Dolce Gusto coffee machines

Dolce gusto coffee machines

Dolce gusto coffee machines have been around for 4 years now offering a variety of both fashionable machines and drinks. I’ve owned 2 Dolce Gusto machines in the past 2 years and also bought a 3^rd as a gift so it won’t come as a surprise to you that if you are considering purchasing one of these machines I would strongly suggest it.  Here I will try to give you the comparison of these machines with other coffee machines in general and between the 2 models I have personally tried. I will also give you a brief description of the coffees and drinks offered I’ve tried from the range offered from Dolce Gusto.

Comparison with the alternatives

There are many coffee machines in the market the point is finding the one that is right for you. For me I would separate the machines based on the coffee they use capsules (pots) or bins (I am only comparing coffee machines which can be used to create a variety of coffees). Many people would rightly claim that a good bins machine cannot be surpassed by capsules even if that is a Dolce Gusto or a Nespresso coffee machine. I appreciate their opinion but from experience from both the Nespresso and the Dolce Gusto machines I can say that is not the case.

The pots system for me is a guarantee of a quality coffee every time and is not in any way inferior to a coffee machine that grinds bins on the go. In my opinion there is only one difference between capsules coffees and bins coffees and that is the frothel (milk with foam) not the coffee. The frothel in bins machines and in Nespresso is prepared using fresh milk on that instant where on the other hand for the Dolce Gusto that is also a capsule which has powdered milk. As you can imagine there is a difference between fresh milk and powdered milk however that is a difference in taste between people rather than quality.

The milk capsule used by Dolce Gusto machines also offers another main benefit, convenience. The part that takes the longest preparing in other coffee machines (including Nespresso) if you want a cup of cappuccino is the frothel. You need to prepare the frothel and you also need to clean the machine afterwards, where for the Dolce Gusto it is one capsule coffee one frothel and you have your coffee ready in seconds.

By using capsules Dolce Gusto machines offer a range of 20 different drinks that can be prepared using one machine!

Krups Dolce Gusto KP210040 (the machine shown in three colors)

This was my first Dolce Gusto machine and I instantly fell in love with it. Amazingly good looking easy to set up this machine will not disappoint you. One minor detail when I was thinking of replacing this machine it was advertised as having 14 bar pressure and the Circolo was advertise as 15bar pressure. I observed a small difference in taste between the drinks offered by the two machines however when I was checking the specifications to write the review both machines claim to have the same pressure now.

Dolce Gusto Circolo (the circular machine)

I got this as a gift last year and although I didn’t expect it to be better at anything other than looks than my older Krups KP210040 Dolce Gusto machine I observed a slight improvement in taste. This machine looks astonishing and the light illuminating the glass while your drink is being prepared makes it something that you will love to show off to your guests.

Coffees and drinks range

Cappuccino: The cappuccino prepared by this machine has nothing to be jelous from cappuccinos prepared by many coffee shops.

Latte Macchiato: I personally like the taste but if you would prefer the milk to be fresh here is where the difference is going to be the most obvious

Iced cappuccino: Simply brilliant on a hot day I really liked it. And as my flatmate also found out you can also make it as a hot drink and it tastes like a sweeter cappuccino.

Espresso, Espresso Ristretto and Espresso Intenso:  A decent variety of espresso drinks. Although Dolce Gusto  doesn’t offer a huge variety of espresso drinks the 3 it does offer taste really nice with obvious differences between the three. My personal favourite is Ristretto.

 Mocha: This is the biggest hit with most of my guests at home the Mocha coffee of this machine is amazing.

Lungo: A thick strong coffee with strong taste

Americano: Not too many things to say about the Americano it is a simple coffee wherever you get it from so the quality is pretty much the same here

Classico: Not sure what the difference is between this coffee and Americano (they don’t offer classic anymore on their official website so I think it is the same coffee and they changed the name)

Chococino: A nice hot chocolate you will definitely enjoy

Nestea peach: An iced tea peach. I liked the taste probably tasted better than the ones in the cans not a huge ice tea peach fan so not many things to say about this.