Dolce Gusto

Nescafé Dolce Gusto is a brand of the Nestlé group that markets coffee, tea and other beverages in coffee capsule format, as well as coffee machines specially designed to be compatible with its capsule system. It is present in Spain and 36 countries in Europe, 15 countries in Latin America, the United States and Canada, 17 Asian countries, Morocco, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

The machines are produced by hardware manufacturers Arno from Næver, Krups and De'Longhi.

Dolce Gusto Coffee Makers

Melody series

The first series of 2006 consisted of the models KP2000 (Black/Silver), KP2006 (Black/Silver/Red) and KP2002 (Black/Silver/White), all of them operating in a standard pressure of 14 bar. The device itself consists of a water tank, an internal water pump and an electric heater. The dispenser is in the top, where a lever lowers a plate with a single needle on the capsule holder.

The machines debuted a proprietary capsule system called smart capsule, with 8 g each, and could prepare hot or cold beverages — the heating is done internally, but for cold beverages the water has to be manually chilled in the water tank with ice.

In late 2008, Nestlè launched a new series, KP21xx/Melody2, with new colors and some other improvements:

• 15 bar pressure (instead of 14)
• Power-saving automatic switch-off (after 5 min)
• Partially chromed parts
• Wider drip collector
• Magnetic capsule holder

Since September 2010 there is a new series, Creativa Melody2, that has an LCD display. This allows the machine to be programmed and customized, for example, set it to automatically turn on in a given time and brew the capsule already in the holder. In addition, the outflow can be personalized, to obtain the same taste regardless of the cup used. There are pre-programmed settings to different capsule varieties, that can be further customized.

Circolo

In mid-2009 Nestlé added the Circolo series to the line. This machine, as the name suggests, sports a rounded design, with the same technical specifications of the Melody2 devices, but with a LED light in the water tank.

Piccolo, Genio and Fontana

In September 2010, the previous two series were supplemented by three more. Besides the Creativa mentioned above, there is the Piccolo (small, KP10xx), aimed to customers with limited space, as it is smaller, with a 600 ml water tank. Other than that, it is technically identical to the Melody2 machines.

Similarly, the Fontana (KP30xx) has the same underpinnings, but with a design reminiscent of a water tap (Italian Fontana).

The devices work, depending on the series, with 14 or 15 bar pressure.

Mini Me

The Dolce Gusto Mini Me coffee machine differs from previous ones in that it combines a small size with automatic functionality. It is very similar to the Genio, although it is somewhat more compact and also newer. It was released for the 2013 Christmas season and is one of the best-selling Dolce Gusto coffee machines because it is the cheapest of all the automatic ones. The capacity of its water tank is reduced.

Oblo and Jovia

The Dolce Gusto brand launched the Oblo and the Jovia before Christmas 2014. Both coffee machines are manual, have a 15 bar pressure pump and the same water tank capacity. Also, both coffee makers are sold in the same variety of colours: black, white and red.

In terms of design, both coffee makers are very different as while the Oblo has a square shape, the Jovia has an oval shape and rounded edges.

Stelia and Drop

In autumn 2015, the Drop and Stelia models were launched on the market with a revolutionary and different design from the previous ones. These two new models included a touch panel (called HMI).

Both coffee machines were fully automatic and controlled by the Play&Select system. Both had a water tank of 1-litre capacity which was a little bigger than the previous ones.

Eclipse and Movenza

These two coffee machines appeared on the market for the 2016 Christmas season. Both have automatic operation, a touch panel, and an innovative automatic opening function, as the main novelty concerning their predecessors. It means that just touching them directly opens the capsule insertion compartment. Besides, they have a large capacity when compared to the rest of the range: 1 litre in the water tank.

Lumio and Colors

In 2017 the Dolce Gusto brand launched the Colors model on the market, under the slogan "3 coffee makers in 1", since the coffee maker has various exterior panels in different colours with which to personalise it.

