Nespresso has become a household name thanks to its innovative espresso machines and creamy capsules. However, those tiny packets of coffee heaven come at a steep price.
Instead of spending an unseemly amount for their daily coffee, many people are turning to capsules compatible with Nespresso machines from alternative brands. In fact, these substitutes are becoming the first choice for many individuals.
With the growing popularity of Nespresso compatible capsules, it can be hard to spot quality ones.
If you were to embark on a mission of finding the tastiest one yourself, you would likely overdose on caffeine before you taste half of the brands.
That’s why we made it easier for you to find the best Nespresso compatible capsules on the market at the moment with the following list.
Best Nespresso Compatible Capsules
Here are the ten great Nespresso capsule alternatives with plenty of variety to suit any coffee preference.
Peet’s Coffee Espresso Capsules
Peet’s Coffee has decades of experience in making coffee products, and this variety pack reflects their expertise. Made from 100% Arabica beans, these Nespresso compatible capsules make rich and bold coffee flavors. If you prefer to drink strong coffee, this variety pack will suit your needs.
You will get to sample five high-intensity blends, each one offering 10 Nespresso compatible capsules. You will have plenty of options to help you find your favorite. The capsules are compatible with Nespresso original brewers, including KitchenAid, Essenza Plus, Essenza Mini, Citiz, Creatista, Pixie, and Lattissima.
Additionally, they come in a fully-sealed recyclable aluminum material to preserve the delicious flavor and aroma for a robust and intense espresso experience.
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Caffè Borbone Respresso Espresso Capsules
Made to be compatible with the Nespresso OriginalLine machines, these espresso capsules are pretty affordable and offer great varieties. From the light-tasting ones to those with more intense tastes, these capsules will hit you with a smooth, woody caffeine aroma.
The coffee is roasted in different locations, thereby giving each blend a distinct flavor. Caffè Borbone ensures all their blends are quality by maintaining the flavor in each stage- roasting, grinding, and packaging. The capsules come in Ricco, Intelligente, Gentleman, Purismo, Delicato, and Maestro blends.
In addition, they are packaged in BPA-free polypropylene casings, making them environmentally friendly.
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L’OR Espresso Capsules
This offer from L’OR includes five boxes of various coffee flavors, including Ristretto, Onyx, Or Absolu, Colombia, and Profondo. Each flavor has a fairly high-intensity rating, with the lowest being an 8 and the powerful Onyx box with an impressive rating of 12.
L’OR ensures that each capsule includes the highest quality of coffee with their gold standard mark. Plus, they boast a 100% UTZ certification, meaning that all the coffee comes from plantations that practice sustainable growing methods.
Thankfully, this top-notch quality does not mean a high price. Each capsule is notably less expensive than its Nespresso counterpart. Additionally, each aluminum pod ensures a continued delicious taste and fits perfectly in your Nespresso Original Line machine.
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Don Francisco’s Clasico Espresso Capsules
If you’re looking for flavorful capsules for your Nespresso machine, this product is for you. We can recommend Don Francisco’s Clasico to any coffee lover who is also an environmentalist. This product promises a rich, flavorful payoff with enticing honey-golden crema as a highly aromatic premium coffee capsule.
The dark-roasted espresso is also enriched with spicy dark chocolate notes from 100% Arabica coffee beans in South and Central America. It has an intensity level of 9, making it great for coffee addicts with a preference for strong drinks.
You don’t have to worry about the environmental part as this coffee is blended, roasted, and packaged at an environmentally friendly roaster in LA.
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Starbucks Espresso Dark Roast
Starbucks lovers, this one here is for you. Now you can enjoy the Starbucks coffee in the comfort of your home. In collaboration with Nespresso, Starbucks provides you with a variety pack that brings a selection of up to 5 blends.
Made to work perfectly with standard Nespresso machines such as Pixie, Essenza Mini, KitchenAid, Expert, Lattissima, Creatista, and more, their Espresso Dark Roast gives you intense caramel-tasting flavors with an intensity of 11. It is perfect with steamed milk.
