To Find the Best Nespresso Pods, I Drank 14 Coffees (I’m Fine, I Swear)

Coffee and wine are often fancifully described. For coffee, common tasting notes include chocolate, caramel, fruit, and baking spice. These descriptors are meant to be expressive and enticing—reading them should make you want to take a sip. 

Unfortunately, they often seem to scare people a bit. As a certified sommelier, I’ve seen this happen countless times. It makes me sad when I hear someone shrug off a tasting note by claiming “I can’t taste the difference anyway.” You can taste it—I believe in you! The secret is that differences are much more apparent when you sample several varieties side by side. This is a big part of professional training, but it’s not the way most of us drink our morning coffee (or evening wine). 

Tasting lots of coffee is the best way to discover what you like. To help get you started, I brewed 14 Nespresso pods for their Original and Vertuo machines (using our favorite models of each).  

The Winners, at a Glance

The Nespresso Scuro is balanced and flavorful. Dark roast coffee can lean a little one-note—all you taste is the bitter roast. This version retains rich individual notes of fruit and chocolate. It makes a tasty espresso or coffee and it’s flavorful enough to yield a lovely iced coffee or latte. It’s available for both the Vertuo and Original Nespresso machines.

The Nespresso Colombia is made from 100% Colombian Arabica coffee beans. This is a light roast brew with mild bitterness and sharp acidity. Nespresso recommends serving the Colombia as a coffee or espresso to appreciate its red fruit bouquet and wine-like complexity.

The Nespresso Vaniglia was by far the best of the flavored pods. It’s surprisingly subtle—the coffee doesn’t taste artificial or overly sweet. It blends well with milk for a latte or cappuccino.

This is my pick for those who avoid caffeine. It had caramel notes and stood up well to a splash of milk.

The Tests

• Plain Brew Test: I brewed a plain coffee or espresso with each pod to evaluate its smell and taste. I took notes on the aroma, flavor, and texture to help me compare cups. 
• Specialty Drink Test: I tested Nespresso’s recommended brewing style (latte, iced, espresso) for each of the top-performing pods, using whole milk where applicable. I took notes on the aroma, flavor, and texture.

What We Learned

Go Bold for Lattes and Iced Drinks 

When pairing wine with food, sommeliers aim to match intensity. For example, if you drink a delicate Chablis alongside spicy barbecued ribs, the food will overpower the taste of the wine. I found that a similar principle applied to creating Nespresso’s espresso-like drinks. Medium roast brews are lovely on their own, but the flavor of a bold dark roast blends well with milk.   

If you start your morning with a latte or iced coffee, go for a darker option. Roasting brings out coffee’s bold, smoky, and nutty flavors. These notes can stand up to milk or ice without being muted. Creamy milk also helps balance out the bitterness in bolder coffees. Nespresso recommends pods like the Nocciola and Freddo Intenso for lattes. It also offers Vertuo pods like the Forte and Leggero specifically designed for iced coffee. 

Use Nespresso’s Guide 

Each pod has its own profile page on Nespresso’s website. Nespresso provides tasting notes, brewing recommendations, and individual scales for body, bitterness, roast, and acidity. I didn’t always pick up on the exact tasting notes mentioned by the company, but I did find that I agreed with the overall intensity score for each pod. Once you find a few pods that you like, try using Nespresso’s website to find similar brews. 

Know Your Machine: Vertuo vs. Original

Nespresso makes two types of machines: the Original and Vertuo. The Original uses a high-pressure pump to force heated water through the coffee pods and make espresso and employs the same water temperature and amount of pressure for each pod. These machines focus on espresso or lungo espressos. Several major coffee producers, including Peet’s and Starbucks, make compatible coffee pods. 

Vertuo machines are a little more high-tech. Each Vertuo pod includes a barcode. The machine scans this code and adjusts the brewing process to complement the coffee. Rather than simply allowing water to drip through the grounds, the machine injects a small amount of water into each pod and spins it while the coffee infuses. Vertuo machines can make espresso or coffee and the pods are proprietary.  

The Criteria: What to Look for in a Nespresso Pod

The best Nespresso coffees are smooth and balanced with just a touch of bitterness. Look for a pod style that will work with your favorite drink—bolder options are better suited for creamy and iced beverages. If you want to try a new coffee style, peruse the Nespresso website’s tasting notes to find pods with a similar intensity. 

Our Favorite Nespresso Pods

What we liked: The Scuro is a well-balanced coffee. Nespresso rates Scuro pods three out of give on the roastiness scale. I found that the medium-dark roast added enjoyable richness and toastiness without overpowering the coffee’s more subtle flavors. The mid-level intensity makes this brew versatile—Nespresso recommends enjoying it as an espresso or iced coffee. Even chilled, plenty of bold flavors come through. 