It is an automatic coffee machine (Play&Select system) with a capacity of 1 litre. It also allows us to decide the amount of water we want to use in each preparation and thus vary sizes and intensity of our preparations. Both also introduce the novelty of the XL function in the Play&Select system: a possibility to brew extra-long coffees with more water than usual.

Infinissima

The Infinissima coffee machine dates to the autumn of 2018 and is one of the brand’s largest coffee machines: its water tank has a capacity of 1.2 litres. It is 100% manual (it does not have an automatic version), and its combination of a massive tank with small dimensions is fascinating, especially in terms of the width of the coffee machine.

Esperta

This machine dates from late 2019 and the first in the Dolce Gusto catalog to boast Bluetooth connectivity. Besides, it has a very generous 1.4-liter tank and allows you to customize some aspects not found in other machines, such as the temperature of the coffee.

Similar systems

In contrast to Nespresso system, which is also made by Nestlé and has Krups as one of the major hardware vendors, the Dolce Gusto capsules are freely available in stores — with Nespresso you can only buy it either online or in special Nespresso stores (however non-official Nespresso-compatible pods are available from numerous high street retailers).

Capsules

Each pack contains 16 capsules. These are sufficient for 8 or 16 cups, depending of the type of beverage. In almost all beverages with milk, two capsules are needed: one capsule with milk powder and other with the other ingredient (be it coffee, tea or chocolate). The amount of time of preparation for each one varies.

Inside each package there is a code number printed, the so-called pleasure points system. These can be redeemed at the online Dolce Gusto shop (i.e. a pack of coffee capsules are available for 220 points). There are also coffee and tea equipment.

Varieties

The variety of flavors varies by territory. The following list provides information on the varieties available currently (APRIL 2020) listed by territory (AE = UAE, AR = Argentina, AT = Austria, AU = Australia, BE = Belgium, BG = Bulgaria, BR = Brazil, CA = Canada, CH = Switzerland, CL = Chile, CN = China, CO = Colombia, CR = Costa Rica, CZ = Czech Republic, DE = Germany, DK = Denmark, DO = Dominican Republic, EC = Ecuador, EE = Estonia, ES = Spain, FI = Finland, FR = France, GR = Greece, GT = Guatemala, HK = Hong Kong, HN = Honduras, HR = Croatia, HU = Hungary, ID = Indonesia, IE = Ireland, IL = Israel, IT = Italy, JO = Jordan, JP = Japan, KR = South Korea, KW = Kuwait, KZ = Kazakhstan, LB = Lebanon, LT = Lithuania, LV = Latvia, MA = Morocco, MT = Malta, MX = Mexico, MY = Malaysia, NI = Nicaragua, NL = Netherlands, NO = Norway, NZ = New Zealand, PA = Panama, PE = Peru, PH = Philippines, PK = Pakistan, PL = Poland, PT = Portugal, PY = Paraguay, QA = Qatar, RO = Romania, RS = Serbia, RU = Russia, SA = Saudi Arabia, SE = Sweden, SG = Singapore, SI = Slovenia, SK = Slovakia, TH = Thailand, TR = Turkey, TW = Taiwan, UA = Ukraine, UK = United Kingdom, US = USA, UY = Uruguay, VE = Venezuela, VN = Vietnam, ZA = South Africa):

