Nespresso®-compatible coffee capsule comparison test/review

Nespresso®-compatible coffee capsule comparison test/review
Original Nespresso capsules are delivered straight to your home or office door
Original Nespresso® capsules are delivered straight to your home or office door. I ordered these Wednesday at 13:00 and they were delivered Thursday at 09:30!

It’s Friday and the postman rings the doorbell instead of just leaving the post. “That’s interesting,” I think. “What could this be?” To my surprise and delight it was a rather large package containing five boxes of 10 Nespresso®-compatible coffee capsules by Fine Coffee Club. Wow, they mean to impress. (By way of comparison, Gourmesso sent me 8 single capsules, one of each of 8 of its flavours. They may not have the clout of the big coffee producers but they’re extremely friendly and very switched on.) This was handy because we had guests arriving Saturday evening so we could do a taste test and compare the Fine Coffee Club capsules with original Nespresso® capsules.

Fine Coffee Club capsules come in recyclable, reclosable sleeves
Fine Coffee Club Nespresso®-compatible capsules come in recyclable, reclosable sleeves

Fast forward to Monday, and once again the postman rings the doorbell instead of just leaving the post. “That’s interesting,” I think. “What could this be this time?” To my surprise and delight it was an even larger package containing five boxes of 10 Nespresso®-compatible coffee capsules by Carte Noire in a luxurious, gold-ribboned presentation box, plus two double-walled espresso cups by Bodum, bearing the Carte Noire logo. Gosh, Carte Noire wants to impress even more. And yes, Dear Reader, this is a double-whammy sponsored post where I will give my honest opinion about the free samples of Nespresso®-compatible coffee capsules that were sent to me. Do read on, you’ll find it interesting I think.

A generous and luxurious sample from Carte Noire
A generous and luxurious sample from Carte Noire Nespresso®-compatible capsules

Back to the weekend taste test. First off, Fine Coffee Club capsules come in a recyclable cardboard box that you can actually reclose and neatly store, as opposed to the Nespresso® box that you basically have to rip open and then are left with this messy-looking ripped hunk of cardboard hanging off the end. So that’s one point for Fine Coffee Club, and a lesson for Nespresso®. Second, the first capsule I took out looked a bit dented but I tried it anyway. Fatal mistake. I mopped up water for ten minutes afterwards due to the damaged capsule getting jammed in my compatible machine. Oops, take that point away from Fine Coffee Club for not delivering undamaged capsules despite the heavy outer cardboard shipping box.

Hooray for Fine Coffee Club's reclosable sleeves!
Hooray for Fine Coffee Club’s reclosable sleeves!

 

Fine Coffee Club's capsules were designed to lock freshness in so you get the first fresh taste every time.
Fine Coffee Club’s Nespresso®-compatible capsules were designed to lock freshness in so you get the first fresh taste every time.

A good point for Fine Coffee Club capsules is that they have apparently been designed to protect the aroma, as are Nespresso®’s aluminum capsules. The coffee has a proper coffee colour, produces a fine crema and has a reasonable aroma once brewed. I thought the Fine Coffee Club capsules were better than the Gourmesso capsules previously reviewed, but there stops any comparison. In a side-by-side blind taste test between similar strength Nespresso® and Fine Coffee Club coffees, Nespresso® won hands down. Nespresso® coffees have more body, better taste, more aroma and a lovely lingering taste on the tongue. Fine Coffee Club ships to Australia, Canada, France, Ireland, the UK and the USA, plus to other parts of Europe. Their website states that you can “Save over 20% compared to the main brand” so if budget is your main consideration then Fine Coffee Club capsules are worth a try.

