Nespresso Vertuo Next Coffee and Espresso Maker by Breville, Light Grey

A flavorful coffee maker
I have owned more coffee makers than I can probably name. I have (or have had) a french press, an electric percolator, a stove top percolator, moka pot, pour over, Senseo, tassimo. Keurig, mr coffee drip, HB Flex Brew, and many off brand variants of some of the previously mentioned.
I like coffee. I prefer darker and bold. But different roasts have their place. Some makers do better with some blends than others are able to do. Some of my methods are manual and others automatic. Lately, I tend more towards the automatic simply because of convenience and speed. No way I’m gonna stumble out of bed on a work day and mess with a moka pot. I want coffee and I want it immediately.
So, have owned all these I do have favorites among the one cup variety. The Senseo was my first and it changed how I felt about coffee. It really did make great coffee and the pods(?) started out reasonably priced but then became outrageously expensive (probably not by what we’ve come to accept today but back then a $1+ each was like paying $5 for gas). Honestly, the one I remember liking the best was the tassimo. Really, nice cup. Very finicky cleaning issues though. I put it up when discs became too expensive, but fortunately about about a year later our local Clearance Outlet had packages for $2 each! I was able to buy 30 or more and use it until it died.
I will say I like the Nespresso about as much. I already had the original line Nespresso. We bought the Plus version for my mother-in-law and I got to use it and liked it. I bought the Next because I thought it’s be easier to brew the 18oz and split it with my wife with less fuss. In hind sight I would have gone with the Plus. I like the motorized open and close and well the Carafe only has to choices. I tried on and don’t want to spend the money to try the other.
OTOH, I love all the sampler pack. Awsome sinlge and double espressos all the way up to the “coffee” size.
It does get expensive. To help with that I bought the silicone caps for refill. Our usual bean we buy and grind didn’t to so hot. I might have to go the final 2 clicks on the “fine” grind setting. But, Cafe Bustello is fabulous – almost a chocolate taste. I get plenty of crema. Actually, the Next makes so much crema we had to get bigger cups just to hold it. Your mileage will vary depending on your likes. I’ve only had it since Christmas so we haven’t been able to try different coffees and grinds yet. There isn’t much fuss with refilling your own pods. The most work is cutting off the old foil. I find those coffee scoops that open like tongs and have the funnel shaped top for pouring is exactly the right amount for a “coffee” size refill. Just pour it in and put the silicone cap on. No need to tamp or anything.
Hope you enjoy yours as much as I do mine.

This machine will break and the company knows that
Do not buy this machine!
I wish I could say I love this machine. When I initially got it I did, but unfortunately I can no longer say that.
I first purchased the machine last year in December. It ran fine, for three months. I called customer support and we ran test after test before they offered to replace the machine. Initially they wanted to send a refurbished machine, but with barely any protest they sent me a new one. I was so happy and grateful.
It’s been 8 months since I got the new machine and it is once again failing to run. It will randomly turn red when I try to brew espresso pods. Sometimes unplugging and plugging back in fixes it. Sometimes I have to call customer service to get it rebooted to factory setting in order for it to start working. Sometimes just giving it ten minutes between running shots gets it to work. Unfortunately customer service has no intention of sending me a replacement. As long as it does eventually work they won’t send a new one. I mean why would they? It does make the shot in the end. I’ve called customer service about this machine 5 times since it started malfunctioning a few weeks ago.
The worst part is I know this machine has had a lot of complaints. The reps on the phone have told me that it has a tendency to malfunction. That the machine can’t detect the water placed in it. So even if the app tells you it’s low on water, or empty when it’s not, it doesn’t actually know this. It only takes weight of the water container which would be great when it works.
Look, espresso machines are expensive, but I’m telling you this is an 8 month machine at best. We spent 220$ on this thing and that’s not counting the countless orders of coffee pods. Bite the bullet, spend the extra 100+ and get a machine that will last you years. This isn’t it.

Love the coffee this machine makes

I Like the system and the variety of flavours this Company offers.