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#22
Unread 11-24-2020, 11:22 PM
Rebound Rebound is offline
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Quote from easyname :
Thank you I ordered it, any advice on how to use it effectively and on capsules is welcome. I do not like sugary drinks, but neither do I like dark roasts, I like medium and light roasts which I can enjoy as a cappuccino or a latte. Thank you

@rebound and others
I'll give it a shot. I used a Nespresso daily for a few years, until I recently got my Breville machine. I think these directions are definitely the best way to go.

The three ingredients to a cappuccino/latte are:
  1. Water
  2. Milk
  3. Espresso (capsule, in this case)
For water, I use Brita-filtered water. There are other water filters, of course. I'm not particular about the brand but you should filter your water. Make sure you like the taste of the water. Do not use distilled water; it is flavorless.

For milk, I use fresh organic non-fat. Non-fat milk foams the best by far in the milk frother. Pour it in cold and pour it out of the frother the instant the frothing is done or else it will stick inside of the frother. As the milk gets older, it froths worse. If the milk sticks, it's good to have a very tiny silicone or wood spatula for removing the milk. Don't use a metal spook or else you'll scratch up your frother.

For capsules: Peet's Red (Crema Scura), but it's fun to have a colorful assortment of capsules, especially for your guests. The Peet's assorted pack isn't worth it as the other two types aren't as good, in my opinion. We used to have one of those accessories that held lots of capsules and I'd go to the Nespresso store and buy $100 of capsules and we'd have them on display in the kitchen; it was very pretty. But later I just started buying the Peet's red 100 capsules at a time from Amazon, for about $62.

My process in the morning goes like this:
  1. Power on machine
  2. Make sure the last capsule has been ejected
  3. Brew an empty shot (clear water) into your glass. This does two things: It warms your glass, because you don't want to brew espresso into a cold cup or glass. Second, it warms up the entire brewing assembly. I think this is an essential step. Dump the hot water out of your cup/glass.
  4. Start the milk frother, and pour the milk into your warmed glass
  5. Insert the capsule and immediately brew the shot into the glass of milk. Do not load a capsule and wait. Brew right away.
  6. Brew with the small (single) shot button. You can try the large (double), but the shots usually taste pretty bad that way.
  7. I usually brew two single shots; two capsules.
  8. Eject the capsule and brew an empty shot to clean out the brewer.
  9. Fill the machine with filtered water when you're finished (or sooner, if necessary).
Brewing the empty shot before and after your espresso shot are both very important steps, in my opinion. Once the machine has been heated, you don't need to keep brewing empty shots, but when you're done, definitely brew one or two empty shots to ensure that clear water is passing out of the machine. As you can see, everything hot is important - the machine, your glass, etc.

Amazon sells very inexpensive descaling solution called Impresa. (https://www.amazon.com/Descaler-P...M7WZFAS/). This descaler works and you get two descaling runs per bottle. Two bottles should last you more than a year of daily use, even though all of the extra clear water brewing cycles means more frequent descaling. The machine will tell you when it needs descaling and it's very easy to do.

Last edited by Rebound; 11-25-2020 at 11:38 AM..