Nespresso Or The George Clooney Coffee Machine

They call it the George Clooney coffee machine because of the many commercials the actor has done over the years for the Nestle Group's Nespresso company. Odd given that the Switzerland-based Nespresso has had some controversy behind its early non-recyclable aluminum capsules and Clooney is known for his reputation for stout political correctness. Yet the two have become synonymous with one another and Nespresso has since developed a sustainable capsule to quell decries from the consumer coffee market.

Nespresso Espresso Machines

While both the espresso machines and capsules are expensive, they do produce a really good single serving coffee experience. To get an idea of prices, the cheapest model coffee maker is the Essenza C91 Just Black at $149.00; the most expensive at $799.00 is the Delonghi Lattissima Premium. These prices are quoted directly from the Nespresso Club USA site. You can find most of their machines on Amazon but I'm guessing the prices are cheaper when purchased from the site as the pods, about the size of coffee creamers, seem to be (see below).

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How Much Are Nespresso Capsules

The 16 coffees run in boldness, indicated on the containers, on a scale of 1 through 10, ten being the boldest.

One benefit of ordering from the website is you are offered the introductory Nespresso welcome offer: a pack of 200 mixed capsules of the currently 16 Grand Cru flavors along with the Nespresso Discovery Box to hold them. The welcome pack will help you discover which coffees will satisfy you most; otherwise when you place your Nespresso order capsules run from $.57 to $.64 per capsule. I've found that on Amazon prices run substantially higher at around $1.06/capsule for the 50 capsule minimum.

Buy Nespresso Capsules Here

If you'd like to make your own, here is a good guide on how to do it:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Reuse-your-nespresso-capsules-simple-and-easy-and-/

I like this guide as it allows me to make my own Nespresso hot chocolate since they haven't developed a hot chocolate capsule yet.

Where To Buy Nespresso Capsules

Online: Amazon, as I've mentioned, Nespresso website.
Retail Stores: William and Sonoma, Sur La Table or try using the store locator (US only) to find a retailer in your area.

What Is The Nespresso Descaling Kit

Obviously after so many uses of your machine you are going to want to clean it to clear out clogs and impurities. This is called descaling and Nespresso has its own descaling kits that can be used on their machines; there is a kit for the classic range and one for the concept range.

Descaling usually involves running a water/vinegar mixture through your machine to clean out hard water deposits and other scale build up. The Nespresso kit includes 2 packets of cleaning product for the capsule loader, 2 packets of descaling solution, a tube of lubricant and a tap and spring. Instructions are also provided.

I haven't had to descale my machine yet but it is recommended to do so every 6 months. But I empty the drip tray every time. My manual also suggested I run a rinse cycle before and after each use to help slow scaling. Another thing I noticed was Nespresso uses a citrus-based solution as opposed to vinegar, so if you want to avoid the purchase cost of a descaling kit ($13) you can probably get away with making your own solution.

Here are some basic instructions on how to descale your Nespresso machine.

Here are the George Clooney Coffee Machine, er I mean Nespresso Coffee Machine commercials:

and the most current with John Malkovich:

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