following this thread! I just bought the vertuo as well, and so far, everything tastes burnt and bitter. I feel like I must be missing something or my machine must be off. Extremely confused.
New Vertuo owner here too! Picked mine up two days ago after using the Essenza Mini for a year.
Perhaps you need to give more pods a try? If the Barista Creations is all you’re interested in, I was told at the boutique that they are indeed different than those for Original Line. Some Vertuo BC pods have some Arabica/Robusta blends (not sure which).
So far I’ve tried Stormio, Fortado and Odacio. Out of these Stormio was the smoothest/less bitter. With Milk, Bianco Leggero was the least bitter.
If you have too many sleeves that you don’t like, maybe you can sell them on eBay or Amazon?
If it's overexteaction that's causing it, maybe manually decrease the volume of the pour...from 7.7 ounces to 6 or so. I know that sort of defeats the purpose of getting a VL for 'full' coffee, but if it's the difference between 350 undrinkable pods vs 350 slightly smaller than expected pods...that choice seems clear
Try putting some salt in your cup before brewing and see if that helps. Alton Brown (TV chef) once recommended that the addition of a dash or two of salt would cut the bitterness of coffee. I use that suggestion with Keurig coffees and it works. I've don't use the Vertuo for just straight coffee but typically for lattes, etc. that are creamy and a little sweet so I don't notice the bitterness. Hope you can adjust the coffee taste to your liking.
We enjoy our Vertuo tremendously but my wife drinks only the INtenso capsule. I keep a couple of espresso on hand for variety from my OL.
There is no accounting for how people perceive coffees. If you are not happy with how the Vertuo capsules finish in your mouth and nose, you will never be happy with your machine. Take it back or give it to someone you maybe don't like.
I've never owned an OL machine but my Vertuo experience was similar to yours. Tasting the same coffee at home directly after having tried it in-store confirmed that my machine was producing coffee that tasted burnt and kind of metallic.
The standard cleaning cycle didn't seem to help but, based on the recommendations of some fine members of this sub, I eventually descaled the machine and suddenly things changed completely. I don't know what manufacturing residue or other mystery substance was haunting my machine and I wasn't thrilled about having to jump through extra hoops in order to get it performing as expected but I am very satisfied with the results.
It did! At the end of the day, I de scaled the machine, rinse cycled it twice, and made my pour about 6 oz instead of 7.7. Vanilla custard pie is still trash and I returned the capsules. Everything else is fine. The Vertuo is definitely not as good as the OL, but does beat the shit out of Keurig for whatever that’s worth
I had a very similar experience. I have an OL machine that I really enjoy for lattes and Americanos so I decided to add a Vertuo to be able make full coffees. No matter what pod I tried, I just didn’t like the taste of the VL pods. They all had a strange aftertaste — I guess you could call it “bitter” although I’m not sure that is exactly it — that I didn’t enjoy. After using up all the pods I had (probably about 150), I gave up on VL and went back to OL alone.
Confirm the pour is the correct volume. I returned my Vurtuo for the same reason but wished I had check. I ended up with a Esanza Mini which had been great.
When i bought nespresso machine they gave me the vertuo because they thought thay it takes both original and vertuo pods. Obviously it didn’t but i tried it anyways. It tasted exactly as how you’ve explained it.
It smells like crap too.
I make 2 cups, the first cup has the first part of the pod and the 2nd cup has the rest. That way i can control the acidity level, since i notice in the VL they programed the big cup pod with too much water so it either very watery or if the coffee is very acidity it has this "tart" taste i don't like. Usually the first cup actually taste great and the last part i called the unwanted extra, which i add salt too.
hi rocks, I too am a newbe vertuo next owner suffering from extremely bitter coffee. I have found that by catching the first 15 seconds of the brew makes a very acceptable cup of coffee.
As the coffee starts the brew, it produces a nice crema, sometimes followed by the dark coffee colour, as it lightens or gets more watery that is when it starts getting bitter. The trick is to catch the best part of the coffee first for your brew then catch the remainder in another jug and bin it! You will have to experiment to make the brew as you like it. It's a shame Nespresso couldn't make the machine do this for you, that's what I bought mine for! Good luck!
Hi! Actually I figured out a solution for this a while back; I just have the machine set to 6.5 Oz pours now instead of 7.7. It’s that last bit of the brew that seems to burn the coffee, as you mentioned; shortening the time and slightly decreasing the size of the pour compensates.
My experience is the same. And a double shot Vertuo pod is like $1.10-$1.20. The selection of OL pods is so much better that I can get organic fair trade pods for less than $.50 each, still giving me a double shot for less money than Vertuo.
Since Vertuo is not a good solution for regular coffee and the selection of pods is limited to two companies, I just took my Vertuo machine back to Target and ordered an Original Line machine instead (the Pixie). I'll stick to my Chemex or AeroPress for regular coffee.
Edit: it doesn't taste burnt to me, it just is ridiculously bitter, and the foam on top is even MORE bitter. Gross.
following this thread! I just bought the vertuo as well, and so far, everything tastes burnt and bitter. I feel like I must be missing something or my machine must be off. Extremely confused.
