Customer Reviews

Nespresso C100-US-AERO Essenza Automatic Single-Serve Espresso Machine with Nespresso Aeroccino Milk Frother

5 star:		(122)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I was initially reluctant to buy this based on the fact that they use proprietary pods. Had that reluctance stuck with me, I probably would've spent a few hundred more on a high-quality manual espresso machine, or over a thousand on an automatic machine. $.52 a cup is reasonable when you consider that grinding your own works out to about $.30 a cup, but yields a greater mess and requires more soap and water for cleanup each time. With two little kids at home - who has time to clean? I was absolutely giddy the first time I used both the machine and the frother. Separately and together, both machines match or rival what all too many of us pay $3-5 for from the local coffee shop. I'm convinced that our friends will like us more if we decide to share some of this with them. I bought this at Williams-Sonoma based on loyalty as I had sampled it 3 times over a two week period and finally couldn't take it anymore. I had to have one! Consumer reports also ranks this machine highest in its class. The only machine that offered comparable taste was larger, cost about a grand, and requires more cleaning.

After a lot of research and knowing how tasty the Nespresso espressos are (free sample at a store a year ago that I fondly remembered), I bought the Nespresso C100 on Amazon in September 2009 for an anniversary present to ourselves. In four months, we have made about 180 cups of cappuccino or espresso for my husband and I and an occasional guest. We make about 2-3 cups during the weekday and more on the weekends.

- Very fast and easy to make, with no mess. Fill up the water dispenser, turn the machine on, pop a colored pod in the maker and close lever. Wait for buttons to stop blinking to show it is heated, then push the button. Enjoy the smell! Very easy to clean - run water through by pressing the button and dump out/wash the tray where the overflow grill is and the basket that catches the many pods.

- Aeroccino froth maker is soooo much easier than trying to use the steam nozzles that most cappuccino maker's have (no splattering and nice, consistent froth. My friends are impressed how easy it is!). Just pour the milk in (regular, 2%, or soy) up to the bottom line, put on the plastic lid, and press the button. It makes enough for two cappuccinos. I make the espresso on the lungo or larger setting (7 oz), so the frothed milk is fine for me; however, my husband likes the cappuccino hotter since the milk is warm but not hot, and he puts his cappuccino in microwave to make it hotter. If you pour the milk into the espresso, made on the espresso setting (5 oz), since it is a smaller amount of coffee, the milk tends to make it too cold. If you pour the milk a little above the upper line in the Aeroccino, it can froth over the container. The container is easy to clean up, although it seems best to clean up after each iteration; otherwise, the milk can be stuck on the bottom in brown stains and harder to get off if you heat it up the 2nd time. After cleaning the Aeroccino, make sure you dry it and put the wire whisk back on its magnetic base. A few times, I have just put it inside and later tried to froth my coffee. When it doesn't froth, it means, the wire whisk wasn't put on the magnetic base. You can push the button again to stop the machine and put the whisk in place.

- I bought two Nespresso Lungo (5 oz) glass cups when I bought my machine for about $20. When I received the machine, there was a one time special card offering two Lungo (5 oz) and two Espresso (2 oz) cups and the associated black, plastic saucers for $20 instead of $29. It worth to have at least two Lungo cups. We only use them to make the espresso, then pour the coffee into bigger coffee mugs to have room to add the milk froth. Since I am not a coffee purist and I like to get the most for my money, I push the Lungo button to get a Lungo size cup, pour it in a coffee mug, then press the espresso button to get a smaller amount and also pour that in the coffee mug, so I can get more coffee for the price.

After making all your espressos, Nespresso recommends running hot water through by pushing to button to flush out any espresso grounds, so it nice to have an extra cup to hold that water.

- When you get the machine, they very nicely give you a one of each of the Nespresso espresso flavors (12 or 14). Before I got my machine, I had ordered additional flavors from the Nespresso website based on other Amazon reviewer favorites (thanks for your thoughts!), and they arrived before my machine did. Instead of .55 each, they cost about .64 each when shipped to Maryland. They normally have 2 business day shipping, so they arrived pretty fast.