Name	Intensity	Main Water	Milk Water	Availability	Notes
Ristretto	8	1	-	AE, AR, AU, BE, BG, CH, CZ, DE, DK, ES, FI, FR, GR, HU, IE, IT, JO, KW, NL, NO, NZ, PL, PT, QA, RU, SA, SE, SK, TH, TW, UA, UK
Ristretto Ardenza	11	1	-	AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, ES, FI, FR, GR, HR, HU, IE, IT, KR, MT, MY, NL, NO, PL, PT, RO, RS, RU, SE, SG, SK, TW, UK, ZA
Espresso	5	2	-	AE, AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CZ, DE, DK, DO, EC, ES, FI, FR, HU, IE, IT, JO, JP, KR, KW, KZ, LB, MA, MX, MY, NI, NL, NO, NZ, PE, PH, PK, PL, PT, RO, RU, QA, SA, SE, SG, SK, UA, TH, TW, UK, US, UY
Espresso Decaffeinato	5	2	-	AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CH, CZ, DE, DK, ES, FI, FR, GR, HR, HU, IE, IT, KR, MT, MX, NI, NL, NO, NZ, PL, PT, RO, RU, SE, SK, HK, UA, UK
(Espresso) Barista	9	1	-	AT, BE, BG, BR, CH, CZ, DE, DK, EE, ES, FI, FR, GR, HR, HU, IE, IL, IT, LT, LV, MT, MX, NI, NL, NO, PE, PL, PT, RO, RS, RU, SE, SK, UA, UK
Bonka Espresso	8	1	-	ES	A coffee brand by Nestlé
(Espresso) Buondi	8	1	-	BG, CH, CZ, DE, GR, HU, IT, PT, SK, TH, UA	A coffee brand by Nestlé
Espresso Intenso	7	2	-	AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CH, CL, CN, CO, CR, CZ, DE, DK, EC, EE, ES, FI, FR, GR, GT, HK, HN, HR, HU, ID, IE, IL, IT, JP, KR, LT, LV, MT, MX, MY, NI, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PL, PT, PY, RO, RS, RU, SE, SG, SI, TH, TR, TW, UA, UK, US, UY, VN, ZA
Espresso Intenso Decaffeinato	7	2	-	DE, ES, IT
Espresso Macchiato (Cortado)	-	3	-	AR, AT, BE, BG, BR, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EE, ES, FI, FR, GR, HR, HU, IE, IT, KZ, LT, LV, MT, MX, MY, NI, NL, NO, PL, PT, RO, RS, RU, SE, SG, SK, UK, UY
Espresso Macchiato (Cortado) Decaffeinato	-	3	-	AT, DE, DK, ES, FI, FR, GR, HU, IE, IT, NL, NO, PL, RO, SE, UK
Espresso Caramel	7	2	-	AT, BE, CH, CL, CZ, DE, DK, EE, ES, FI, FR, GR, HU, IT, KR, LT, LV, NL, NO, PL, PT, RU, SE, SK, TW, UK, UY
Yunnan Espresso	7	2	-	AT, BE, CH, CR, CZ, DK, ES, FI, FR, GT, HN, IT, NL, NO, PA, PL, PT, RU, SE, SK	Limited edition FINISH
Dallmayr Crema D'Oro	7	5	-	AT, DE, DK, FI, NO, SE
Dallmayr Prodomo	5	5	-	AT, CH, DE, DK, FI, NO, SE
Sical	7	1	-	IT, PT	A coffee brand by Nestlé
(Caffè) Americano / House Blend	4	7	-	AR, AU, BE, CA, CL, CO, CR, CZ, DK, EC, FI, FR, GR, GT, HN, IE, IT, KR, KZ, MX, NI, NO, NZ, PA, PL, RU, SE, SK, TH, TR, TW, UK, US, UY, VE, ZA
Americano Intenso	6	7	-	EC, KR, UK	Worldwide exclusive launch
Caffè Buongiorno / Matinal	9	4	-	BR	Traditional Brazilian coffee
(Caffè) Lungo / Regular Blend	6	4	-	AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CN, CZ, DE, DK, DO, EE, ES, FI, FR, GR, HK, HR, HU, ID, IE, IT, JP, KR, KZ, LT, LV, MA, MX, MY, NI, NL, NO, NZ, PE, PH, PL, PT, PY, RO, RS, RU, SE, SG, SI, SK, TH, TR, TW, UA, UK, US, UY