The capsules are made from aluminum to guarantee freshness for a long time. Plus, you get ten pods in each of the five blends.
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Bestpresso Capsules- Decaffeinato
With a generous 120 Nespresso compatible capsules, this package from Bestpresso coffee offers good value for your money. For those who like ordering coffee in bulk, this package will satisfy your coffee needs.
With an intensity of 7, you will get a pleasant medium-roast taste that will warm up your taste buds. The Bestpresso Coffee Decaffeinato does not contain caffeine, making it a great choice for people who love the coffee taste but not the caffeine.
There are a few standout features with this product. For instance, they have kosher certification by the Orthodox Union. This award is quite commendable as it shows they have passed the high standards set for kosher food.
In addition, they are made in an environmentally friendly area, and the capsules are recyclable.
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Meseta Nespresso Compatible Capsules
Buying delicious coffee is one thing, but finding an organic, pesticide-free coffee option is hitting the jackpot. Meseta Coffee Capsules checks all of those boxes.
The blend uses 100% Arabica beans from Mexico, Peru, and Bolivia. Due to the careful selection of Arabica beans and the fact that they are lightly roasted, this blend gives you flavorful and aromatic coffee. Plus, it adds an incredibly natural fragrance, strong acidity, and low bitterness to your coffee.
The capsules are made in Italy and are compatible with all Nespresso OriginalLine machines, including Pixie, Citiz, Essenza, Lattissima, Expert, and more. However, the capsules are not compatible with VertuoLine.
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Real Coffee Mixed Variety Pack
The Mixed Variety Pack comes with 100 Nespresso compatible capsules that are organic, giving you the best quality brew at home. This pack offers nine different varieties: Espresso Venezia, Espresso Roma, Espresso Verona, Espresso Sumatra, Espresso Torino Decaf, Espresso Bologna, Lungo San Marino, and Espresso Napoli Signature Blend. With all these blends, you will have plenty of coffee varieties to try.
Espresso Venezia and Espresso Roma are made from 80% Arabic beans and 20% Robusta beans from South America. These beans come from local farms that follow sustainable coffee-growing practices.
The rest of the Mixed Variety Pack includes 100% Arabica beans grown in farms that do not use chemicals and pesticides. This way, you can enjoy organic coffee that’s healthier.
The coffee pods are compatible with Nespresso Original Line machines, from Citiz, Pixie, Essenza, Prodigio, Gran Maestria, Inissia to Latissima.
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Lavazza Espresso Capsules- Variety Pack
Lavazza is one of the biggest coffee brands in Italy. This family-owned brand has existed for over 120 years and provides quality blends of coffee with great tastes and aroma. Lavazza capsules are compatible with Nespresso Original machines and come in foil-sealed packaging for easy piercing and freshness. They offer various intensities and roasts, from the Leggero (4) to Deciso (10). In addition, there is also a decaffeinated option.
We recommend starting with the variety pack for a wide-ranging taste, which offers six-packs of 10 pods, including Leggero, Deciso, Decaffeinato Ricco, Avvolgente, and Armonico (2 boxes). With such a variety, you can try all of them to find your favorite blend to bulk order in the future.
And the best part is that even if you are not a decaf drinker, it is always good to have a few capsules for when guests visit your home.
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Illy Espresso Aluminum Capsules
This Italian brand has a good reputation in coffee beans, specializing in 100% Arabica blends. Illy sources its beans worldwide to produce unique blends designed to highlight all that coffee can offer. You will get the chocolate flavors from Guatemala, floral notes of Ethiopian coffee, sweet caramel from Brazil, spicy taste from Indian beans, and fruity flavor from Colombia. Illy has perfected the process of bringing all these flavors together in a perfect manner.
These Nespresso compatible capsules do not mess around. They are dark and vibrant and thus will make coffee that has intense flavor and taste. The classic roast flavors of the roasted beans and the bittersweet taste of chocolate will hit your taste buds intensively.
