I am not going into detail about Nespresso, assuming you are already familiar with the company and its products. We have a Vertuoline machine. The machine was not expensive but the pods are very expensive. We ultimately stopped using it because the quality of the coffee was not worth the cost.
Nespresso espresso pods are $.85 and their coffee pods are $1.25. Our favorite Keurig coffee pods costs $.47. Making Chemex coffee with freshly roasted high quality beans costs $1.09 per cup, including the paper filter.
We like Americano coffee, and order it when we go to coffee shops. But I don’t have an espresso machine at home but wanted to make Americanos anyway. Since the Nespresso machine makes a pod version of espresso I tried to find a more cost effective way. Buying pods from Nespresso would cost $.85 x 2 = $1.70 to make a half mug Americano, which is too expensive. I’d need 2 espresso pods + 90 grams of hot water.
Amazon sells foil systems, that replace the foil top of the Nespresso capsules. I bought one from a company called Nessus. It came with 100 foils, a little brush and a two-part plastic device that holds the pod, positions the foil, tamps the coffee and seals the foil onto the pod.
The foils alone cost $.11 each. Each espresso pods hold 7.5 grams of espresso ground coffee. Using Illy pre-ground espresso coffee the cost to make our double-shot Americano is $.22 for the foil and $.66 for the coffee, or $.88. Half the cost of Nespresso’s pods.
Since Vertuo pods are still subject to Nespresso’s patent, empty pods are not available. You’ll need some actual Vertuo pods to begin:
- Cut the foil from a Nespresso espresso pod with a sharp knife and empty the contents. Use the knife carefully to remove as much of the foil as possible from the outer edges of the pod, making sure not to puncture or damage the pod in any way. If you dimple the thin aluminum pod shell it’s easy to smooth it out again with your finger.
- Wash and dry the pod thoroughly
- Place the empty pod in the plastic holder and fill with coffee. I use pre-ground espresso coffee from Illy, which is finer than the coffee that originally came in the pod. You can always grind your own coffee as well.
- Tamp down the coffee gently. The pod should be filled to just below the rim.
- Peel part of the foil as directed and place the peeled edge on the pod up against the raised lip of the plastic holder. Peel the rest and gently place the foil over the pod.
- Press down with the top portion of the plastic device to seal the pod.
- Brew the home-made pod in the normal manner.
Our favorite Americano recipe is 2 espresso pods plus 90 grams of 205 degree water. If you want more at one time, use 3 pods with 120 grams of water.
Doing all this takes about as much time as making pour-over coffee (4 to 5 minutes) once you get the hang of it. In our opinion, the Illy home-made espresso tastes better than the Nespresso espresso pods.
The home-made pods don’t produce extra mess inside the machine. But some of the coffee exits the pod and clings to the top of the foil during the Nespresso’s spin cycle.
The pods are reusable, so one pod can last a long time. We’ve used the same 4 empty pods about 10 times each and they do not appear to be wearing out.
vegchili 