by Amazon Colombian Coffee Aluminium pods review

Nineteen pence a cup, in aluminium, for a machine millions of UK households already own. That is the review. by Amazon's Colombian capsules are a third-party product built to fit Nespresso Original machines and to undercut the capsules Nespresso and its licensees sell for the same slot, and on price they undercut them by roughly a third. The coffee is a medium roast Colombian sold on being pleasant rather than distinctive. If you own an Original machine and you have never bought anything but the branded sleeves, this is where you find out how much that habit costs.

Live prices, sizes and retailers for this coffee sit on its product page. This review is the analysis alongside it. See prices →

The machine it fits, and the one it does not

This is a Nespresso Original compatible capsule. It is not made by Nespresso, and Amazon's listing names the Original machines it is built for: Inissia, Essenza Mini, Pixie, CitiZ, Expert, Lattissima, Prodigio, U, KitchenAid and Creatista. Amazon are both the brand owner and the retailer here, so that listing is as close to a manufacturer statement as this product has.

It will not fit a Nespresso Vertuo. Vertuo is a separate system from the same company: the capsules are larger, they carry a barcode around the rim, and the machine reads that barcode to set the brew. No Original capsule, own-brand or compatible, works in one. That is the single most expensive mistake available in this category, and it is worth thirty seconds at the machine before you order a hundred of anything.

Nineteen pence a cup, and what it saves you

At 19p this is comfortably the cheapest capsule in our pod catalogue, against a format median of about 30p a cup. The comparison that matters is not against instant or against beans, both of which win on price and lose on the thing you bought the machine for. It is against the other capsules that fit the same slot.

Eighty pounds a year separates the top and bottom of that table, and every row brews in the same machine. This is the whole argument for compatible capsules stated in four lines: the machine was sold cheap because the capsules are where the money is, and switching capsule brand is the only lever you have that does not involve buying a different machine.

Compatible capsules are not a grey import or a workaround. Nespresso's Original patents lapsed years ago, which is precisely why the compatible market for that system is large and the Vertuo one is not. How the four UK pod systems differ

What Amazon publish about the coffee

Less than a roaster would, and more than nothing. The listing describes a medium roast Colombian with well-rounded acidity, balanced sweetness and full body, in aluminium capsules, carrying Rainforest Alliance certification. Colombian arabica at a medium roast is the safest profile in coffee: broadly liked, rarely loved, and very hard to object to.

What you do not get is a roaster's name, a harvest, or anything that would let you judge the beans. That is the honest shape of an own-label product. You are buying a specification and a price, and the specification here is a reasonable one.

Aluminium, and where the empties go

Aluminium is the better capsule material for holding aroma, because it is a genuine oxygen barrier in a way plastic is not. It is also recyclable in principle and awkward in practice, because a used capsule is metal full of wet coffee and kerbside collections generally will not take it.

The UK answer is Podback, the not-for-profit scheme set up by Nespresso, NESCAFE Dolce Gusto and Tassimo, which takes aluminium and plastic capsules from participating brands in separate bags. by Amazon are not a participating brand, so these capsules are not covered. If recycling the empties matters to you, that is a real mark against an otherwise strong product, and it is the reason the compostable capsules further down this page exist at all.

What buyers consistently report

The consistent line is that it does the job and costs a third less, which is what people buy own-label for. Reports of capsules failing to pierce or sticking in the machine are not a recurring theme for this product, and aluminium construction is the usual reason: it is the flimsier plastic compatibles that generate most of the jamming complaints in this category.

The recurring criticism is the predictable one. Set against a branded capsule it is described as thinner and less aromatic rather than unpleasant, with less crema on top. Whether that gap is worth 11p a cup is a judgement only you can make, and it is a much smaller gap than the price difference implies.

• Value is the dominant theme by a distance, and it is why people buy it a second time.
• Less crema than a branded capsule is the most common specific criticism.
• Mild is the word that recurs; buyers looking for intensity go elsewhere in the range.
• Jamming and failure to pierce are not a recurring complaint, which is the usual advantage of an aluminium build.

Who should skip it

Vertuo owners, first and absolutely. Then anyone who bought a pod machine specifically to get a big dark espresso with a thick crema, because a medium roast Colombian built for broad appeal is not that drink and no price makes it that drink. And anyone who has settled on a particular branded capsule they genuinely enjoy, because the saving here is real money but it is not life-changing money, and swapping a coffee you like for one you tolerate is a bad trade at any price.

For everyone else with an Original machine, this is the first thing to try. Buy one hundred, drink twenty, and if you cannot tell the difference you have just cut your coffee bill by a third permanently.