They are great for coffee shots and for coffee lovers who like their drinks strong.
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Buyer’s Guide
If you are still undecided about which would be the best Nespresso compatible capsules to go for, this section is for you. We will discuss the factors you need to consider when choosing Nespresso compatible capsules.
Machine Compatibility
Even though all the coffee capsules present in this guide are compatible with Nespresso machines, you still have to confirm that your desired coffee capsule is compatible with your particular device. There are currently two lines of Nespresso machines on the market; the OriginalLine and the VertuoLine.
Just to give you a quick overview of the two, the OriginalLine machines are the older version of the two and brew your standard espresso and lungo drinks. On the other hand, VertuoLine is more versatile and allows your to brew a range of different drink sizes; both espresso and drip style coffee. The VertuoLine range uses unique barcode scanning technology on their capsules to inform the machine how to brew each capsule. At present there are no Nespresso compatible capsules for the VertuoLine range, the majority of Nespresso compatible pods work exclusively with the OriginalLine.
Therefore, before you go for a pack of capsules, it is important to check if they are compatible with your Nespresso machine. You don’t want to waste your money on capsules that can’t fit your Nespresso machine.
Varieties/Blends Included
Nespresso compatible capsules come with the options of buying one flavor in bulk or a variety of flavors. When you are starting out it is a good idea to opt for the variety packs, which allow you to sample a wide variety of blends, intensities and flavors. This gives you a good starting point to see which flavors and intensities of coffee you prefer. Once you have found your favorite blends you can move to buying them in bulk.
Intensity Level
You will find the intensity level of espresso expressed on a scale of 1 to 12. Espresso beans with an intensity level ranging from 1 to 4 are fairly light. Therefore, if you enjoy a more mild coffee, you will find these capsules ideal for your taste. This range is also great for those looking for new coffee blends that are not too bitter.
The intensity range between 5 and 7 is a safe choice as well, as it is a great middle-ground. These options are ideal for people who are used to drinking coffee.
Coffee blends with intensity levels ranging from 8-12 tend to have robust and bitter flavors, great for coffee addicts who need a strong kick in the morning.
Bear in mind, that the Intensity level does not indicate the caffeine content of a Nespresso capsule, but rather the flavor, strength, and roast level used.
When choosing coffee capsules for your Nespresso machines, make sure to check the intensity range to ensure it suits your taste preferences.
Origin
Coffee origin refers to the geographical area the espresso beans come from. The growing and cultivating location plays a role in the coffee flavor. Some popular geographical locations that produce coffee beans include Brazil, Colombia, Ethiopia, Hawaii, and Indonesia. For adventurous coffee lovers, it’s fun to experiment with coffee capsules from different origins and taste the different flavor profiles.
Coffee Roast
Coffee roasts range from light to dark, and there is no right or wrong choice – it depends entirely on your personal preference. For adventurous coffee lovers, you can try a range of coffee roasts. Generally, a dark roast has an intense flavor that tends to give you a good hit of caffeine every time you taste it. Light roasts usually have a more mild flavor, which is perfect for those afternoon coffee moments.
Other Factors to Keep In Mind
The more features you are aware of, the easier it will be to find the best Nespresso compatible capsules for you.
Final Verdict
Now that we have come to the end of our guide, we hope that you have found some new Nespresso compatible capsules to try. All the above coffee capsules have a unique design that makes them compatible with OriginalLine Nespresso coffee machines. They can be either used at home or carried to work.
If you are still undecided about which brand to pick, our Editor’s Choice is the Peet’s Coffee Espresso Capsules. Every coffee lover will have something in this variety pack as each capsule packs incredible intensity. The flavors fall between mild and moderate in intensity, thereby offering the perfect balance for everyone. Furthermore, you get good value for your money.
We do hope our guide has helped you spot the best Nespresso compatible capsules available. For some tips on the best places to buy Nespresso pods and how to choose the perfect blend see our article on where to buy Nespresso capsules.
