Genio

I already have an espresso machine, but bought this one to make cappuccinos and macchiatos quickly. The machine is priced fairly, compact, not very fancy (plastic), easy to operate and clean, and makes good coffee. The temp of the coffee is perfect for me. I have to wait a bit to drink it. Some reviews claim the coffee doesn't come out hot enough. That may be the case for those who drink their coffee as soon as it's brewed. I can't handle that level of heat. It burns my tongue. I'm not so sure about the design... You have to slide and hold the knob on the back to one side for a couple of seconds after the coffee starts brewing. If you let go too soon the machine stops and you have to slide it to one side again. Not a deal breaker, but an odd design. To brew cold you slide to one side and hot to the other. I haven't had other people try the cream/coffee pods, but I personally like the flavor of Nescafe blends. My husband likes the medium roast (no cream for him). The cream has a hint a sweetness, but not sweet. I like that. The hot chocolate is okay. So far, very happy and already bought over 100 pods. I haven't tried the cold brews yet. Availability of pods may be an issue since this machine is more popular in Europe and South America. I had to buy 3 to 4 boxes of each, and one mixed pack. If you wanna try one box first, that may be a problem. I have only used the Nescafe pods. I read that you can buy stainless steel pods for this machine but I already have an espresso machine so this one is for convenience and speed.

Purchased the machine to replace my German Bought Krups - Nescafé Dolce Gusto Piccolo. Having lived in Germany, I enjoyed the convenience of the machine and the absolutely great coffee it made. Having moved back the USA, I could not find that machine for sale. I discovered that this machine " the NESCAFÉ Dolce Gusto Coffee Machine, Genio 2, Espresso, Cappuccino and Latte Pod Machine" was available here in the USA. -Coffee Maker- A few remarks. This is a "commercial coffee maker". That is made for the "hospitality industry" as it says. It is about the same size as my home machine the "Krups - Nescafé Dolce Gusto Piccolo". It is about twice as expensive, but also, it appears, a bit more heavy duty. It also has more "bells and whistles". One nice feature is the ability to adjust the coffee size. That is 12 oz, 10 oz, 8 Oz and all the way down to Espresso size. Lights and a toggle switch show the size of the coffee. -Automatic- With this machine, you can pop in your coffee capsule and set the machine and walk away. It will stop automatically. This being a commercial model, it has a larger water tank. Which means less trips to the faucet to refill. -Taste- As far as taste, I just got it and have made 3 cups on two days, so far. Too me, it tastes just like the coffee in Germany that I made on the other Dolce Gusto machine. Unlike the K-cup machines, this produces a real "Crema". The coffee is made at 15 Bar of pressure. Like an Espresso machine. It produces a really nice Crema on the coffee and has a real good taste. For the price that I paid, around $100 bucks, I think it is a great deal, especially compared to the K-cup machines. --Suggestion-- Some people apparently complain that they want it the coffee more hot. It seems hot enough to me. I do pre-heat my coffee cups to maintain the warmth and taste. --Closing Remarks-- This Coffee/Espresso maker is made for the USA with 120 Volts. The only inconvenient thing, is you can not run to the store and pick up capsules. But Amazon and other major online vendors sell them. If you shop well, you can get the capsules at a cheap price. The Coffee Machine looks well made, and heavy duty. It is cheaper than the Nespresso machine and most of the Keurig Coffee makers. This combo Coffee maker and Espresso maker looks to be a great deal. I wish Nestle would focus again on home use. Having said that, if you like European Style coffee with ease of making and great taste, this is the machine.

