You are thinking about getting a Nespresso machine like everyone does. Before you click on the order button, make sure you know all the pros and cons of Nespresso machine and the alternative to Nespresso machine.
1. Nespresso pods are much more expensive than bulk coffee beans
In average, each Nespresso pod costs about 1 dollar. Some specialties cost 3 dollars. If you want espresso at home, there is still another option called Bialetti Brikka. You can simply get a bag of coffee beans, ground it and brew on the stove with Bialetti Brikka. Remember, once you get the Nespresso machine, even though it only costs 100 dollars at the beginning, you need to keep buying the Nespresso pods unless you shift to reusable pods. However, refilling a reusable pod can take as much time and effort as refilling a Brikka.
Making coffee by Brikka costs about only 10% of the expense of buying Nespresso pods. It's the price of convenience.
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| This is a Bialetti Brikka. Brew your espresso at home without clutter, working as well as a Nespresso Machine. |
2. Nespresso pods are recyclable only if you send them back to Nespresso
Nespresso pods are made of aluminum. It takes huge amount of energy to produce aluminum and increases the carbon footprint of each cup of coffee. Of course you can recycle the used pods with a Nespresso Recycling bag, but most people don't take time doing so. According to Nespresso, only 30% of the coffee pods are recycled.
Nespresso makes recycle easy but not painless. The Nespresso Recycling Bag is nearly free but to fill it could take few months depending on your consumption of Nespresso pods. Pods usually got rotten in the bag so we hate to open that bag. We know discarding the compostable coffee ground makes more sense than mailing it. There are various coffee pod recycling tools you can pick, like CafeMasy and PodCut. These pod openers can remove coffee ground from pods in a breeze and make a Nespresso Recycling bag 3 times efficient.
There are many other brands of coffee pods which also work for Nespresso original machines. These manufacturers don’t even take back their pods. As long as the pods are aluminum, you can probably smuggle these pods into the Nespresso recycling bag and use the recycle network of Nespresso. I bet the facilities don’t check.
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| PodCut is the simplest coffee pod recycling tool which makes a Nespresso Recycling bag 3 time more efficient. Better to disposing the the compostable coffee ground as the organic waste. |
If you use PodCut or other pod recycling tool to remove coffee from pods, you still need to send the empty pods back to Nespresso because coffee pods are usually not accepted to the curbside recycling bins. Coffee pods are so small that they could fall into the conveyor in the recycling center, jamming and shutting down the machine.
3 Coffee pods still have an expiration date and it's sooner than you think
Grounded coffee is canned in an aluminum pod. You probably imagine that they won’t expire so soon and they should have a long shelf life, but you are wrong. Coffee pods only have an 12-month shelf life. If you are already addicted to daily espresso, every batch you shopped, you need to finish it soon and get another batch. If coffee pods only have 12-month shelf life, what this aluminum capsuling is all about?
4. Nespresso Machine could be a clutter attractor
A Nespresso machine takes up spaces on your countertop. Even though there are small-size models like Essenza and Pixie to choose from. Yet, if you use Bialetti Brikka, it doesn’t take any space on your countertop. You can easily put a Brikka away or hide it in your cupboard. Brikka is portable, so you can bring it camping. Obviously, Bialetti Brikka is more flexible than a Nespresso Machine.
After you get a nice Nespresso machine and some cute Nespresso pods, to avoid the potential clutter of your countertop, you will shop an coffee pod organizer and then the recycle bins for used pods, finally you build a Nespresso station. Bang!! Along with the organizer, Nespresso machines, coffee pods and recycle bins, you have more clutter! Who knows how long the fun and fad will last? Nespresso accessories are specifically designed for Nespresso pods. They are useless when you don't use that machine anymore.
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| First just a Nespresso Machine and a few pods on countertop, then a pod organizer and recycling bin. Finally you got a "Nespresso station". If you are seeking declutter of kitchen, be aware of that the Nespresso machine can cause more clutter. |
5 Nespresso makes a coffee quick and easy, but is it the only thing we want?
Brewing with a Nespresso pod is quick. You can have a cup of espresso in less than a minute with just one hit of a button. Impressive. However, there are still people who love to craft a cup of coffee slowly with their hands. For example, hand drip and siphon. Those people take the experience of making a coffee as part of tasting the coffee. Smelling the aroma while you are crafting it, watching the dripping and waiting for the final all make the coffee more enjoyable and we feel the gratitude for people and land who bring us this coffee.
Picking a color, hitting a Button, having a coffee and dealing with a pile of used pods are all we got with a Nespresso machine. It goes perfectly with an efficient and hectic lifestyle but taking some time doing a chore can slow down your pace so we can live our life. Do you really need to be efficient at everything you do? If a coffee is enjoyable, why not take more time with it?
6. You must descale the machine, but the machine doesn't tell you when
A machine requires descaling every 3 months in order to remove the mineral residues of water attached to the machine. Nespresso has its own descaling kit which costs only 13 USD, still cheaper than other brands like Delonghi. There are many other descaling products to choose from, too. Using a Nespresso descaling kit seems easy, taking about 15 minutes. Yet, the most difficult part is we need to remember when we have done it. Even though you forget to do it, you won’t see any instant consequence. Unfortunately, there is no indication, warning or reminder on the Nespresso machine telling us that when we need to descaling it.
| Bialetti Brikka | Nespresso | |
|---|---|---|
| Pros | Inexpensive | Quick and Easy |
| Portable (ex. camping) |
Making coffee elegantly |
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| Generate less wastes |
The coffee tastes better |
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| Cons | Need to be hand-washed |
Expensive |
| The O-ring needs to be replaced yearly |
Generate unnecessary wastes |
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| The coffee tastes alright | Requires maintenance often (ex. descaling / 3 months) |
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