To the OP: You'd be better off weening yourself off Nespresso.
Aside from the fact that it's non fair trade coffee & the needless waste created by zillions of empty capsules, there are numerous accusations that they also use flavour enhancers.
My old school expresso machine that requires me to fill a holder takes approximately 5-10 seconds longer than a Nespresso. If the mess & fiddling really bother you, then just invest in a machine with an automatic grinder - sure, the initial investment is more, but with Nespresso coffee working out at around 100 chf per kilo (5-6g per capsule), you'll even out pretty quickly.
Drinking one now.....Italian espresso variety. They are cheaper and taste it. Not a terrible taste but for my liking not as strong as the original nespresso capsules. I use them in times of emergency when I need my daily coffee fix but have either forgotten to order or can't get to Zurich.
That is ultimately the problem with nespresso capsules, not widely available but taste amazing grrrr
Been using grind&brew machines for a while now, one (newest) a deLonghi, bought from InterDiscount for a bargain chf500m, the other a Satrap (Coop own brand) which cost us about the same a few years back, and which is mechanically identical to the deLonghi. Both been brilliant, and by your calculations, buying chicco d'oro at around chf12/kg, we've made our money back many times over.
We also had a Rowenta one, which I liked a lot, but the steam/brewing mechanism isn't removable or cleanable, unlike the others, and eventually gave up the ghost and would have cost >chf400 to repair, so was replaced instead.
Anyway, the key point for me is the choice of coffee beans available. Even with the range of Nespresso flavours you're still stuck with their choices, whereas I can get any bean I like. And these machines also allow ground coffee to be used (while the beans are still there) so other types including decaf are easily acheivable.
What "accusations"? Of course they do. Most beverages contain artificial or "natural identical" flavours - there is no legal need to declare ingredients on some beverages, so your tea, your coffee, your beer, your wine, your cognac and your whisky contain flavours that come from a lab. You don't really believe that the "sherry cask" notes in your Scotch or the "chocolate and coffee" notes in your red wine come from the grape or the grain, do you?
Damned US keyboard. Even after using them exclusively for over a decade I still make the same typos over and over And yes, I know the keys are in the same place, but there's something about the offset from the different enter and shift keys that always gets me with those bottom-right keys. Even more common is ; instead of '.
Likewise - I was waiting at the door of Niederlenz Aldi at 08.00 (just coincidence due to bus times - not desperation honest).
Also bought the Martello Verona, as the compact original (49 CHF) ones were not available. 20 CHF more (69) than the Cascolino, but I was more interested in the cheap coffee than the machine price.
When I got home with the machine, coffee and de-calc tablets, I realized that the box had been sellotaped up. Upon opening, there were lots of water droplets over the machine, plus 6 small sellotape strips which started to worry me.
The instructions were not in English, but there was a pre use installation routine which had to be followed - presumably to clean the pipes.
It was very difficult to close the "door" with the green reusable capsule, but after a couple of tries it went in and I followed the procedures.
Tried with the real capsule and the coffee was great - although I am by no means a coffee connoisseur. So, my worries were unfounded! It was not a reject! It was probably just used by the staff this morning and it does what I wanted at 25 rappen a cup.
Got some cheap cream capsules as well and 5 different coffees and up to now have paid 102 CHF for 100 potential cups of coffee. 2-300 francs "saved" at the restaurant prices when I have drunk them.
Only issue I have, is that I expected more coffee to come out in my cup - I was looking more for Cafe Creme than espresso I suppose. Anyway, I pressed the button twice and got 2 large measures which is much better for dunking my Gipfieli or digestive.
I know I am a northern philistine, but that's the way I drink coffee and tea.
May I offer a suggestion, should anyone be without their coffee machine and dying for a good cup of coffee?
Learned this from an old Polish guy being temporarily housed on a building site - he offered us coffee ...... boiling the water on a little fire he poured it over two heaped teaspoons of ground coffee and sugar, in tall Coke glasses, let it settle for a few seconds, then topped with milk. The coffee grounds sank to the bottom, and the coffee was delicious and free of grits!
Since then, being stuck in holiday accommodation without any means of making our morning coffees, we reverted to this ...... and have named it our "Ferien Kafee".
No mess, no machines, no upkeep, no maintenance! And all you need is the ground coffee, hot water, tall glass (&milk&sugar). If you dont take milk then a small dose of cold water settles the grounds.