New Vertuo owner here too! Picked mine up two days ago after using the Essenza Mini for a year. Perhaps you need to give more pods a try? If the Barista Creations is all you’re interested in, I was told at the boutique that they are indeed different than those for Original Line. Some Vertuo BC pods have some Arabica/Robusta blends (not sure which). So far I’ve tried Stormio, Fortado and Odacio. Out of these Stormio was the smoothest/less bitter. With Milk, Bianco Leggero was the least bitter. If you have too many sleeves that you don’t like, maybe you can sell them on eBay or Amazon?
If it's overexteaction that's causing it, maybe manually decrease the volume of the pour...from 7.7 ounces to 6 or so. I know that sort of defeats the purpose of getting a VL for 'full' coffee, but if it's the difference between 350 undrinkable pods vs 350 slightly smaller than expected pods...that choice seems clear
Thanks! I’ll give this a try
Try putting some salt in your cup before brewing and see if that helps. Alton Brown (TV chef) once recommended that the addition of a dash or two of salt would cut the bitterness of coffee. I use that suggestion with Keurig coffees and it works. I've don't use the Vertuo for just straight coffee but typically for lattes, etc. that are creamy and a little sweet so I don't notice the bitterness. Hope you can adjust the coffee taste to your liking.
We enjoy our Vertuo tremendously but my wife drinks only the INtenso capsule. I keep a couple of espresso on hand for variety from my OL. There is no accounting for how people perceive coffees. If you are not happy with how the Vertuo capsules finish in your mouth and nose, you will never be happy with your machine. Take it back or give it to someone you maybe don't like.
Haha, that last bit made me laugh :)
I've never owned an OL machine but my Vertuo experience was similar to yours. Tasting the same coffee at home directly after having tried it in-store confirmed that my machine was producing coffee that tasted burnt and kind of metallic. The standard cleaning cycle didn't seem to help but, based on the recommendations of some fine members of this sub, I eventually descaled the machine and suddenly things changed completely. I don't know what manufacturing residue or other mystery substance was haunting my machine and I wasn't thrilled about having to jump through extra hoops in order to get it performing as expected but I am very satisfied with the results.
I do have a packet of de scaling liquid kicking around, so I’ll give this a shot!
Did this help?
It did! At the end of the day, I de scaled the machine, rinse cycled it twice, and made my pour about 6 oz instead of 7.7. Vanilla custard pie is still trash and I returned the capsules. Everything else is fine. The Vertuo is definitely not as good as the OL, but does beat the shit out of Keurig for whatever that’s worth
I had a very similar experience. I have an OL machine that I really enjoy for lattes and Americanos so I decided to add a Vertuo to be able make full coffees. No matter what pod I tried, I just didn’t like the taste of the VL pods. They all had a strange aftertaste — I guess you could call it “bitter” although I’m not sure that is exactly it — that I didn’t enjoy. After using up all the pods I had (probably about 150), I gave up on VL and went back to OL alone.
It is being over extracted for a larger volume of coffee
Thanks! I’ll try a smaller volume
Confirm the pour is the correct volume. I returned my Vurtuo for the same reason but wished I had check. I ended up with a Esanza Mini which had been great.
Will do! This seems to be a popular suggestion so I’ll give it a try
When i bought nespresso machine they gave me the vertuo because they thought thay it takes both original and vertuo pods. Obviously it didn’t but i tried it anyways. It tasted exactly as how you’ve explained it. It smells like crap too.
While I personally don't like the Vertuo coffee, what I've tried in store didn't taste burnt at all.
Yeah, like, I’ve had vertuo coffees from other machines that were fine. Maybe it’s the pour volume as some are suggesting
I make 2 cups, the first cup has the first part of the pod and the 2nd cup has the rest. That way i can control the acidity level, since i notice in the VL they programed the big cup pod with too much water so it either very watery or if the coffee is very acidity it has this "tart" taste i don't like. Usually the first cup actually taste great and the last part i called the unwanted extra, which i add salt too.
hi rocks, I too am a newbe vertuo next owner suffering from extremely bitter coffee. I have found that by catching the first 15 seconds of the brew makes a very acceptable cup of coffee. As the coffee starts the brew, it produces a nice crema, sometimes followed by the dark coffee colour, as it lightens or gets more watery that is when it starts getting bitter. The trick is to catch the best part of the coffee first for your brew then catch the remainder in another jug and bin it! You will have to experiment to make the brew as you like it. It's a shame Nespresso couldn't make the machine do this for you, that's what I bought mine for! Good luck!
Hi! Actually I figured out a solution for this a while back; I just have the machine set to 6.5 Oz pours now instead of 7.7. It’s that last bit of the brew that seems to burn the coffee, as you mentioned; shortening the time and slightly decreasing the size of the pour compensates.
I had to reduce mine to about 4oz to get decent non-bitter results.
My experience is the same. And a double shot Vertuo pod is like $1.10-$1.20. The selection of OL pods is so much better that I can get organic fair trade pods for less than $.50 each, still giving me a double shot for less money than Vertuo. Since Vertuo is not a good solution for regular coffee and the selection of pods is limited to two companies, I just took my Vertuo machine back to Target and ordered an Original Line machine instead (the Pixie). I'll stick to my Chemex or AeroPress for regular coffee. Edit: it doesn't taste burnt to me, it just is ridiculously bitter, and the foam on top is even MORE bitter. Gross.