This is now the only coffee maker I will ever purchase and use, so long as it's on the market which I truly hope it will be long term! Zero water heat up/prep time, instant gourmet coffee consisting of superb flavor that still produces a hot cup of brew. The foam layer is visible, rich, yet still creamy- So good! The best part is the construction/engineering of the coffee maker, it's *mold free. My expensive Keurig maker has these terrible screws at the bottom of the water reservoir that creates a mass build up of large mold flakes that float in your coffee water. Even with bleach and x cleaning, it's impossible to get deep in there and no mini brushes fit either, gross- This is NOT the case with Nescafe, I'm so happy with this maker!! This Nescafe maker also outperforms my Nespresso maker too. The Nescafe pods are a tad pricey, but no more than the Nespresso or others that aren't "as good," in my opinion. These Nescafe pods come in great flavors. Also, regarding design, it's amazing, it holds a good amount of water but doesn't take up much counter space. The only coffee maker for me- You will love.

This coffee maker is amazing! I finally upgraded from my old 12 cupper that I’ve had since college despite seeing most of the bad reviews. I decided why not since it was a good deal. It arrived with the box a little damaged but I did buy one that had been sent back and it said the box would be damaged. I pulled out the machine and there wasn’t a scratch on it anywhere! We plugged it in and got it set up and it worked beautifully! One of my favorite parts about this machine is that it can do hot or cold coffee!! I much prefer iced coffee but it makes great hot coffee too. I ordered a set of pods that was all in Italian, the Nescafé pods and the Starbucks pods. The Italian ones are ok but are mostly smaller cups or espresso shots. The Starbucks ones are definitely worth it, They taste great! I haven’t got the Nescafé ones yet so I’m not sure how they taste. Yes the power cord is bright red but I don’t mind it. I also love how compact it is! We have a small galley kitchen in our townhouse so there’s not a ton of counter space and this doesn’t take up much at all!! Overall very satisfied with my purchase. Just take the chance! Worst that happens is you don’t like it and send it back!

Trying desperately to ween myself off of expensive Starbucks habit during Covid, but have no attention span or patience to tamp my own espresso. So many machines on Amazon that I was unable to make a decision and I'm cheap at heart even though I will pay extra for quality when justified. So I decided to give this machine a whirl since the price can't be beaten. Having travelled outside of the US quite extensively, I was aware that Nescafe has more coffee options internationally. The machine is ridiculously easy to use, looks very European and the thick, red cord does not bother me, but totally understand why others may find it a turnoff. All of the coffees and espressos I have tried so far are quite tasty and I find I prefer the Nescafe brands over the Starbucks pods offered. I tried the Nescafe Cappuccino first and the espresso by itself is amazing with hints of dark chocolate. The milk pods are surprisingly good, but I do not like sugar in any coffee drinks period so I would only use the milk pods as a treat rather than everyday use. I rely on my Nespresso Aeroccino3 - highly recommend! - that allows me to steam and froth any milk I desire (mostly lactaid-free non-fat). I do agree with other reviewers that you should stick to the number of bars recommended for the water level/cup size and then add hot water separately if you find the coffee to be too strong. That is the only thing I found frustrating - I want a 12 oz cup every time so you may have to use several pods combined with the desired amount of frothed milk to get to 12 oz. But it's probably no different in the end than having to pay extra for a triple shot in a venti at Starbucks. For sure it is cheaper than having your Starbucks delivered by Uber Eats or - god forbid - having to leave the house to pick up your mobile order, especially when you have no time during the work week. I found some "Italian Coffee" brand pods on Amazon that are made in Italy that combine the milk/espresso in a single pod that are very good and by using 1 of those pods + 2 other espresso/coffee pods + adding my own frothed milk, I can create my own delicious lattes and macchiatos. I rated 4 stars for Blending Power based on above, but don't really understand what "Blending Power" means otherwise. I totally understand other reviewers' frustration with availability of pods and price increase, but for me since I just got this machine, it's still cheaper and more convenient than Starbucks. My ONLY true complaint is that the pods are NOT recyclable, which sickens me. But I'll stick with this for now and when I need to upgrade/replace will switch to brand that is fully recyclable. Hopefully Nescafe will have this covered by then!

