When I shifted into my new house, the first item I ever bought was a Nespresso machine Magimix M100. It was also the first ever coffee machine I ever bought! I admit it was kind of fancy for a starter coffee machine, but there are very little Starbucks in the Netherlands. Let me repeat that for the Starbucks marketing people around: There is too little Starbucks in the Netherlands!!!
And I thought that Nespresso was a little too fancy for me, since on the last two occasions I had it was on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, and George Clooney seriously annoys me, but that’s also because I actually prefer young blonde guys like Leonardo Dicaprio in Titanic (Maybe that will change when I grow up). But looking though the Nespresso website came out with an assortment of recipes. And MediaMarkt was selling it for a cool 149EUR for a M100 and an Aeroccino with a rebate coupon if you Googled hard enough. So I bought it!
Now, since I have had this machine for a few months now, and I still love it alot. It has a fantastic business model for starters, as with all service-orientated models. You buy a machine at a discount, whatever, and you have to buy the capsules over and over again from the manufacturer.
So, Nespresso earns alot of money, even in the economic crisis. I can see why:
(1) You save more money making your own coffee instead of going to Starbucks
(2) Nespresso.com or boutiques is the centralized point to get your new capsules or accessories
(3) Nespresso makes great quality “instant” espressos
(4) I want to show off my Nespresso machine
(5) I don’t mind paying more for the colorful capsules which I also use to decorate my house
(6) Other kinds of weak coffee taste like brown water now
Notice how similar this business model is to the Apple one? I use an AirPort Express for the pure fact it looks PRETTIER than the Linksys one, and costs twice as much. But yes, I was initially incredibly lured to the fact that the Nespresso looked so good, how the capsules hung from the walls of the boutique, how all browsing customers were offered a Nespresso, how great customer service is.
Here’s how easy it is to DIY Latte:
(1) Pick a capsule.
There are 16 flavors altogether, there are a mix of Expresso, Lungos and Decafs. When you first sign up at the Nespresso Club, you’re given an option of a Starter Kit, with a box of 250 capsules and a discovery wooden box to show off to your visitors – it costs 86.10EUR for this.
(2) Drop it onto the box
Switch on the M100 and drop the capsule into the box. Thats the new Fortissio Lungo, one of the new Lungos available. Usually Expressos are used to make Cappuccinos / Lattee but I don’t mind the weakness. The intensity 10 is too strong for me.
I like:
- Fortissio
- Vivalto
- Finezzo
- Decaffeinato
It looks happy sitting inside.
(3) Pour milk into the Aeroccino and press the button
The Aeroccino is a work of art. Forth milk in under 60 seconds, this was the machine which convinced me that I needed a Nespresso machine – as opposed to just wanting one when I had free DE coffee in the office.
(4) Get your coffee out
Press one button to start. Press one button to stop. (This isn’t the automatic model)
This is the part you need to enjoy. The aroma of coffee filling the room…
Yeah, the great start to the day.
(5) Add the milk forth from the Aeroccino
And you’re done!
Verdict: I highly recommend this. Especially for the quality you get from a capsule, not fresh coffee beans. But it doesn’t come cheap, 0.33EUR to 0.37EUR per capsule. And the machine on average is more expensive than other competitor brands. Although if you are burning a few euros a day just on an expensive cafe, this is definitely a viable option. Furthermore, customer service at Nespresso is great. They actually called me to check if I was happy with the machine and their service, and when I mentioned I didn’t read Dutch (well I do a little), they sent an English version over.
Major thumbs-up!
