we got doesn’t require much in the way of cleaning. A small gain is that each coffee can be made quicker. The bigger benefit for us is our office doesn’t have a kichenette (we’re moving shortly to resolve this issue), meaning we don’t have the tools required to clean the machine frequently. The Nespresso machine allows us to get a staff member to take the milk container home once or twice a week to clean, the rest kind of takes care of itself.
d) Our old company had a manual machine. It took longer and we constantly had to deal with the slobs that would make a mess cleaning up.
Not to say the manual machines are bad. But for us and I imagine others there is some real benefits to something a bit more self contained. I imagine for our company, when the above is considered, that it’s actually proven to be a more cost effective solution.
Sarah
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 8:02 PMYou can produce excellent coffee from a $200 Sunbeam and a $100 Burr grinder, coupled with fresh beans and proper tamping technique. That said, we recently picked up an Aldi Nexpressi machine and it does turn out a decent and quick coffee. The number 8 pod, and a long pour with milk makes a satisfying brew when you can’t be bothered to grind beans and make a real coffee. For under $100 for a complete pod setup, they are certainly attractive and worth getting if you dont have the time for a manual machine and learning about different coffees.
Stealit
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 8:48 PMThere’s a reason why they say ground beans should be used within 3 weeks of grinding, regardless of how they’re stored.
I’m actually ditching my Latissima Nespresso machine after 2 years of use. Yeah it’s a great device but can’t really be compared to a well pressed coffee from my Aeropress. I think I’ll also purchase a decent Sunbeam machine and learn me some latte skills.
tsengan
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 8:57 PMWell, yes, it’s more expensive as a coffee against coffee comparison. But once you compare it to getting a good quality home machine (like a Gaggia), burr grinder, and ordering good coffee (ie not your standard off the shelf beans) etc then the price not only evens out, but starts to weigh in to Nespresso for cost convenience.
I’ve used an Aeropress (cheap, duh!), a Gaggia and now have a Nespresso.
The thing that tipped it to Nespresso in the end was also the recycling program that Nestle have in place. Bring all capsules back to them and they take them apart to recycle the capsules and the grounds.
dave
Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 1:53 AMnotice how nobody cares about the waste issue… people suck!
bryan
Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 6:51 AMYeah all the way down the post I was thinking exactly the same thing, does no one get it? The waste is horrendous.
Cameron
Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 8:53 AMIt’s no worse than getting a take away cup from your local coffee shop every morning.
Nads
Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 10:01 AMI use a Keep-Up.
codework
Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 12:40 PMTo be fair to the Nespresso machine at least, they are trying pretty hard to recycle and keep a low carbon footprint. they use aluminium for their capsules.
http://www.nespresso.com/ecolaboration/au/en/themes/9/0/capsules.html
Not that I use one… I am still grinding and making a mess on my bench :-)
Ben H
Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 10:00 AMAND YOU THOUGHT CAMERA NERDS WERE BAD!
chrisp
Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 6:50 PMYou reckon this is bad? This ain’t nuthin. Swing over to coffeegeek.com and check out some real nerd action.
Dave H
Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 1:12 PMWe actually refill our pods with our choice of ground coffee. Works out a lot cheaper and each pod can be re-use 3-4 times.
Dave H
Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 1:12 PMYoutube how to do it.
david
Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 2:24 PMI totally agree that fresh ground fresh brewed coffee is better than pods, but not sure it is really dramatically cheaper. I alternate between a sunbeam 6910 and an aeropress and when you are buying quality coffee you are still spending $0.50-$1 per cup compaired to the $0.37 for an aldi expressi pod.
soleil
Friday, February 10, 2012 at 3:57 PMI can’t wait to get an aldi expressi for our caravan … it only has to be marginally better than the terrible coffee available at the seaside newsagent/milkbar/grog shop to make me happy and it’ll be way cheaper per coffee after the first 25 or so.
Disco_box
Sunday, February 12, 2012 at 8:50 AMI just don’t like the flavour of “Nes” coffees, be they instant or capsule. There is just something about the flavour that puts me off. I also find that i sometimes get headaches from Nespresso short blacks over using my AeroPress.
I’m not a coffee nerd, I just like good coffee and I find AeroPress is the best way to do it on your own.
Hazboticus
Monday, February 13, 2012 at 2:17 PM+1 for Aeropress – got me one, never looked back.
dave
Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 11:38 AMhttp://www.coffeehabitat.com/2011/09/nespresso-capsule-recycling/