(Caffè) Lungo Decaffeinato / Regular Blend Decaffeinato	6	4	-	AT, BE, CA, CH, CL, DE, DK, ES, FI, FR, GR, IE, IT, JP, KR, MX, NI, NL, NO, RO, SE, TW, UK, US, ZA
(Caffè) Lungo Intenso / Roast Blend	9	4	-	AT, BE, BG, CZ, DE, DK, FI, FR, IE, IT, JP, KR, MX, NI, NL, NO, PL, RO, SE, SK, TW, UK
(Caffè) Lungo Mild	3	4	-	AT, BE, BG, CH, DE, DK, FI, IE, JP, NL, NO, PL, RO, SE, UK
(Caffè) N'Yumba Lungo	7	4	-	AT, BE, BG, CH, CZ, DK, FI, IE, IT, KR, MT, NL, NO, PL, PT, SE, SG, SK, UK	100% Rwandan arabica. Limited edition. FINISH
(Caffè Crema) Grande / Medium Roast /Caffè Aroma	5	7	-	AT, BE, BG, CA, CH, CZ, DE, DK, EC, EE, FI, FR, GR, HU, IE, IT, LT, LV, MT, MX, NI, NL, NO, PL, PT, RU, SE, SK, TW, UA, UK
(Caffè) Grande Intenso / Dark Roast	9	7	-	BE, CA, CH, CZ, DE, DK, EE, ES, HK, FI, FR, GR, ID, IE, IL, IT, KR, LT, LV, MT, MY, NL, NO, PE, PH, PL, RU, SE, SG, SK, TW, UA, UK, US, VN
(Caffè) Grande Mild / Morning Blend	3	7	-	AT, BE, CH, DE, DK, FI, IE, IT, JP, KR, NL, NO, SE, UK, US
Zoégas Dark Temptation	7	6	-	DK, FI, NO, SE	A Swedish company acquired by Nestlé. A high percentage of the beans are from Kenya's highlands. FINISH
Zoégas Intenzo	8	6	-	DK, FI, NO, SE	Consists primarily of selected beans from Central America's hillsides.
Zoégas Mollbergs	6	6	-	DK, FI, NO, SE	Extremely high proportion of Arabica from Kenya's highlands.
Zoégas Skånerost	6	6	-	DK, FI, NO, SE	100% Arabica. East Africa, Brazil and highlands in Central America beans blend.
Iced Coffee Blend	-	3	-	JP, KR	Iced
Café Au Lait	-	6	-	AR, AT, AU, BE, BR, CH, CZ, CL, DE, DK, DO, EC, EE, ES, FI, FR, GR, HK, HR, ID, IE, IL, IT, KR, LT, LV, MA, MX, MY, NI, NL, NO, NZ, PL, PT, PY, RO, RU, SE, SG, SK, TH, UA, UK, UY, VN, ZA
Café Au Lait Decaffeinato	-	6	-	ES
Latte Macchiato	-	2	5	AE, AR, AT, AU, BE, BR, CA, CH, CL, CN, CO, CR, CZ, DE, DK, DO, EE, ES, FI, FR, GR, GT, ID, HN, HR, HU, IE, IT, JP, KR, LT, LV, MT, MX, MY, NI, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PE, PK, PL, PT, PY, RS, RO, RU, SE, SG, SI, SK, TH, TR, TW, UA, UK, US, VE, ZA
Latte Macchiato Light	-	2	5	AR, AT, BG, CH, CO, CZ, DE, DK, ES, FI, FR, HU, IE, IT, HK, NL, NO, NZ, PE, SE, SK, UK, US, UY
Latte Macchiato Unsweetened	-	2	5	AT, CH, CL, CZ, DE, DK, FI, GR, HU, IE, KZ, NL, NO, PL, RO, SE, SK, TW, UK, UY
Latte Macchiato Caramel	-	2	5	AE, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CZ, DE, DK, EC, EE, ES, FI, FR, GR, HU, ID, IE, IT, JO, KR, KW, LT, LV, MA, MT, MX, MY, NI, NL, NO, NZ, PE, PL, PT, QA, RO, RU, SA, SE, SG, SK, TR, TW, UA, UK, US, ZA
