Am looking to purchase a coffee machine that uses capsules (yes, I know, I am finally giving in). I am aware of the pros and cons of capsules vs beans and don't want to get into that debate..but I do need some advice.
I have narrowed the search to either the Tassimo machines or the Dolce Gusto (Nescafe). It is a gift for my hubby, who likes coffee, but (of course) I would be using it to, and I prefer hot chocolates or teas.
Want something that takes as little cleaning or bench space as possible.
Can someone please tell me if one of these machines is better than the other? Whether there is a huge difference in price and availability of capsules etc? Any other possible pitfalls?
Only can talk about the one I use ie Tassimo. Does good coffees, and a great Latte Machiato , as well as Milka chocolate. Can get products from different countries via the website.
I had a Tassimo which did not give very good service - imho, they are not made to last! I now have a Dolce Gusto, with which I am very satisfied. The DG takes up less space and makes very good coffee; capsules available in Co-op. Placette, etc.
we had 2 Dolce Gusto machines, thought they were great but they kept breaking and refused to buy a third so got the Tassimo instead and it is MUCH better, more choice, great that you dont have to stand and wait and switch it off when your cup is full, the tassimo has a bar code reader and deposits the right amount of water per drink/capsule - I'd recommend Tassimo
I'm a fan of the machines that use pods and ground coffee as well, handy when you run out of pods. The pods have a few different companies that make them such as illy/Amici, Chicco Doro and Maestro Lorenzo so you aren't stuck to one brand. They are less messy and the coffee portion is always the same.
Turmix machines use these pods and I have a coupon for one for 129 sfr incl. coffee if you want it. Francis Francis and Magimix machines also use these pods and many do pods and ground coffee.
I think I will go with the Tassimo as the choice of beverages seems great, and I like the fact that it is completely automated.....now just got to decide between the models! Doesn't seem to really be any differences except for the tank size and of course the price!
I've got a Dolce Gusto which is fine. However, the OH doesn't drink coffee and the range of none-coffee drinks is limited. I haven't tried a Tassimo coffee, but the tea selection looks better.
I know it's three years since you posted this thread, but (assuming you are still in Switzerland, a member of the forum etc) ...
I am thinking about buying a Tassimo machine as (a) they are small (b) they are cheap (c) they have good reviews on Amazon (d) they do hot chocolate as well as coffee, and (e) they sell the pods in Coop.
We have one and like it. We are tea drinkers but use it when we have guests. I am horrible at making coffee since I don't usually drink it, and with this I can't go wrong I don't think we would have bought it if we drank coffee every day, but for occasional use it is great and the price was right. Their chai is nice, the regular tea is horrible. Capuccino and cafe macchiato are nice, too. Was not impressed with the hot chocolate.
I have tassimo, only use it occasionally for varieties of coffee (latte macchiato, cappuccino) or if I want a quick and hassle-free coffee or espresso. As for regular use at home, I stick with my french press
You can get about 3 different hot chocolates from the machine (Milka, Suchard, and Cadbury) which is great, plus they have some decent coffee and I like there Chai Latte (I agree with Swisscanmom, there regular tea is pretty gross, but who needs a machine to make regular tea).
Now that you can buy generic capsules to fit into the Nespresso / Dulce Gusto machines, you have a lot more variety, and the machines can be picked up pretty cheap (Denner recently had a deal where the machine was essentially free if you bought a box of capsules), so this is probably also a decent option now compared to 3 years ago.
We really liked the tassimo for the choice of non coffee drinks. But we got a bit fed up with the price, often more than 1chf per drink. Ok it's not a lot per drink but over time it's a lot. And the capsules take up a lot of space, you can easily fill a cupboard!
We ended up getting nespresso so that we can use the own brand capsules, some of which are really quite good and we're not coffee snobs.
But purely for choice of non-coffee-only drinks, tassimo is great.. The english breakfast tea is quite cheap and according to a tea drinker, quiet nice.
I've been using my Tassimo machine for years now and am happy with the results. I've tried several different capsules but go stuck on only one finally.
One thing I've noticed that the same brand of capsules, but from different packages, sometimes produce a very watery coffee. I've brought this issue up once with the company but I didn't get any proper response. Anyone else had that problem?
I was in Denner a few days ago where they had the Dolce-Gusto Piccolo machine on sale for 9.95 CHFs. I had to buy 4 boxes of capsules, but still thought this a good deal as I was ready to replace my ageing Delizio machine. So far, I'm pleased with it.
If I'm home all day and want to drink plenty of coffee I'll stick to my filter machine, but for a quick and easy blast of caffeine when I'm in a hurry, these machines are the answer.