For us, Carte Noire is the best alternative to Nespresso capsules but this N° 9 Intense left us longing for a more lingering taste
Carte Noire offers reasonably good Nespresso®-compatible capsules but this N° 9 Intense left us longing for a more lingering taste

Now we come to another taste test, between original Nespresso® and Carte Noire Nespresso®-compatible capsules. Of all three compatibles I have had the good fortune to test, Carte Noire are the best alternative. I do worry that the Carte Noire capsules are individually wrapped because as soon as you open the cute little envelope you get a big hit of coffee smell, which means that less of that aroma stays in your cup. We blind tasted Carte Noire’s N° 9 Intense alongside Nespresso®’s Ristretto with intensity 10, and while the Carte Noire was a nice brew with good colour, reasonably strong aroma and lovely crema, the taste didn’t really go anywhere and left your mouth feeling abandoned. The Nespresso® Ristretto (brewed to the same 40ml espresso shot as the Carte Noire and therefore not a true ristretto and a fair comparison) had more body, a more intense aroma and a gorgeous lingering taste. This afternoon I brewed myself a Carte Noire N° 3 Elégant and I’m happy to say that it was really quite good, with reasonable body and a good length of taste.

Carte Noire is out to impress and to take the coffee capsule market by storm
Carte Noire is out to impress and to take the Nespresso®-compatible coffee capsule market by storm

Carte Noire’s selling point is convenience because their capsules are available in supermarkets across the UK. However, as Carte Noire capsules are only compatible with Nespresso® machines bought in the UK before July 1, 2013, you need to check your machine first. Despite my new Nespresso® machine being officially compatible, one of the capsules I used got stuck and made rather a bit of a mess on the coffee bar. Retailing at £2.79 for 10 capsules there is a small difference in price between Carte Noire and Nespresso® whose capsules retail from £2.90 to £3.50 per sleeve of 10 but for my money I will stick with the superior, consistent quality and taste of original Nespresso® espresso capsules.

Real Coffee offers a wide selection of Nespresso®-compatible coffee capsules offering superior quality and great taste
Real Coffee offers a wide selection of Nespresso®-compatible coffee capsules offering superior quality and great taste. They’re the best we’ve tasted!

Here is my ranking of the espresso capsules I have tested:

UPDATED MARCH 2018 to include Real Coffee. Read my full review here.

Ranking Brand Positive points Negative points
First place Nespresso®
  • Consistently excellent body, aroma, colour, crema, taste and length of taste across all varieties
  • Delivered straight to your home or office door. Shipping charge waived on orders of over 200 capsules
  • Freshness sealed inside recyclable aluminum capsules
  • Scruffy packaging!
Second place Real Coffee
  • Excellent body, aroma, crema, and taste across all varieties
  • 80% Fairtrade coffee, and three organic varieties
  • At least 8 months guaranteed freshness on delivery
  • Square cardboard boxes are easy to store, easy to reclose, easy to recycle
  • Strong environmental responsibility policy
  • Slight risk of some capsules occasionally not ejecting from the more sensitive automatic Nespresso® machines. Fine in manual machines.
Third place Carte Noire
  • Reasonable body, aroma, colour, crema, taste for most varieties. Good body and length of taste in N° 3 Elégant
  • Supermarket availability may be attractive to some
  • Not all machines are compatible
  • Freshness/loss of aroma; individual envelope creates additional waste
  • Risk of faulty capsules
  • Bulky packaging requires more storage space
Fourth place Fine Coffee Club
  • Well designed re-sealable outer packaging
  • Capsules designed to lock in freshness
  • Available in many countries
  • Price point at 40% less than Nespresso®
  • Makes a decent cup of coffee if you’re on a budget
  • Risk of faulty capsules
  • Not as high quality coffee or capsules as Nespresso®
Fifth place Gourmesso
  • Really friendly company with good customer service
  • Offers the widest alternative range with ten espressos, two Lungo offerings, three flavoured capsules as well as limited specialities
  • Free shipping on orders over £40
  • Price point at up to 35% less than Nespresso® Capsules
  • Makes a half decent cup of coffee if you’re on a budget or if your taste buds haven’t been spoiled by Nespresso®!
  • Freshness/loss of aroma; individual envelope creates additional waste
  • Bulky packaging requires more storage space
  • Not as high quality coffee or capsules as Nespresso®
 

Sponsored post; all opinions expressed here are those of the author and you are welcome to form your own. Why not order some capsules from each of these sponsors and let me know what you think?

 

Please like & share:


11 thoughts on “Nespresso®-compatible coffee capsule comparison test/review”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.