Oh, yeah, K-cup pods one should never pay more than 35 cents or so per pod. Nespressos unfortunately run a lot more than that in the US (but IMHO are indeed much better coffee).

Clean your Keurig and it will last
 

Keurigs (and other similar machines) are sensitive to how "clean" your water is. Run some white vinegar through it every 45-60 days and you will keep it in good shape. You can tell when it needs cleaning as the noise level increases.

Nespresso has dechalking kits which are recommended over vinegar. Some of the models have a light indicator when it is ready to dechalk.

Moderator's note:

After receiving some clarification from the OP, I have moved posts that were about non-pod-type/single-serve machines into this thread:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/dinin...e-machine.html

Please reserve discussion on the current thread for Keurig alternatives, i.e., single-serve/pod-type machines.

cblaisd
Co-Moderator, Dining Buzz

Do the alternatives also use the my-kcup refillable pod? I grind my coffee and use that most days. So if my first Gen keurig dies I will be sad

It should work with machines that work with K-cups. The issue is if you go with the newer Keurig itself, which apparently on newer machines have some kind of a lockout mechanism which refuses to recognize non-Keurig (or licensed) pods. There's a workaround or two out there for it.

The Nespresso systems use differently-sized pods altogether.

Starbucks sells a single serve machine. I think it was only introduced in 2014. When first advertised the price was $199. I got an email this week that it was available for $59. There ae several downsides I can see. The first is availability of pods - I can find them online and I would imagine at a Starbucks store. The second is price - they seem to run about a buck apiece. Holy cow. Third is a limited selection -I think it's only Starbucks coffees. Bottom line, I am not tempted unless someone could convince me I'm overreacting.

Nestle's Dolce Gusto is free with 60 box contract.

Minimum order is 6 boxes for free shipping. Each box has 10-15 pods (depending on type)

Can't beat free.

(Caveat, this is in Japan)

Sur La Table stores in U.S. are having an "up to 40%" off Nespresso machine sale right now. Brings the price on the high-end units down substantially. :)

I bought a tassimo which produces reasonable coffee but I wish I had bought a Nespresso. TThe choice and quality of coffee that you can get with a Nespresso is superior.

We've had our Tassimo for a couple years. While it has been an improvement over our previous Keurig machine, it's still no better than average. I busted out my french press this morning and enjoyed coffee at home for the first time in quite a while. I think I'm done with these crappy single serve machines.

While I can get Costa Coffee latte pods for my Tassimo I will keep it. On the flip side I only paid 30 quid for the machine and that came with 20 quid of free pods.

We have a Hamilton Beach FlexBrew - it can make a 12-cup pot with a standard filter, or single servings from k-cups. Here's a listing at Walmart, though I don't think that's where we got ours: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Hamilton-B...Black/24215977

Keurig has a model that's similar (but with a smaller carafe), but ours wouldn't make a full pot no matter what we tried... We gave up after a second unit had the same problem. We've had the Hamilton Beach for a year with no issues.

You do pay for that quality and choice, though!

I recall a shop in Bangkok which offers Nespresso-style pods for a good price with decent-quality coffee (better than any K-cup variety I've had, but not as good as Nespresso); of course, they were closed the day I stopped by.

I haven't paid attention to the cost of the Nespresso pods. I know you can buy off brand pods in the grocery stores here in the UK which should be cheaper. The downside of Tassimo is the bar code system that tells the machine what to produce is proprietary so no other pod manfacturers are able to sell generic Tassimo pods.