I'm on my third Genio (which doesn't look like the one shown...mine has two extra 10/12 oz. options above the usual 7 intensity settings) and I like it in spite of the flaky behavior when trying to use those other seven settings. E.g., when I set mine to, say, five bars for cafe con leche, the last one at the bottom doesn't cycle through, but for the 10/12 oz. choice, it works fine. The coffee gurus at Illy say that a cup should take approx. 30 seconds to brew properly, and so the Genio does pretty well. My "price-per-cup" benchmark for even going with Dolce Gusto was once .50$Am. Those days are clearly gone but I shop around for as close to that as I can get for the three-pak pod boxes. My experience with also-rans like Metasa has been that they're poor quality to use and maybe even dangerous (leaky). In ten years of using my Genios I've never had a bonafide Dolce Gusto capsule fail. YGWYPF.... . An 11/26/21 follow-up: Amazon's got a 40% coupon thing going on the Genio -- but it's not the same model as I bought a year ago with 9 brew settings. It seems to be a throw-back to the original Genio/Piccolo setup with seven settings. So a caveat is in order here. But if you go for it and don't heed the Dolce capsules that call for 9 settings, then no big deal. If you're replacing an older Genio, keep the water reservoir for the new machine if it doesn't leak.

Owned a more expensive Dolce Gusto machine for a few years. Loved it and the coffee options, but it started to leak around the edges of the capsule (seems seal started to break down...investigated changing out the seal, but doing so was not trivial or cost-effective). Bought this less-expensive model as a replacement. First one we got leaked like a sieve around the capsule (Nescafe's DG capsules or others...source did not make any difference. Neither did adjusting the position of the capsule holder as you locked it). Seller quickly replaced it with no fuss. Second one worked better, but occasionally leaked like the 1st one (maybe 1 in 5 brews leaked to varying degrees). Changing brand of capsule made no difference. Now...with less than 3 months of use (~6 capsules/day) the unit has completely failed. Won't heat water, brew coffee or even pump cold water through system. Fortunately, Amazon Customer support has been great!

I’ve had this for 6 months now. We use is almost daily. We use the pods that are recommended for it and we buy them off of Amazon. It’s makes great hot coffee, macchiatos, lattes etc. Perfect for our tastes and needs. When we first got it, I couldn’t figure out how to use it. But quickly realized that some people are having issues because they aren’t following the steps in the “right order”. Step 1) push the on button to preheat the machine. This should take all but 30 seconds. Step 2) lift the handle to unlock the pod holder and pull it out. 3) Put the pod in, push it back. 4) use the toggle to set the bars as indicated on the pod itself (push the toggle up and down to set the bars). 5) now push the handle down to lock into place. 6) Push the SAME toggle LEFT for cold and RIGHT for hot. You’ll hear the machine make noises as it begins to dispense. 7) Repeat with the second pod. 8) remove used pod after done. Point to note: We only use this for hot beverages. We tried cold and they weren’t cold enough and tasted a bit watered down. So if you’re buying this mainly for cold beverages, try it for yourself before you decide since taste preferences are so varied.

Love this product . Wish they still sold it in Canada . This is the only coffee that does not make me sick . It’s easy to use. You can use it as only a water dispenser for hot tea, oatmeal and so on. You can purchase your own capsules to make your own coffee but I do love the selection they have . My son uses the hot chocolate one . I love that you can make different type of coffee for different guest . Did you know it makes ice tea too . Only con is you can’t get it in Canada 😢😢

Muy buena opcion, me encanto su color plateado...

Love the product - simple, easy to use and the range of pods available, has made in-home coffee consumption fun and cafe-like.

Llego a tiempo y en perfecto estado

Product works well for a few type of pods. The machine is easy to understand. Everything depends on which pods you use. But neither nescafe nor Amazon will repair this machine if there is any issue. I have used this machine for over a year and now it is not working. I have to throw it away as Nescafe says they will not be servicing this product as it is not sold by them and Amazon says they cannot service it as it is beyond warranty. My verdict - even if machine is good dont buy it as you will also need to throw it away at the first issue.