Nescafe Dolce Gusto by Krups Piccolo Coffee Machine

I bought this coffee machine yesterday at Walmart after much research into Keurig, Tassimo and Senseo units.

My first impression is that it's compact and ideal for the counter top. It's much simpler than the others in that there aren't a great number of moving parts. It is basic, but I really didn't need another LCD clock! The on-off switch glows red when the machine is thinking and goes green when ready. After 5 minutes it shuts itself off. This auto-shut-off can be disabled if you so choose. The simplicity should mean it's more reliable. Time will tell!

It's quick to brew (20-30 secs?) and makes little noise/vibration and the coffee is nice and hot. Keurig seems to have a lot of quality issues mechanically and with brew strength/temp. if you read the reviews. With the DG you turn it on, it thinks for about 20-30 secs then it's ready to brew. The capsule drops into a plastic, but nicely solid and substantial holder that you slide out of the head of the machine after raising a lever that, when closed pierces the capsule and snugs it in place. You move another chunky lever to brew and stop brewing, choosing hot or cold with the lever direction, so you have direct control over the type, amount and strength of the brew.

I found the Caffee Americano way too strong for my liking at about the recommended 7 or so fl oz, so I continued to fill my cup with more to weaken it. The Chococino really tastes and feels like Hot Chocolate if you keep to the recommended water volume. It might take a while to get to know how you brew the drink to best suit your taste.

The price of the capsules is comparable to the competitors, though Nescafe hasn't the variety offered by Keurig give it time perhaps. Walmart has good stocks of the capsules. Nescafe also sends you a free box when you register and subsequent purchases earn reward points for more free capsules (1 free box for 10 bought). Their website is like a coffee lover's club with a forum, shop, quizzes, FAQ and product information.

The coffee and chocolate is very good in that it is strong, hot and the milk capsules that accompany such drinks are smooth and creamy and not at all artificial in terms of taste/texture. You do have to control the relative quantities of milk/coffee/chocolate yourself with each capsule, so you have to watch over the brew, but then you have total control to make it like you like

The reservoir is 21 fl oz and is very easy to remove and fill, if a little small. But then you can't have compact and water capacity!

The capsules make very little mess, though I note that when you remove the holder to throw away the capsule, there are a couple drips from the capsule to watch out for.

So far I like it and would recommend it if you want this type of coffee maker. It does make good coffee and chocolate quickly with no mess.

UPDATE: Dec 8 2010

So far so good. I have learned to control the strength of my Cappuccino Light by watching the color (hence strength) of the stream coming from the capsules and turning off the brew. It also helps using the same glass cup as I can also judge the volumes of the milk and coffee. I have eliminated the drips from the capsules when discarding; wait until the green light comes on, watch for the last couple drops to fall, then discard no drips and the capsule holder remains nice and clean.

Everything really does feel solid and well-built. Very happy so far.

UPDATE Dec 29 2010

Still happy with it. No problems at all. I didn't notice before but the capsule holder is magnetic in that when it is partially inserted, the magnet pulls it into position. This gives it a nice solid feel, which is my general opinion about this whole unit.

I use a large glass cup (so I can see how much milk Vs Coffee) that uses almost all the capacity of the water reservoir. I don't like strong coffee and fill the cup 3/4 full with the milk (that's why the Dolce Gusto is good; you choose how much water to flow through the capsules) and then I add the cappuccino. I still get a good flavor though as the capsules can make really strong coffee). This large cup requires the base to be set at the bottom, but is too tall for the next position up for the base. This leaves about a 2" gap under the capsule holder. When the unit starts up, it looks like the 15 bar pressure blows the seal in the bottom of the capsule. There is a slight delay, then you can hear the seal give way and the milk or coffee starts to flow. Occasionally, the stream from the capsule is not straight and columnar. It is twisted and rough. This looks to me like the seal is not completely opened by the pressure and part of the seal is disturbing the flow pattern. This is when I see some spatter of tiny milk droplets onto the coffee machine and onto the table; splashes from the liquid surface in my cup. No big deal, but just have to wipe it up with a damp cloth. With the right height of cup, this won't happen.

I have settled to drinking the Cappuccino Skinny. I like Cappuccino and the Skinny version is only 50 calories! I use this in my office, making 2-3 cups per day.

