Clive_Conway's Full Review: Nespresso Le Cube C180 4.25-Cup Coffee Maker
Strong, sweet tea is my drug of choice, but I am very partial to my lunchtime caffe latte, hot and rich. I recently found myself working at home for a few months, but constantly drawn to local watering holes for my lunchtime latte. Why not get a coffee machine then?
So I talked to friends, read reviews and tasted. And in so doing, I found countless reasons not to get a machine. Decent machines were very expensive, cheaper ones often fiddly and inconsistent in the coffee they made. Buying a machine would only be a cost saving if I liked the coffee enough to drink out less often.
I admit I am rather attracted to the ritual of coffee. The grinding, tamping, frothing, praying, standing on one leg, and so on. But if my unused bread machine is anything to go my, I'd tire of that fairly quickly.
Then I discovered the Nespresso system, and in particular, Le Cube. It comes with various brands on it, depending where in the world it is. Mine is a DeLonghi, but it's the same as any other LeCube C180. Mine is red, compact and immensely stylish. You just turn it on, wait for it to warm up, which takes 30 seconds or so, pop in the pre-mixed Nespresso pod, press the button for the size you want (Espresso or Lunghi) and out comes coffee, with a great crema and good flavour.
To dispense the used pod, pull the lever up to put in the next pod, and the old one is thrown into the catching tray. Once ina while, empty that tray and rinse out the overflow tray, both of which just slide out like little draws. Every couple of days, push back the lever for a few seconds to blow steam through the machine, and crank through a couple of cups of water to clear out the spout. And that's it. No mess, no fuss. It really is incredible easy to use and clean. The perfect kitchen gadget.
But what about the coffee? Well, I am happy to report that it's very good, or maybe better than that. You have a choice of 10 coffee varieties (and special editions from time to time) available only from Nespresso by mail. That might seem a pain, but the service is exceptional, and pods always arrive 2 to 3 days after I order. The strongest, Ristretto, is a very good dark, rich style, and several others are quite appealing as well. All in all, the coffee is better than 95% of the coffee shops in town, which still leaves the potential for 'going out for coffee' as a pleasurable activity. But increasingly, my friends are coming round for coffee. You'll find reviews on the web by various coffee snobs which suggest the coffee is rather average. Ignore them. The coffee is as good as any machine I've ever tasted in a domestic environment, and considerably better than most.
Downsides? Yes, there are some. The smaller coffee size is very small, and the Lunghi is still only 140 ml by default. You can adjust the amount of water dispensed for each size, but make them too big and the coffee can get a little bitter. I have my machine quite well adjusted by now, but I'd still fancy bigger cups, and a little more coffee in the pods. But it's a minor complaint.
The coffee is also not quite hot enough. Put in cold milk and it's noticeable. My machine came with a free Nespresso milk heater and frother device, which works quite well, but still doesn't make the milk hot enough. So my milk goes in the microwave for 30 seconds, and hot coffee results.
But that's about it. Overall, the machine is a stylish, simple, effective and well-priced addition to my kitchen that makes consistently good coffee, with no fuss. It's a joy to own.
Free Shipping & No Tax. We will meet or beat our competition by 5%. Ships same day. Nespresso Le Cube C180 Espresso Machine: Research, compare and sav...More at Whole Latte Love
1260-watt cube-shaped espresso machine housed in high-quality ABS ThermoBlock heating system; 19-bar pump; removable 34-ounce water tank Designed for ...More at Amazon
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.