Are you a coffee drinker? Then you’re probably thinking of purchasing your own machine for making quality caffeinated beverages at home – if you don’t already own one, that is. The Nespresso line from Nestle offers affordable Dolce Gusto coffee makers for buyers to enjoy at home. There are many Dolce Gusto options for you to choose from: the Piccolo (which is the smallest of all the coffee machines in this series), the Genio (the newest model), Melody 2, Creativa, Circo, Creativa, etc.. All models have been featured in a range of infomercials. Prices of the Dolce Gusto coffee machines range from $45 to $200.
For today’s post we selected the Dolce Gusto Genio. The Dolce Gusto Genio review below aims to figure out how good this machine is at producing top-notch coffee brews, both for discerning palates, as well as for regular drinkers.
Features
The Dolce Gusto is an espresso machine which comes in several variants and can be purchased online, via DolceGustoCoffee.com. Our Dolce Gusto Genio review focuses on the new release of the product, available as of August, 2013. The coffee comes from flavor capsules, which can be purchased separately, in 16-capsule boxes. Some of the most popular flavors include black coffees (Americano, espresso, dark roast, lungo, morning blend, etc.), specialty drinks (cappuccino, skinny cappuccino, latte macchiato, skinny latte, caramel latte, vanilla latte, chocohino, mocha), exotic drinks, and chilled drinks. The capsules are based on powdered milk and the machine comes with a 15-bar pressure pump.
Reasons to Buy the Dolce Gusto Genio
– It offers numerous flavors
There’s so many of them they can almost get confusing! Users can freely select between regular coffee brews, flavored drinks, chilled drinks and others. The Dolce Gusto Genio even offers the wildly popular Chai Tea Latte as part of its range of flavors.
– It has a near-professional grade system
The 15-bar pressure pump-based system is great even for the more experienced coffee drinkers out there. While they may not agree with all the features and flavors of the Dolce Gusto Genio, they will, however, be impressed with its powerful system, which is, after all is said and done, able to produce impressive results.
– It’s not expensive
The price-quality ratio of the Dolce Gusto Genio is satisfactory, according to more than just one Dolce Gusto Genio review we’ve read online. The machine costs $129, which makes it one of the low-end espresso machines offered by Nestle, as part of its Nespresso range.
– The drinks are customizable.
Though the machine’s producers don’t specifically explain this, it’s worth bearing in mind that not all drinks require the same amount of water. One Dolce Gusto Genio review out there encourages buyers to experiment with their preferences by varying the amount of water they use.
Customer Issues and Concerns
We found one Dolce Gusto Genio review online which spoke of testing the machine both on connoisseurs of coffee and on regular drinkers. While, by and large, the regular drinkers were rather impressed with the machine, both in terms of features, as well as of flavors offered, the aficionados were mostly underwhelmed. Some of their issues included the fact that the capsules are based on artificial powdered milk. Moreover, they were curious to know whether other brands of coffee capsules are compatible with the machine, only to find out they aren’t. Less experienced users also complained at times about the learning curve involved in dealing with the machine, as well as with the fact that it might at times be difficult to find the capsules. Since most drinks require the use of two capsules, this might render the ultimate price of a single drink rather high: two capsules cost $1.19 and a box only offers eight drinks, not 16, as many would be tempted to believe.
The Verdict
The verdict of our Dolce Gusto Genio review is mixed, if leaning toward the positive side in terms of performance. Overall, the machine does provide coffee drinks which many might enjoy, especially if they’re not hardcore drinkers. Espresso fanatics, on the other hand, should probably consider other products, which are both more professional, as well as more readily available. If you’re into lattes, cappuccinos, or mochas, then the Dolce Gusto Genio is probably all right for you.