Coffee – mmm – just typing out that word alone brings to mind bold, deep, rich aromas that implore me to….nod…WAKE UP! Some folks are all-day consumers, I’m more of the one treasured cup in the morning ilk which I always drink from my favorite earthenware mug. My tastes run toward dark and chewy roasts – almost an espresso. I do fine with a French press or my classic stainless Bialetti but have been guilty of breaking a glass press carafe or two or burning the Bialetti brew in my drowsy morning sleepstance. So, it was with great enthusiasm that I agreed to take on and test drive for Michelle, the new Nestle Nescafe Dolce Gusto by Krups coffee and espresso capsule machine (Nestle is a client).

As long as you have water in the vessel ( yes, I did forget ONE time), have the machine plugged in and can press a button, the Dolce Gusto is pretty much dummy-proof. I would stumble into the kitchen, squint, and spy the sleek futuristic robo-bird machine, push a button, pop in a capsule and know in no-brainer record time, hot liquid caffeine would be mine, all precious mine. The attractively packaged Dolce Gusto starter kit included a glass and white coffee cup, saucer and a vast array of coffee capsules designed to prepare hot or cold coffee beverages: Caffe Lungo, Caffe Americano,  Cappucino, Latte Macchiato, Cappucino Ice, Espresso, Choccochino and Mocha – I drank them all.

Likes:

*The ease of set up and preparation.

*Easy control over the strength of the drinks by flipping the top switch to stop the flow of liquid.

*The visual diagram instructions in lieu of the usual booklet of text – for someone like myself who understands directions better visually the graphics make operation simple to execute.

* The look of the finished cups of coffee drinks was impressive – layered, milky cappucinos and macchiatos, espressos topped with crema – visually professional and garnered oohs and ahhs one morning when a motley crew of early Sunday risers paid my patio a visit and I confidently played barrista.

* My daughter and her friends adore the Choccocino.

* Older friends liked the milky layered coffee offerings.

* The powdered milk used in the capsules is made from hormone-free milk.

Dislikes:

* The large plastic capsules seem wasteful – I’ve seen other pod/capsule machines which use tiny aluminum containers which then smush down to almost nothing.

* The hot and iced beverages made with milk were too creamy-sweet for my liking. The non-milk beverages did not pack enough deeply roasted coffee oomph for me.

Bottom line, and ultimately: this is not my singular morning cup of coffee sensation. The overall functionality of the Dolce Gusto machine itself was faultless, but I was not satisfied with the resulting coffee beverages. The closest I came to achieving a cup to my preference was by combining one long Caffe Americano with one short, which uses two capsules and still leaves me longing for something bigger. Particular coffee palates are as subjective as those for food and wine – one size does not fit all.

As much as I appreciated the offer of a machine and welcomed to opportunity to review the Dolce Gusto, it will not be taking up the limited space on my counter any longer, but will be moving on to friends – a newlywedded couple who prefer the lighter coffee blends and will put the machine to great use – hopefully, happily, ever after.

All this coffeetalk  is prompting me to place an order with my favorite Blue Bottle or Intelligentsia, start using a  Bonmac and hemp filters -  the extra 2-4 minutes effort for a perfect one cup will be more than worthwhile.