- I use a large round empty fish bowl to store my colorful Nespresso pods. It looks nice on the counter.

- I made myself a spreadsheet, copying and pasting the information from the Nespresso website to show:
Name: such as Apreggio
Type: Espresso or Lungo. I found I could use either espresso or lungo to make a lungo size cup, since I don't like my cappuccino too strong.
Intensity: 1-10
Description: From website
Pod Color: This is subjective and helpful when you want to buy more or even find which pod you want more quickly. Looking for a teal or blue? Copper or gold?
My and my husband's ratings (1-3 stars) with comments so I knew which ones to re-order.
I added in the specialty flavors which are not listed in the Nespresso book.

Here are our favorites that we re-ordered. Note that the colors are my subjective view of what the pods looked like to me:
Apreggio Espresso; intensity 9; purple - we probably have had 70 pods of this!
Fortissio Lungo; intensity 7; teal
Indriya from India Pure Origin; intensity 10; olive-grey (.62 instead of .55)
Livanto Espresso; intensity 6; copper
Ristretto Espresso; intensity 10; black
Vivalo Lungo; intensity 4; blue - mild flavor
Cosi Espresso, intensity 3; cocoa - nice, light
Decaffeinato Espresso; intensity 3; red - best decaffeinated coffee for us
Singatoba special club; intensity 8; bright blue
Volluto espresso; intensity 4; bronze gold - light
Holiday special: Variation Pain D' Espices (gingerbread) - nice spice flavor
Holiday special: Variation Creme de Marron (chestnut cream) - creamy flavor with different levels of complexity

Didn't like as much:
Finezzo Lungo; intensity 3; bright gold - not much flavor; could barely taste it
Dulsao do Brasil; intensity 5; dark gold - dry tasting
Decaffeinato Lungo; intensity 3; brick red - bitter tasting; needs sweetner
Decaffeinato Intenso espresso;intensity 7; maroon - strong, bitter; needs sweetner
Capriccio Espresso; intensity 5; green
Roma Espresso; intensity 8; dark grey - thought it was okay
Rosabaya de Columbia pure origin; intensity 8; pink - bitter; needs lots of sweetner

We really like our C100 espresso machine. It is easier to use than a normal cappuccino maker with the mess of espresso grounds and the hassle of the steam nozzle. The coffee is very worth the price and inconvenience of having to buy at the Nespresso website or at a Nespresso boutique. I would have liked to get the higher-end Nespresso machine that integrates the milk frother in the same unit but at $800, it was too much. The $300 C100 with the Aeroccino milk frother is a good value for the money and well worth it.

** Update: We just celebrated our 2 year, 2 month anniversary with our Nespresso C100, and it is still going strong! My husband accidentally threw away the basket that catches the used pods, so now we use the machine without it. You just have to cup your hand around the mini-mountain of used pods as you take it to the garbage can or empty it a little more often.

I used the descaler kit twice in the two years, just for maintenance. You need to do it next to the sink and have several cups (2-4 cup measuring cups work well) to catch the hot water that pours and pours out, such as one to catch the water and another to empty. The hot descaler water doesn't stop coming out like when you make a cup of espresso; it keeps coming until it empties all the water in the tank.

I hope this review was helpful to you and that you enjoy your espresso with Nespresso!

I never thought I would go for this machine, I am a little purist and cranky about my morning cup of wonderful - however, I indulged the Nespresso rep at a local Sur La Table - and, wow.

This little combo worked better than The Cube in my opinion, and I love that frother!

Yes, you need the little capsules, but the darker roasts and the "Special Club" are pretty good, and I have many more to try. it helped that the rep tossed in like 5 extra packs of them for me. I found them online here at Amazon for about $6 a sleeve and with my Prime membership it was free shipping. And the rep told me next time I see her she will let me "try" a couple other flavors as well - bonus.

