Tailored Pod Coffeee

I always thought pod coffee and was a gimmick of sorts for lazy people and that it was no different from instant coffee or pre ground coffee. It was not until we stayed at a resort that had a tea/ coffee station with a Nespresso machine and an abundance of pods to choose from that I realiszed that you can get a fresh perfectly brewed espresso shot or coffee any style you like without any skill or effort consistently. I always struggled to make my espresso shots perfectly. It was either not packed well so it channeled, or it over soaked and became bitter. But with this nespresso, the shots were perfect and full of notes and flavors every time! I just had to buy one! In this blog, we will be unboxing the newly arrived machine and carrying out the first mandatory cleaning process.

The box shipped from amazon just like this with no writing on it except for the large Nespresso. It was surprisingly light. By the way you can see our current espresso machine in the background on the right. It served its purpose well, too bad my skills were not good enough. I will still practice though!

We began opening the box pretty excitedly only to find out that the actual box was inside a shipping box of sorts. I was quite surprised to see that the product box was made entirely of recycled eco friendly materials. The downside to this though is that it left a lot of dush particles everywhere!

This is what the side and front as well as the back of the box looked like with basic instructions and how to differentiate between the pods we well as recycling recommendations.

The first thing I saw when we opened this eco friendly box was the welcome tray with a nice sampling of pods that got we really excited! It was so nice to hold and open, much like a box of chocolates.

Again, much like a box of select sweets or candy, there was a little menu with an explanation of each of the pods, their flavor profiles and how much volume of coffee each pod will produce. The pods have a circular barcode that you can see in the photo above (on the edge of the rims) that tell the machine how to adjust its parameters to perfectly brew each type of pod. Goodbye over/under brewed coffee!

I digress from my little distraction! On to the rest of the box which opened out very conveniently via the front side and not the top side. This made it so much easier to take the machine out.

Once removed from the container, the machine looked like this with all of its wonderful plastic. The object on the bottom left is the adjustable cup platform while the booklets on the right would be what you expected, the manual, warranty and a catalogue of the available pods.

The plastic was so satisfying to peel off, I just had to put this in here to say that. This is really the favorite part of unboxings for me! This did leave a bit of static charge that messed around with the residual dust left by the recyclable box.

This is what the machine looks like, ready to be used for the first time and be plugged in. At this point we were really excited but first the initial setup cleaning process much be done.

The really cool thing about this model is that the water reservoir can swiveled or moved to either side or flush in the middle back of the machine. It was a little small for my liking but I guess I don't mind filling it up that often to get good tasting coffee, no offence to myself!

Initial Cleaning Procedure

First the reservoir should be rinsed and filled with clean water to at least 1 liter in volume. Make sure the reservoir is properly seated.

Plug in the machine and press the only button on the top of the machine. It will start to blink green while it heats up and gets ready. After a few seconds the flashing will become a steady green to signify that the machine is ready.

Next place a large container under the dispensary nozzle, big enough to hold at least 1 liter of water before starting the cleaning cycle. Press the button three times within 2 seconds to initiate the cleaning. You will see the LED turn orange.

The machine will whir up and start the process which would take around 7 minutes according to the manual (it felt much shorter for me). I just left it for while. When it finished, the LED turned green again to signify that it was finished!

In our next episode, we will be exploring the rest of the coffee pods that came with the delivery. All in all, so far, it was a 5/10 unboxing experience. Look out for my review of the machine and the taste test as well! Thanks for reading! Cheers!