This looks outwardly rather similar to the Krups Piccolo XS machine published in December 2019 but that was a manual machine and this one is automatic in that all Nescafe Pods now have a number of strokes to represent the amount of water to make the perfect drink. You adjust the dial on the machine and the correct amount of hot or cold water is then dispensed.
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The Nescafe Dolce Gusto Genio S measures 26x28x9.5cm with the head where you insert the pod being 6cm taller than the rest of the machine.
Like the previous machine the turn on is simply by lifting the front and removing the pod holder, it then starts heating the water you insert the pod twist the knob round the outside of the controls till it corresponds to the number of slashes on your pod and when the light goes green your drink is dispensed into your cup assuming you remembered to put a cup under the outlet - if not then you probably say something rather rude – switch off is automatic.
The controls in the centre are a touch button red/blue for hot or cold and another touch button to its right to dispense the drink. There is also a small XL button for the growing range of pods with XL contents.
Making a full cup - maximum slashes – is around 45 seconds from start to finish.
The removable water tank at the back holds around 1.5 pints enough for four full cups however a lot of the drinks are for less than a full cup.
Apart from the Nescafe Coffee range the home page also lists and sells those made by Starbucks coffee, the normal number of pods in a box is sixteen by Nescafe and twelve by Starbucks, however if it’s a milk drink they will be eight coffee and eight milk. There are however some exceptions so check the www.dolce-gusto.co.uk site.
At least two of the lower priced supermarkets do their own compatible pods.
The range in most supermarkets seems to stop at around eight varieties. So do check online.
I am sent some sample pods with the review machine and this time one of those sent was a cold coffee brew, this so far is not to my taste despite it being quite warm outside. It is described as a New Orleans Brew by Nescafe that has 150 grams of ice and 150 grams of coffee. Despite this being a Nescafe brand it is a twelve pod box. I also note from their website that their Absolute Origins range are also twelve pod boxes.
A number of their better known varieties come in sixteen or thirty pod boxes.
I have been a fan of Nescafe coffee for many years and while each new machine is of interest also of interest is the ever increasing range of both hot and cold pods sold on their site.
At the time of publication the Nescafe Dolce Gusto Genio S is available from Amazon in white for £79.99 including free delivery.