After weeks of researching the different single serve pod coffee makers we decided to buy the Nescafe Dolce Gusto Piccolo instead of the Kuerig or Tassimo. The main reason for this was the Dolce Gusto uses 15 bars of pressure to make your coffee and after tasting the products from the K-Cups and Tassimo, this one actually tasted better and was hotter. One other difference is that this little machine makes some noise, but FAR LESS noise than the small Keurig version. I love that we adjust each cup by adding more or using less water the fact that you have manually stop the water flow means the Dolce Gusto is not 100% automatic, but the tradeoff is you can make your espresso or cappucino stronger or weaker to your own taste. (Which is great as my husband likes strong coffee and I prefer more add in flavors in a weaker coffee)

Within 15 minutes of arriving home with the machine, I had unpacked it, run a first cleaning cycle through it and we were drinking an espresso and a cappucino (with an added squirt of plain old chocolate syrup). Both were very good, though you need to be serious about measuring just 2 ounces for the espresso or it will be weak indeed. The milk steamed and frothed nicely for the cappucino and it was seriously hot. So the machine is both fast and very easy to use. I found a variety of the drink flavors at the local W-mart and of course online at the Nescafe site and Amazon. (They all seem to be priced within pennies of each other.) One thing the was no funky aftertaste or flavor of fake sweeteners with the Latte Machiatto. The use of artificial sweeteners is what turned me off of the Tassimo products.

Purchase and enjoy!

***************UPDATE May 11, 2011**************************************************

We've been using the Piccolo every day at least six times a day. Still loving it and we've now settled into a steady favorite selection of the available coffees. The first thing I want when I get up in the morning is a Vanilla Latte! One thing I have noted is that you NEED to descale it after the first 90 days. HUGE difference in performance after we descaled it the first time. We just use tap water in the machine and nothing else like special bottled water etc. I got the descale kit for free from Dolce Gusto direct using their reward point system. I would totally buy the Dolce Gusto Piccolo again!

Buy Nescafe Dolce Gusto by Krups Piccolo Coffee Machine Now

Have to admit, this is a pretty good machine.. Does a great job of producing an instant cup of your choice.

The Dolce heats up quickly and produces on demand.

There are many other options out there but the price for the unit itself was very affordable compared to others currently on the market.

The only negative is the price of the coffee/drink packets. I am being very conservative on my use of the Dolce because of the products themselves. (the reason to buy one is in effect to save money and enjoy your favorite cup of joe anytime) If I am going to pay top dollar I am going to get the real thing not an instant substitute.

So in short, the unit itself is great, no complaints.

But would like to see a more affordable product to be used in the Dolce.

Read Best Reviews of Nescafe Dolce Gusto by Krups Piccolo Coffee Machine Here

I had been researching the Tassimo T20 machine for sometime and had assumed it was popular when Amazon and every Target store in the greater Nashville area had sold out of it. I finally found one at a local wal-mart and went to purchase it when I saw this machine. The design initially stuck me and the fact that it makes the wide range of drinks like Tassimo. While the selection of flavors seemed to be limited, I was drawn in by the brand name. Coming from France, I know the Nespresso/NesCafe name to mean quality. So far, that is what this has delivered. I have been continually impressed by the drinks. The reward program through the company's website also makes the drinks quite affordable!

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Mine just came today and I made my 1st drink cappuccino and it was so good! After reading in some of the reviews that it was hard to determine how much water to use or the drink would be too weak, I just watched the color of the liquid and estimated based on how full my cup was. I turned it off when the liquid just started to turn lighter/clearer, and when it seemed like my mug had filled up the number of ounces it recommended. It was perfect! I added a little bit of flavored syrup since I prefer my drinks a little sweeter. The temperature was perfect as well...just barely too hot to drink when it finished brewing, but by the time I sat down with a slice of banana bread, it was cool enough to drink while still nice and hot. It also stayed hot until I finished it, unlike when I make hot drinks in the microwave.

I signed up for the "subscribe and save" deal through Amazon to get capsules delivered. I started out with a box of mocha every 2 months, but I'm sure I'll buy more than that.

I'm not a big coffee drinker, and this is really my 1st coffee maker, besides a Mr. Coffee that was only used once (when my mom was visiting) and eventually given away. I see myself using this at least once a day if not more.

The only negative so far is that it took me a while to get it ready to go. I ran plain water through it as the directions suggested before its first use. It really only took a couple of minutes from the time I took it out of the box to the time my drink was brewing, so I guess I'm just impatient. It really does heat up quickly (about 30sec) and took about 30sec to brew my drink. It was slightly louder than I thought it would be, but about as noisy as a regular coffee maker, maybe quieter. I don't see it waking my husband up if I make a cup while he's still asleep.