Latte Macchiato Vanilla	-	2	5	AR, AT, BE, BR, CA, CH, CL, CZ, DE, DK, EC, ES, FI, FR, GR, HU,IE, IT, MT, MX, MY, NI, NL, NO, PH, PL, RO, RU, SE, SG, SI, SK, TW, UK, US, UY, ZA
Ricoré Latte	-	6	-	FR	A brand name of a coffee/chicory mix by Nestlé.
Cappuccino	-	1	6	AE, AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CN, CO, CR, CZ, DE, DK, DO, EC, EE, ES, FI, FR, GR, GT, HK, HN, HR, HU, ID, IE, IL, IT, JO, JP, KR, KW, KZ, LB, LT, LV, MA, MT, MX, MY, NI, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PE, PH, PK, PL, PT, PY, QA, RO, RU, SI, RS, SA, SE, SG, SK, TH, TR, TW, UA, UK, US, UY, VE, VN, ZA
Soy Cappuccino	-	2	?	BR, DE, DK, FI, NO, PT, SE	Soy milk
Cappuccino Light	-	1	6	AU, BE, CH, CL, CO, CR, CZ, DE, DK, ES, FI, FR, GT, HK, HN, IE, IT, KR, MT, MX, NI, NL, NO, PA, PY, RO, RU, SE, SK, UK, US, ZA
Cappuccino Ice	-	3	3	AE, AT, BE, BG, CH, CO, CR, CZ, DE, DK, ES, FI, GR, GT, HK, HN, HU, IE, IT, JO, JP, KR, KW, LB, MT, MX, NI, NL, NO, PA, PH, PL, PT, QA, RU, SA, SE, SI, SK, TH, TR, UA, UK, US, ZA	Iced
Freddo Cappuccino	-	3	3	DE, DK, FI, GR, NO, RO, SE, SG, TW	Iced FINISH
Chococino / Chocoletto	-	3	3	AE, AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CN, CO, CR, CZ, DE, DK, EC, EE, ES, FI, FR, GR, GT, HK, HN, HR, HU, ID, IE, IL, IT, JO, JP, KR, KW, LB, LT, LV, MA, MT, MX, MY, NI, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PE, PH, PK, PL, PT, PY, QA, RO, RU, SA, SE, SG, SI, SK, TR, TW, UA, UK, US, UY, VN, ZA	Hot chocolate
Chococino Caramel	-	3	3	AR, AT, BE, BR, CH, CZ, CL, DE, DK, EE, ES, FI, FR, GR. HU, IE, IT, LT, LV, MA, MX, NI, NL, NO, PL, PT, RU, SE, SK, TW, UK, UY	Hot chocolate
Mocha	-	3	3	AE, AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CH, CL, CO, CR, CZ, DE, DK, DO, EC, ES, FI, FR, GR, GT, HK, HN, HU, ID, IE, IT, KR, KZ, MT, MX, MY, NI, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PE, PH, PL, PT, RO, RU, SE, SG, SI, SK, TH, TW, UA, UK, US, UY, VE, ZA
Milo	-	3	3	CO, ID, MY, PE, PH, SG, ZA	A brand name of chocolate malt drink by Nestlé. FINISH
Nescau	-	4	-	BR	Hot chocolate. A cocoa brand by Nestlé
Nesquik	-	5	-	AT, BE, BG, CH, CO, CZ, DE, DK, DO, EC, EE, ES, FI, FR, GR, IT, KR, KZ, LT, LV, MT, MX, NL, NO, PL, PT, RO, RU, SE, SI, SK, UA	Hot chocolate. A cocoa brand by Nestlé. Different drink as Nescau/Nescao
Nestea Lemon (Iced Tea)	-	7	-	AR, BE, BR, CH, CZ, DE, DK, ES, FI, FR, GR, HU, IE, IT, NL, NO, PL, PT, SE, SK, UK, UY	Iced. An ice tea brand by Nestlé
Nestea Peach (Iced Tea)	-	7	-	AE, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CH, DK, ES, FI, FR, GR, HK, ID, IE, IT, KR, MT, NL, NO, NZ, PL, PT, RO, SE, SG, TW, UA, UK, US, ZA	Iced
Citrus Honey Black Tea	-	6	-	BE, CH, DE, DK, ES, FI, FR, IT, NL, NO, PL, PT, SE
