RECAPS Reusable Coffee Filter Capsules Compatible with Nespresso Original 3PCS Refillable Coffee Pods Permanent Coffee Filter Stainless Steel 120PCS Aluminum Foil Lids Coffee Tamper

This makes good espresso for cheap and environment friendly. Perfect for my morning latte, ok for an espresso shot. Make sure it’s compatible with your machine. It works great with my Essenza but I know some for whom it’s damaged the puncture spikes inside. Fill with ground coffee labelled specifically as "fine" or for espresso, not for drip coffee. I recommend the Illy classic or Lavazza. I tried with my own whole beans but my grinder makes ground not fine enough and not consistent in size. Don't tamper the coffee or just lightly rest the tamper on top or the coffee won't brew. You can also tap the pod on the table like a tequila shot and that will be enough. The downsides are that it is not fully reusable as you need a new aluminum lid for each brew, and the elastic bands seals keep breaking and I can't find replacement ones from Recap. They are necessary or the water pressure doesn't build up and it leaks.

These pods have opened up a great new hobby for me, along with a way to have more great espresso at lower cost and less plastic to recycle. (Sure it takes some time to grind beans and seal my own pods but I have learned a lot about espresso, blends, and what I like). I have experimented by blending different types of beans and roasts and have moved the flavor from just a strong cup of arabica to a blend that includes 20% - 30% robusta beans for added crema and caffeine, for an espresso that is quite rewarding. This latest purchase was for 3 additional pods that permit me to make an extra day or two supply at one time. These pods are very good quality, the seals fit and stick very well and they work great in my DeLonghi Inissia. There is a learning curve but I am very pleased with the outcome. RECAPS should offer additional pods for people that have purchased the original set and want more pods but don't need the scoop, tamper, instructions, etc.

I use a very good grinder (Krups) and grind the Lavazza beans till I have a nice fine powder. I fill it per the instructions, I even played around with it, 1/2 full, 3/4 full and 100% full. No matter what I do, more than 1/2 the coffee (water) ends up in the tray that is meant to catch the caps when you lift the handle. At first I thought my Nespresso machine was broken and leaked water all over the counter top, until I realized the reason why I am getting so little pour into my cup was because more than 1/2 the water never made it into the cup but in stead ended up in the tray. In my opinion this is because of bad design or bad manufacturing. They must know this because why else would they provide two different type (color) rubber bands that you have to place around the capsule to prevent it from leaking water. They must have had many complaints about this and their solution is to add a rubber band - which for the record does not work. Watch my video which I have attached. I mean really, why can a company such as Lavazza manufacture a plastic capsule that works beautiful and never leaks, but this stainless steel cap leaks! Unacceptable. The leaking has nothing to do with how fine your coffee is grinded or how full you fill the cap, it is just plain bad design or manufacturing. If caps typically leak and need rubber bands to stop them from leaking all caps, no matter the manufacturer would have had the same problem.

I did a lot of research before I decided on this product. I bit the bullet and bought the 3 pack and after some trial and error I have no complaints and love this product. It may sound obvious, but the grind is key to pulling a good quality espresso with sufficient crema. I found my grinder was not grinding it fine enough which resulted in a watery espresso shot. I’m in search of a better burr grinder, but in the meantime I have found “LAVAZZA CAFE ESPRESSO” coffee grounds to be the best. By using these refillable pods, I feel I leave less of a footprint on the environment. I realize that Nespresso offers a recycling program since their pods are made out of aluminum, but the cost of buying the pods at .$70-$1.10 a piece can really add up quick.

The refillable caps are decent. The quality appears really good. The process of filling them is super simple. I have yet to figure out a good grind on my espresso beans to get a better crema. So far there is crema, but it is a bit on weak side. I'm also getting a bit of coffee ground into the coffee. I think I will have to try to go to a finer grind to get a better result. We will see. Getting the foils off after brewing is a bit of a pain. They come off, but it's difficult to get your nails under the glue strip to pull up the foil top. Otherwise it works and it is well worth the trouble of refilling. You really cannot beat the final cost when compared to the original capsules from Nespresso. I haven't figured out the cost of coffee yet on the original capsules, but it has to be insanely high per pound of coffee.

