Aldecoa Nespresso Coffee Capsules, Smooth, 10 Count (Pack of 4)

A couple of years ago, I tried another Nespresso compatible capsule available through Amazon and was unimpressed. As far as I know, those capsules -- after being significantly discounted to clear out stock -- became unavailable. I expect the same thing to happen with these.Seriously, even at the discounted price I got (57 cents per capsule versus Nespresso's 70 cents, though today I see the price difference is even less), the discount is not large enough to induce me to purchase these again. I'm not even sure if I'd purchase these again at half that price. The big problem isn't a lack of flavor, it's that the flavor just isn't right. I could tell as soon as I opened the foil pouch that something was wrong because the coffee aroma smelled more like Maxwell House or some other inexpensive grocery store coffee, not even a better quality of ground coffee like Peet's. And the taste of my first espresso shot confirmed what my nose told me. The flavor I experienced was that of strong but not particularly good coffee. I immediately made a shot using a Nespresso capsule of the same intensity and the difference was like night and day: strong, low-quality drip coffee versus real espresso.As some other reviewers have mentioned, even if the coffee inside these capsules was of the same quality as Nespresso there would be the issue of the capsules not being air-tight. Unless you use the entire pouch of 10 capsules at once, the quality of each capsule will diminish as it's exposed to air.One would think that someone trying to break into Nespresso's market would try a little harder to match the quality of Nespresso. Maybe they think we all bought into Nespresso's system for ease of use and not flavor, but I'm guessing that's not true of the vast majority of Nespresso's customers. Yes, the ease of use of Nespresso's system is a selling point, but if the flavor wasn't there I wouldn't have purchased my Nespresso machine.

The pods get stuck in the chamber after use, triggering the Nespresso unit to signal blockage. Additionally, the flavor seems watery. I can't reccomend this product unless you like weaker coffee.

These capsules didn't get along very well with my machine. The foil lids would come off and remain stuck to the inside of my machine without me knowing what was wrong. Several times the pressure buildup caused high pressure coffee ground explosions and made a mess. I have way too many tea pods left (not a big tea drinker). I'll probably bite the bullet and go back to the original Nespresso pods.

The product makes a reasonable expresso with a slight after taste. I gave it a 3 because when I opened a sealed package of pods, several of the pods were damaged. EXPRESSO grinds spilled out and 4 pods were found to be crushed during the assembly production process. This experience turned me off and will preclude me from buying again. I own the U Nespresso machine.

The capsules work perfectly in my nespresso machine, but the flavor is much weaker than the flavor of the nespresso capsules I usually use (I am a fan of the vivalto lungo.) If you like a weaker/drip coffee like flavor you may still be pleased with these capsules, but for me the taste just wasn't there.

I found the coffee to be bitter, lacking the smooth, pleasant taste of the Nespresso's more intense coffees. I usually drink a strong dark roast coffee, but requires a lot of sugar or some milk to counter the bitterness. The capsules themselves worked fine. I like to recycle and compost; while one can open these and separate the grinds, foil top and plastic cup, it is a lot of work and takes away from the convenience of using capsules.

I very carefully weighed the contents of each capsule in a bag and came up considerably short - but got in contact with the company who were very responsive, including being willing to share their QA results. The crema is good, and as long as the roast is what you're looking for, this is quite an acceptable replacement for Nespresso pods.

There are a number of Nespresso style capsules on the market, and it seems like I have tried most of them. The Aldecoa capsules are by far the best....better than the Nespresso branded ones in my opinion. They work/fit perfectly in my Nespresso Essenza machine. Delicious crema layer and high quality coffee. I love the fact that you can actually SEE the coffee in the clear capsule....nothing hiding in there. Oh, and the appealing price is just icing on the cake. Also bought the tea capsules for my wife and they are so good I have started drinking tea on occasion too.