Now I wish I would have paid more attention, but there was a Nespresso machine in my room at the Waldorf Astoria Orlando. While I thought the coffee was good, I wish there was more of it. Ended up having to make 2 pods.

They are already selling them here (LUX) and I assume the same to be already true for France. And it is just 10% less. Have not tried it yet so I cannot compare them.

They finally opened a boutique here in Miami, so my mail order days may be coming to an end

Can anyone advise on the alternate supplier? (Manufacturer, website, stores available, etc.?)

I would like to try their coffee too - but a search revealed not too much, besides news reports...

Actually it is pretty complicated. Casino distribution Group es selling them. Quite difficult to find the online store. You can try monoprix though I do not know whether it works outside France:

http://courses.monoprix.fr/magasin-e...50035,,1,.html

Hope it helps.

EDIT: Ms Moien bought one brand at the supermarket that sells doses for Nespresso coffee machines. I must devote a lot of time to think about some coffee that tastes as bad as that. It is a French brand La Maison de Café (Douwe Egberts). If you see it just run away ... and don't look back. :td: :td:

Nespresso inflight?
 

The Nespresso website claims a bunch of airlines have Nespresso inflight. Swiss (first class), Lufthansa, Cathay, Etihad and Qatar mentioned. Anyone tried it at 40,000 feet - does it taste decent?
cheers
CrazyDave98

LH's and SQ's are very nice.

BA also use Nespresso. A very decent start to the day in F.

Swissair used Nespresso circa 20 years ago -- so there has been lots of experience with Nespresso inflight. It works great and removes the skill element, also it is unattended. Perfect application of the technology (as it is for hotel rooms). Consistent quality with no effort. For home use these aren't such important factors (I generally use a hand-operated espresso maker, and sometimes even a stove-top Atomic for sufficiently important occasions, because I like the ritual of making the espresso by hand and serving my guests with my skill rather than pressing a button).

We grind our own beans at home... but Nespresso tastes very good, to be honest. But it also seems the latest coffee rage and the newest "it" gadget to have in the kitchen, most likely replaced in the not-too-distant future after other retailers make their own variants. In the Netherlands, the Senseo was all the rage not too long ago, now suddenly Nespresso machines have sprouted like mushrooms in every single home it seems!

But I am completely "con", only because it's advertising campaign with George Cloony is supremely irritating.

^

I also like the ritual of making coffee. Even before I liked drinking the stuff (and I was fairly late to the game), the smell of coffee beans and the sound of the espresso machine was a nice way to wake up in the mornings.

Hey! Sorry about bumping an old thread...
 

I hope all is well. I recently received a Nespresso Citiz as a gift. I'm super excited about it, but so far have been pretty underwhelmed with the espresso. I'm not sure if it is me, or if it is the machine.

I'm particularly unhappy with the almost total lack of crema. The espresso comically fails the "sugar test," and has been constantly producing wattery espresso with a little light colored top half that appears just for show.

Maybe my expectations are too high, but after reading reviews, I expected better. But this is my first machine and I have really only been drinking espresso (as opposed to drip coffee) for a few years. I figured I'd post here and see if there were any tips or advice before I called Nespresso. I've also posted a photo of a recent attempt.

Thanks for any and all advice!

http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/9973/img0323r.th.jpg

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I believe it's the pressure of the machine that gives the crema. When I bought my machine, I researched, and apparently the more pressure the better.... Most machines are 19-bar pump, but I believe the Citz is less, and that probably explains the lack of crema

Try a new batch of pods; perhaps those are near their expiration date? The ones that come with the machine are sometimes very old :)

I'd be very disappointed with Nespresso like you are getting and if Nestle sanctioned a cheaper machine that doesn't produce enough pressure, that would be shocking. The whole point of the Nespresso system was hassle-free consistent and reliably good coffee. Not as good as the best espresso you could make but close enough, and Nespresso was the first "convenience" system which had decent crema. So you are right to want it fixed. Either a manufacturing or design defect and I've personally used a dozen different Nespresso machines (often in places where they were prone to abuse) and they worked better. Now the competing pod systems don't produce good crema -- hope Nespresso hasn't decided to dumb down to match the competition.

Firstly, I'm afraid to say that whilst the Citiz looks great, I think it's the worst machine in the range in terms of the results it produces!

That aside, the best way to get a firm crema (which will pass the sugar test) is to:

a) run the machine without a pod into the cup/glass you are using. Throw away the water. This gets the pressure pump working

b) use the stronger pods. I always get a firm rich crema with the Indriya and Ristretto pods.