Macaron Green Tea	-	6	-	BE, CH, DE, DK, ES, FI, FR, HU, IT, NL, NO, PL, PT, SE, TH
Uji Matcha	-	3	-	JP	Uji green tea
Marrakesh Style Tea	-	6	-	AE, AT, BE, BR, CH, CL, CO, CR, CZ, DE, DK, DO, EC, ES, FI, FR, GR, GT, HN, IE, IT, JO, KW, MT, MX, NI, NL, NO, PA, PT, RO, SE, SK, QA, SA, UK
Tea Latte	-	3	3	AT, BE, CH, CN, DE, DK, ES, FI, FR, HK, IE, IT, JP, KR, MT, MY, NL, NO, SE, SG, TW, UK, ZA
Chai Tea Latte	-	3	3	AE, AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CR, CZ, DE, DK, DO, EC, ES, FI, FR, GR, GT, HN, HU, IE, IT, JO, JP, KW, KZ, MT, MX, MY, NI, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PE, QA, RO, RU, SA, SE, SG, SK, TR, TW, UA, UK, US, UY, ZA
Preludio	-
Preludio Intenso	-			CL
Essenza Di Moka	-			CL
Catuài Do Cerrado / Espresso Do Brazil	-			PE
Café Au Lait Décaffeinated	-
Café Au Lait Intenso	-			EC
Lungo Colombia Sierra Nevada Bio	-			BE, ES, FR
Espresso Péru Cajamarca Bio	-			BE, CL, ES, FR
Espresso Honduras Bio	-			BE, CL, ES, FR
Koi Matcha	-			JP
Cappuccino Intenso	-			BE, DE, PT
Espresso Generoso	-			FR, BE, DE
Flat White	-			AU, NZ
Mochaccino Canela	-			BR
Incarom Latte	-			CH
Americano Rich Aroma	-			KR
Café Au Lait Mild- Rich Aroma	-			JP, TH
Milk Tea	-			JP	1 Pod. Different from Tea Latte 2 Pods
Americano Chiapas Mexico Bio	-			MX
Espresso Napoli (Ristretto Napoli Style)	-			BE, BG, IT, PT
Espresso Milano	-			IT
Espresso Roma	-			IT
Latte Macchiato Amaretto	-			UK, DE
Caffé Ginseng	-			IT, CH, PT
Latte Macchiato Guatemala Bio	-			FR
Cold Brew Coffee	-	6		DE, JP, UK
Iced Café au lait	-			JP
Americano Smooth Morning	4	XL		UK
Americano Bold Morning	8	XL		UK
Café Con Leche Délicato	5			ES

Criticism

The pod and coffee capsule system draw some criticism due to the lock-in effect. This means that the low cost of acquisition for each coffee machine is illusory, since the costs of the capsules for it exceeds that of conventional coffee — sometimes several times — and can cost more than the machine itself in a short time span unless a refillable capsule is used. A further disadvantage is the increased amount of waste due to the disposable nature of the Nescafé capsules, although in some countries recycling programs exist .

A trial recycling scheme has been operating in the UK during 2019 but has drawn criticism in social media channels. The scheme is only limited to purchases done from the Online Dolce Gusto shop, through receipt of a special pink 'return' bag'. High Street purchases, on any other official Dolce Gusto purchase through other online retailers are also excluded.https://www.dolce-gusto.co.uk/recycle

See also

• Coffee portal
• Single-serve coffee container

External links

• Official website