NESCAFE Dolce Gusto Single Serve Coffee Brewer

If you read this blog with any regularity, you'll know how much I adore coffee.  I love it in all shapes and flavors, straight-up drip coffee usually, but cappuccinos and espressos on occasions.

So of course I was happy to participate in a test drive campaign from Mom Central Consulting for the new NESCAFE Dolce Gusto single serve coffee brewer.  I was sent the Melody 2 brewer along with some samples of coffee to try out.

Sleek design withstanding, I like the features of this machine.  I've used another single serve brewer before, which worked well, but the Dolce Gusto line is different. How so, you might ask?  Well, the NESCAFE Dolce Gusto machines create specialty, barista-type beverages without much effort.   Depending on your mood, you could brew up an espresso, cappuccino, latte or macchiato within seconds (including iced versions of these drinks as well).

The Dolce Gusto comes with coffee pods, but also with milk capsules that allow you to have the frothy, creamy texture of coffeehouse drinks. It's so much easier and quicker that pulling out the frothing wand.

It fits nicely on my counter, and is in fact smaller than my regular coffee machine.

To enjoy a brew, you fill the reservoir with water, then switch it on.  In just a few seconds, you're ready to go.

Select a pod, in my case a straight-up Caffe Lungo (plain) coffee, and slip it in the little "drawer"

Then push the drawer into place and lock it with the silver lever on top.

Place your cup underneath, and push the knob to the right for hot beverages, and to the left for cold.

You can make the coffee weaker or stronger, depending on how much water you allow to flow through the pod.  The guidelines for each brew are included with your Dolce Gusto maker.  If you're making a milk-based beverage, you would then use a white milk pod (marked on top with your beverage choice) after brewing the coffee portion.

I love that it creates a nice crema on top (that frothy layer of coffee oils which is so delicious and a characteristic of a fine brew of coffee).  My drip coffee machine could never produce that!

As far as the varieties you can brew, here are your options:
One Capsule Beverages:
Dark Roast
Espresso
House Blend
Nestea Peach Iced Tea
Caffe Lungo (espresso with a velvety crema layer)

Two Capsule Beverages:
Vanilla Latte Macchiato
Cappuccino
Cappuccino Skinny
Iced Cappuccino
Latte Macchiato
Mocha

Some drawbacks to the machine: 1. it's a little loud, and 2. it doesn't seem to be "foolproof" (thumbs pointing at the fool here) in terms of the amount of water one should use for each cup.  To brew, you pull the wand on the top to one side and let the water run through the pod.  With other single-serve brews, there is a set about of water that runs through the pod, but with the Dolce Gusto, you determine when to cease the flow of water.  I haven't made any drinks too watery, but I'm still wary of whether or not I'm using the correct amount of water for the beverage, since I'm not good at eyeballing what 4 oz. looks like.

One other issue some may have is that the milk capsules are slightly sweetened, which could be a problem for those on restricted diets. 

Overall, the NESCAFE Dolce Gusto line of brewers are a nice addition to the kitchen and can satisfy coffee drinkers of all sorts.  Check out the machine in action with these crazy kids on You Tube

Disclosure: I wrote this review while participating in a test drive campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of NESCAFÉ Dolce Gusto and received a coffee machine to facilitate my review.