I have made chocolate milks, coffee blends with liqueurs for desserts, decaf cap's at night as well as my new fancy morning beverages.

I have had it for a month and adore it. Sure, a little pricey, but I think I have saved about $57 already in morning coffee shop trips. So that pays for itself pretty fast.

The coffee button has to be programmed for the small and large size you prefer on the "pull" time. Hold it down for the length of the "pull" you want then release. It will "remember" it for the next time you tap that button.

I am going to order a set of replacement frother spinners, not because they don't stick to the top of the frother well (they are pretty magnetic) but because I am afraid they will get washed away by a less careful user (ahem. no pointing fingers... HONEY.)

If you would like a treat for yourself, do it. It wont be comparable to your most fave coffee house or a replacement for a chatty, fun, pierced, "I really want to be an actress/singer/massage therapist." type barista, but it will save on trips to the coffee shop and maybe keep you from being ten minutes late to your morning meeting because you just HAD to stop on the way in to the office.

So anyway - Froth away! Invest in some pretty cups and some chocolate syrup too! =)

I live in Italy and I have to say that after being in Italy for 7 years, I finally discovered how to make the perfect cappuccino at home. This makes a cappuccino exactly how I would get it at my neighborhood coffee bar. The machine makes a dense rich espresso with a nice cream on top and the aeroccino makes a perfect thick foam. The aeroccino also heats the milk to the perfect temperature and clean up is super quick. The machine is little in size which is a plus in a tiny Italian kitchen. At first I wasn't so convinced on being committed to buying only Nespresso capsules, first for the price and second for the quality of coffee. Then I recalculated that I spend 1.10 euro at the bar every morning compared to .34 euro to make it at home....hence a definite savings. Plus the quality of coffees they offer (12 varieties in total) happens to be excellent! I've noticed that all of the Italians here also have this espresso machine in house. So if the Italians say it's good, and they're passionate about their food and drink, it's got to be good. I've owned several machines over the years and this one is truly THE BEST!!

I spent quite awhile researching Espresso makers from $300 to $1500 and for some reason never felt comfortable spending the money. Over the years I find I dislike all the clean-up and noise. The high end Super Automatics were looking OK on that front but the costs were more than I really wanted to pay. Then I ran into the Nespresso. People seemed to have two perspectives - either they dismissed it and stated the taste of the espresso was far inferior to any hand pulled shot and the coffee too cool or they raved about the quality of the espresso and were almost evangelists.

In the month since purchasing the C100 I now fall into the latter group. From the minute I tasted the first shot from the machine I was hooked. My wife loves the cappuccinos you can make though she has never been a fan of any espresso drink. The variety of coffee pods available should offer something for every one and every mood.

Personally, there are some of the coffee line at the low intensity level that I would describe as watery and weak and if they were my only experience with Nespresso I would have never purchased the machine. I find the coffee pods at the higher intensity level as good as anything I have gotten at a specialty coffee shop and Nespresso is only a pull of a level and the push of a button away. As to the temperature of the espresso, just make sure you run the Nespresso maker one time without a pod to heat up the unit and the cup, makes all the difference in the heat level.

Clean up is as simple as pulling out the base holding the discarded pods, dumping them and rinsing. Nespresso coffees are only available at their Nespresso Bars (large cities only) or online from the Nespresso Store which some see as a negative but is not an issue I worry about.

The Aeroccino Milk Frother is a great unit for me. Quick and easy heating and frothing for Lattes and Cappuccinos. It is quiet and quick. It can create hot milk with a little froth or a heavy froth for those who enjoy it. I stick with the heated milk and light froth. Easy to clean.

All in all, Nestle has made great product that brings me smiles everyday.

