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Nespresso Tips 2006!
Nespresso Price Hike 2005
More Tips 'n' Maintenance
Tips 'n' Maintenance
Nespresso Lifestyle & How to Order
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More Nespresso Tips!
I usually suggest frothing first, because it allows the foam to "set" and become thick and wonderful. But, if you have a problem with grounds shooting out of the capsule and sort of getting all over, or it seems the coffee is spraying out too hard then read on...
Using the frother first, and then making espresso, causes the D150--and all the machines but Nespresso's very latest and most expensive model--to overheat in the sense that it can't make espresso correctly and the pressure is too high. If you do choose to froth first, try running some water through on the "cup" setting to cool the machine down after frothing. You'll see a lot of steam for 3-5 seconds which is the overheated water coming through and cooling off.
This tip came courtesy of the Nespresso 800 number hotline.
Bad Milk?
Don't froth/heat the milk past the point where it burns your hand if you put your finger on the bottom of the frothing jug. You'll simply start burning the milk and the flavor starts rapidly changing profiles from sweet and wonderful to sort of burnt and rancid and bitter.
Speaking of milk... it's the combination of fat and protein that creates the foam, so 1% is a good compromise for people looking to cut down on fat. Whole milk, of course, works fine, but can realllllly start adding the calories to what started as a zero calorie coffee.
More on Cleaning
I ran into a problem where coffee was starting to spray out instead of coming out in a nice, foamy stream. Turns out I hadn't "descaled" the machine recently enough. So, about every 6-9 months, descale your machine with the little packets from Nespresso, and this instantly fixes the problem! I assume vinegar would also work, but the packets are cheap so I use them.
Lungo coffee capsules
It isn't obvious from Nespresso, but the Lungo coffee capsules are the same physical dimensions as the regular capsules. They are simply designed to pour a bit faster as they have a different grind, and they have 20% more coffee in the capsule, which results in the ability to pour a 4-5 oz "Americain" coffee instead of the normal 1.5 oz espresso shot.
The Lungo blends are a great way to keep from having to make two shots for a big coffee to go in the morning.
Shipping: shipping costs have increased to $5.95/order as of January 1st, 2005.
Add this to the price of your order to determine cost-per-capsule, but if you assume about $.50 per cup of espresso/cappuccino, that's about right.