I really wanted to like this product. I have been a loyal Nespresso user for a few years now and have spent hundreds on their capsules. They are expensive little single use pods, however, they still are less expensive than a morning run to Starbucks, plus, I can make an arguably better tasting latte for a fraction of the cost. However, this reusable pod idea was extremely appealing to me because I normally make a larger double shot latte and use two pods, which could equal up to $1.50 in just pods from Nespresso. When I received these, they were packaged supremely well. The materials were super high quality, all stainless steel (I hope food grade rubber for the seals). You also received a nice metal tamper to tamp the ground beans, a 5 gram scoop to fill the pod, a brush to clean the sides of the pods, and the booklet full of the seals. I was pretty excited to try it out, so I ground some fresh beans to pretty fine grain, inserted the capsule (my machine is the Creatista Plus by the way) and pulled a shot of espresso, only to find a super diluted espresso coming out of my machine. It looks like tainted water rather than a dark espresso. I looked at the pod and found the seal maybe had 2 or 3 holes in the foil rather than the usual grid pattern punctures. I tried multiple times, different tamp pressures, different coffee quantity, and even different grinds of my beans and all resulted in the same. In other words, , not enough water ran through the capsule but rather around it. Not sure if its a fundamental flaw with the design of the pods or maybe my machine. Perhaps it will work in your machine but if you do own a Creatista Plus, I'd save the headache of purchasing these. I returned my set a few days later.

I use a traditional small espresso machine at home (Breville Bambino Plus) and a higher-end grinder ($700 Niche Zero), but I can't replicate that setup at the office. We have a Nespresso original capsule machine there, so I thought I might try grinding my own compatible capsules. Using the same beans I use at home (with fantastic results there), I tried a very fine grind that I use on my home machine, a coarser grind a few steps above that, and an even coarser grind that approaches what I would normally use for an Aeropress or filter coffee. I tamped using only the weight of the provided tamper, as it says in the directions. First, I could not get anywhere near 6g of coffee into the capsules using these methods. I dare you to weigh 6g of beans, grind them through a low-retention grinder, and fit that into one of these capsules. No way. For reference, a traditional espresso machine uses 16 to 18g of coffee for a double shot output of 36g, usually tamped at around 30lbs of pressure. Even with the metal capsule being pressurized by the foil lid (Nespresso's way of getting decent pressure) it's just not enough to get any flavor in the shot out of the Nespresso. None of the three trials produced anything near the taste of the traditional espresso machine, or even as good as a Nespresso-issued ristretto capsule. I don't know how Nespresso manages it with their own capsules, but they are much better than this device, if not as good as a traditional espresso machine. Maybe I should have tamped beyond the level in the instructions, but my guess is that this would harm the Nespresso machine over time. At the finest of the three grinds I used, the machine appeared to be near the point of refusal to push the water through. If you plan to use this product, I suggest using only the darkest roasts. Those tend to be more forgiving of mistakes and you might be able to taste the shot through a milk drink like a latte. I have to say that the reviews that are claiming it's all trial and error are probably just unfamiliar with how espresso should taste. The dominant feature of a good espresso is sweetness, followed by other tasting notes. Not sour (under-extraction) and not bitter (over-extraction), and definitely not bland or watery.

Product Used with Brevelle Creatista Plus Breville BNE800BSS Nespresso Creatista Plus, Silver Coffee: World Market Amalfi Coast Espresso ground on espresso settings on my grinder. I looked into the many varieties of refillable capsules, especially since the Nespresso brand is $.70+ each and I like to have two shots in my cappuccino. I chose this one because of the stainless steel capsules and the metal tamper. I did not trust the plastic ones, and from of the videos I have seen, you WANT the ones that use the stickers. I know you have to buy replacements, but the ones with reusable caps do not allow enough pressure to build up and you do not get as strong a coffee and do not get the nice creama. I typically make cappuccinos, and the shot of espresso I receive tends to be as strong as the Nespresso brand with nice crema. I fill each capsule with about a scoop and a half of coffee, using the tamper to press it into the capsule. Do not overfill, you need to leave a little bit of space between the coffee and the lid. I then place one of the aluminum caps on the capsule and then tap it a few times to make sure it is not pressed in too tightly. So far, it produces nice espresso at a fraction of the cost with a brand I enjoy. CONS: - You have to buy more lids when these run out. - You have to prep your own coffee, cutting down on the convenience of the Nespresso machine. - It takes a little bit to take the used lid off of the capsule, but it is easy to clean. PRO: - Inexpensive refills - they pay for themselves - Nice coffee with good crema - You can use whatever coffee you like