LIHONG Reusable Coffee Capsules for Original Line, Stainless Steel Refillable Coffee Pods Kit, Contains 2 Reusable Espresso Pods, 100 Lids+ Finger Mit+ Steel Spoon

Workday great with my machine

These two stainless steel reusable pods are well made and include 100 foil lids and a few other goodies (scoop, rubber finger, extra gaskets). I got this set hoping to recreate the morning elixir provided by my beloved Nespresso capsules to save money, compost the grinds, and not have to send pods for recycling… but unfortunately, I have been unable to recreate the precise chemistry of a vacuum packed, aluminum Nespresso pod. I did a bunch of experimenting too! My first week of experiments were all failures. I tried using a manual burr grinder, as well as an electric grinder with various medium and dark roasted espresso beans to create a fine “powder.” I even tried running pre-ground espresso beans through the grinders twice. Ha! I tried loosely packing the coffee into the pods, which of course made a weak cup. I tried tightly overpacking the pods, which made our Citiz Nespresso machine choke and finally yield a bitter “Joe.” Heck, I even tried packing and “blooming” the grinds in the capsules before putting the foil lid on (blooming is adding a few drops of water)… that method just yielded an even more bitter “espresso” (and I use that term loosely because it wasn’t drinkable).During week two I had a minor breakthrough. In order to remove grind consistency and the quantity of coffee from the equation, I opened an aluminum Nespresso pod, put the grounds into one of these reusable stainless steel pods, and then brewed my usual 1.5 fl oz shot. Wow! It was closer… In a side by side comparison (aluminum pod vs reusable pod), both had a similar crema and color; however, the espresso provided by the reusable pod didn’t smell or taste quite as complex. Furthermore, the “nose” lacked depth and didn’t provide the usual dopamine inducing aromatic overtones that kick start my day. As far as taste, the reusable pod’s yield tasted “flatter” too (less dimensional) but was only slightly more bitter. Also missing was the smoothness and sweet notes that make me want to sing, “Coffeeeeee. I love you coffeeeeeee.” The bitterness and lack of complexity indicates to me that the reusable pod allowed the water to be in contact with the coffee grinds slightly longer. I didn’t expect that given these reusable pods have more water holes (9) as compared to the three that get punctured into the back of an aluminum pod by the machine. The difference in pod dimensions is also likely a factor. The reusable pod is shorter than an aluminum Nespresso pod and has to be in order to avoid the hole punching mechanism of the machine. Either way, the final results weren’t close enough for me so I’ll keep experimenting and post an update if I finally get a result I can live with. In the meantime I am burning through foil lids quickly and battling the side effects of caffeination. If I can’t get the chemistry after 100 foil lids, I’ll be moving on and will succumb to spending the extra money for the real deal. I refuse to start my day with something that tastes like drip or Cafe Bustelo. It may work for some folks, but I just can’t… OMG I’m officially a coffee snob.Oh!… and I should point out that if you’re like me and get impatient for your morning brew, you won’t be crazy about the amount of prep and cleanup that comes along with using refillable pods. I’d do it if it if the end results were acceptable though.

This is my second set of Nespresso re-usable coffee capsules, the previous version I got had a hard metal reusable tops. This version is much better and, with the right grind of a good coffee, produced an espresso that rivaled that of an original Nespresso coffee capsule.Pros:+ Fit perfectly: I didn't have to force my Nespresso machine closed. I have a Pixie machine+ Hold more coffee than reusable capsules with metal reusable tops+ Sealing the capsules closed was easier than I thought it would be. Just peel and stick.Cons:- Clean up is messy.- It's just a lot more work than I thought it would be overallComments:1) The work/reward ratio is pretty high. You have to pack, seal, then later clean each capsule. But for good coffee maybe it's worth it.2) Works best if the coffee is ground correctly. I had to make three capsules full, testing different grinds levels, before I hit success. What I found is don't use the finest grind - on my hand grinder, about 1/4 away from the finest grind had the best success3) Don't over pack the capsules. When you put the coffee in the capsules, don't tamp down the coffee very hard. The nespresso machine can only push so hard. A light tamping is all that's needed.Summary - These are only really useful if you have some coffee beans you have to try but don't want to get a real espresso machine. If you're a coffee snob and have to have the best coffee, just get either a real espresso machine or maybe a Phillips automatic espresso machine. Both those require maintenance and clean up; for the rest of us, nothing really beats the convenience of Nespresso machines.

Disclosure: This was sent to me for free via the Vine program. I did not receive monetary compensation to write this review, just the product itself.Got this because I have a lot of coffee that I buy from independent roasters that I want to try in my Nespresso Original line machine. Loading and filling these things with the included spoon is a breeze and they even give you a little pinchy rubber thing to hold the capsule while you do it. Applying the lid is a bit fiddly but overall not bad. Makes a decent cup, too. My only problem with it are the lids. It's not very environmentally friendly and frankly, when I run out of the lids I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to do. But for the price, you could do far worse. And who doesn't love using their own really good coffee stash to make a fine cup of brew?

I really wanted to love this set of refillable Nescafe-style capsules. I have a Hamilton Beach FlexBrew Universal machine that can brew K-cups, its own single-serve, and Nescafe original line capsules. Perhaps it's just my machine, which has a finicky lever on the espresso portion. At any rate, when I placed the capsule in the slot, it truly felt like if I pushed it all the way, the lever was going to break. I gave up after 5 attempts. The capsule I tried to use had new holes in the base, which I found rather alarming. It might not be an issue in a true Nescafe brewer.As for the loading: The included metal scoop is very nice for both loading and lightly tamping. They included an extra pair of rubbery collars that go on the outside of the capsule just below the top. The seals are a bit thicker than I expected, but one does need a steady hand to properly center it on the filled capsule.Again, I really wanted to love these, but they just don't seem to work in my machine.

Works great for my espresso machine.I can easily make espresso capsules with your favorite beans.However, I think this is slightly lighter than the original espresso capsule. Maybe it's because there's not enough space to put coffee powder.And if I add a lot of coffee powder, it makes hard to extract the espresso. It may take a lot of practice to make espresso capsules.