What we didn’t like: The Scuro is a blend of Robusta and Arabica coffee from Central America. There’s nothing wrong with blended coffee, but it can be harder for producers to ensure consistent flavor in every batch they make. Some tasters found the Scuro too toasty. 

Key Specs

• Tasting notes: Cacao, vanilla, chocolate
• Recommended brew style: Espresso, double espresso, iced 

What we liked: Colombia coffee pods are part of Nespresso’s Master Crafted Single Origins line of 100% Arabica coffee beans sourced from Colombia. In my opinion, drinking single-origin coffee is enjoyable even without a ton of background knowledge—it’s an easy way to appreciate the complexity and learn a bit about different coffee regions. Nespresso rates the Colombia pods a one out of five on the roastiness scale. The light roast preserves plenty of the beans’ unique characteristics. When brewed, it has notes of red berries and a wine-like complexity. 

What we didn’t like: Nespresso’s Colombia pods might not be the best choice for morning latte drinkers, as this delicate, aromatic coffee can be overpowered by milk. Light roast coffees have more caffeine than their darker counterparts—I’ll let you decide if that’s a red flag or an added perk.  

Key Specs

• Tasting notes: Candied apple, red berry, wine
• Recommended brew style: Espresso, lungo, coffee 

What we liked: This vanilla-flavored espresso is surprisingly subtle. The Nespresso website lists “natural vanilla aroma” and “other natural aromas” as flavoring agents. When brewed, Vaniglia lacks the cloying sweetness and harsh artificial edge found in some flavored coffees. Nespresso suggests drinking Vaniglia coffee as a lungo or cappuccino, latte, or macchiato. During testing, I found that this coffee paired nicely with milk. Vaniglia lattes were delicate, creamy, and lightly sweet. 

What we didn’t like: Vaniglia pods are only available in espresso format—they aren’t compatible with the Vertuo machine. 

Key Specs

• Tasting notes: Vanilla, sweet biscuit, cereal
• Recommended brew style: Espresso, lungo, latte

What we liked: The Nespresso Fortado blend is a solid option for the caffeine-averse. This is a dark roast with medium-high intensity. It yields a satisfyingly robust cup of coffee with toasty caramel notes. Nespresso recommends serving the Fortado as a Gran Lungo, but I found that the flavor stood up well to a splash of milk.

What we didn’t like: Fortado Decaffeinato pods are only available in Vertuo format—they aren’t compatible with the original Nespresso machine. If you’re looking for a decaf espresso after dinner, this won’t do the trick. 

Key Specs

• Tasting notes: Cacao, oak, caramel 
• Recommended brew style: Gran Lungo  

The Competition

• Nespresso Ristretto: This dark roast was overly bitter—it had a burnt finish and a thin mouthfeel. 
• Nespresso Ice Forte: The Ice Forte had a pleasant fruit and pepper aroma and lingering bitter almond on the palate—a solid choice for ice coffee devotees 
• Nespresso Ice Leggero: This blend was pleasantly toasty and fruity but once it was combined with milk and ice it produced an extremely mild drink. 
• Nespresso Napoli: This was an intense dark roast—creamier and more balanced than the Ristretto but still a little too bitter for my taste. 
• Nespresso Sweet Vanilla: This flavored pod was overly sweet and tasted artificial. 
• Nespresso Intenso: This was a robust and bold dark coffee that worked well with milk but it was slightly too bitter on its own. 
• Nespresso Roasted Hazelnut: This pod yielded a cloyingly sweet and artificial-tasting drink.  
• Starbucks by Nespresso Blonde Roast: This woody blonde roast lacked complexity. 
• Peet’s Coffee Crema Scura: Sadly, this was an intense dark coffee with a strong bitter finish and minimal depth. 

FAQs

How do you recycle Nespresso pods? 

Nespresso pods are made from recyclable aluminum. You can’t throw them into your home recycling bin, but the company offers several ways to return used pods. Capsules can be dropped off at a Nespresso store or shipped to a waste center with a provided recycling bag. Nespresso has also created a network of collection points for in-person returns—use its website to find one near you. 

How much caffeine is in a Nespresso pod?

Caffeine content varies depending on the type of bean, degree of roast, and pod size. Nespresso espresso pods generally contain between 70 to 150 mg of caffeine. Vertuo pods are slightly larger and range from 170 to 200 mg.

Can you use Nespresso pods twice?

No—Nespresso pods are single-use. Brewing an espresso or cup of coffee extracts most of the flavor from the grounds. Reusing a pod would result in a weak, flavorless cup. 

Why We’re the Experts

• Madeline Muzzi is a regular Serious Eats contributor, reviewing kitchen items like flatware and toaster ovens. 
• As a certified sommelier, Madeline is formally trained in deductive tasting. 
• Madeline tasted 14 different Nespresso coffees multiple times to conduct this review. 
• We’ve also reviewed Nespresso coffee makers.