I am an owner of a "real" espresso maker in fine working condition, the Rancilio Silvia. I packed it up in its original box and no longer have any use for it. OK, the received wisdom is that single-serve pod or capsule espresso makers like Nespresso, can make consistent shots, day after day, week after week, but that they never excel--they can never make that perfect cup of espresso. I can tell you now, with certainty, that only the first part of that statement is true. The very first cup of espresso that I made on my Nespresso C100 was far better than any coffee that I ever made during the five years I have used my Silvia. And, as many reviewers have pointed out, it is incredibly easy to clean. To be fair, I admit that I was warned to buy the Silvia's grinder companion ($300 plus) which I never did. At first I used my Starbucks Italian burr grinder. No setting on it would satisfy Miss Silvia. Then I tried various brands of premium ground coffee, Illy, etc. Still, no luck. Then, two months ago, I had some business to do in a neighborhood bank. The young lady who was helping us asked if we would like espressos. "Yes," I quickly responded. With a smile she got up, walked over to a table on which there were cookies and a Nespresso espresso machine. She reached into a bowl of sealed aluminum foil capsules, popped one into the machine, pressed a button--voila! A cup of espresso equaling (at least) the cup of espresso that has lived in my memory as the ideal, the coda to a memorable meal we had at the Italian restaurant in the Culinary Institute in upstate NY. That coffee was Illy and it was as good as coffee can be. The thought that I could enjoy coffee of that quality in my own home, at a whim in less than five minutes, blew my mind. And it was so easy! I ordered a C-100 as soon as I got home and have never been sorry. The Aeroccino milk frother is an ingenious device. It is a positive that the frother is separate from the brewer. Miss Silvia, like most machines under $1000.00 has only one boiler, necessitating waiting for the brewer to cool down if you make the froth first, or waiting for the steam to heat up if you start with the coffee. Neither is satisfactory. Aeroccino's froth made with the Cappuccino wisk is almost too perfect--it's very dry. When I want milk in my drink, I use the Latte attachment rather than the Cappuccino one and get, what is for me, a perfect combination of hot milk and froth. Nespresso offers many types of coffee in their capsules. Eventually, I'll likely be reordering just the Ristretto and the Decaffeinato Intenso. The Ristretto is the embodiment of everything a fine, classic espresso should be.

the Nespresso machine is AWESOME, i love it. It's easy to use and clean and makes a mean espresso. The Aeroccino on the other hand is a total let down. It constantly over flows, even when you fill it to the designated lines and honestly it doesnt make the milk that hot! So, buy the Nespresso and pass on this particular milk frother!

I don't drink coffee, but I ordered one of these for my coworkers as a Christmas gift and thought I'd let everybody considering one of these know that it now comes with the newer Aeroccino Plus. The picture shows the older Aeroccino that wasn't as highly praised as the newer model.

We own these machines for 1.5. year. This is the best coffee machine and frother I have seen and used. It is very easy to operate, it is extremely easy to clean, the coffee is much better than anything we buy in coffee shops. The coffee capsules arrive in 2 days since the order is placed and the selection of coffees is great. When you compare the price of the machines and capsules with the "fancy coffee you buy in the *bucks" you will find out that after about 200 cups you start making money.

Let me start by saying that I really don't drink coffee. But, that's part of the reason I ended up getting this machine. Though I don't drink coffee, I do have friends that do and I wanted to be able to have something available when entertaining. I used to have a manual espresso machine but then I had to have bags of coffee around that I didn't use and it was a bit of a mess to clean up and set up. So, I decided to try the Nespresso machine. It is easy to use and the cleanup is not a problem. The frother works reasonably well (though it works best when you make limited quantities of milk or foam). The pod system makes offering a variety of choices possible without a lot of waste (save the capsule itself). Even the coffee-snobbiest of my friends says it makes great coffee and this machine was reasonably priced. I've read all the complaints about the cost of the pods and the complaints about getting "trapped into a system", but truth be told for my purposes that's not really an issue. The single serve process fits my needs quite well.