Caffe Umbria, Gusto Crema Blend, Nespresso compatible pods, Medium Brend, Box of 20

I found Caffe Umbria when I was on vacation in Portland and visited their shop. I was excited to see they had the Nespresso pods as an option. I have an essenza mini Nespresso original line machine and have been using these Caffe Umbria pods for almost a year. I was skeptical about using third party manufactured pods for my machine but Peets and Target had been making third party pods for years. I haven’t had any malfunction or other issues with these pods and have been using them daily since March 2022. I ran out of the Caffe Umbria pods and ran to Nespresso to get my usual espresso pods in person but found that I prefer the Caffe Umbria espresso pods so much more! I like the Chiaro (sweet biscuit) and Volluto original line pods and for the Vertuo line, I like the ice leggero and double espresso dolce double espresso pods, and Voltesso single espresso pod. These pods are usually classified as sweet & light by Nespresso but seem watery in comparison to the Caffe Umbria. Not a fan of the darker/stronger roasts by Nespresso so I’ve chosen the lighter ones. Pricing is also generally the same as Nespresso pods. Caffe Umbria pods come to 75 cents each and most of the Nespresso pods are 75 cents and up. I use Amazon subscribe & save to get discounts on these pods (since some would argue that Nespresso promotions bring the price per pod down).

The media could not be loaded.  I’ve been ordering these pods without issue for about 2 years. I moved to Ohio from Seattle and these pods let me keep drinking my favorite coffee after the move. Unfortunately they just switched from the tried and true Gusto Crema pods (gold) to compostable pods (white). This is obviously great for the environment but only if people switch from plastic to compostable pods, which requires the product to be of similar quality. Sadly the compostable pods are terrible and I had to stop ordering after two happy years. In the video you can see that the compostable pods pull straight plain water for a couple seconds before dispensing espresso. No one wants watered down espresso (unless they’re making an Americano I guess but I like lattes). If they bring back the old pods, or at least let me choose my pods, I’ll buy again but sadly now I must bid farewell to my favorite espresso :(

As another reviewer noted when you hit the brew button you get a good shot of hot water before the coffee starts to flow. I have to use considerable force to push down the lever on my machine with these pods. Coupled with the fact that several pods had burst open in the package I’ve decided I won’t be purchasing these again.

My husband likes the smooth taste. Some espressos have a bit of bitterness and need something to counteract it. Not this one.

Quick service and quality coffee!

Very light but wonderful basic flavor!

Great tasting coffee that doesn't give me a stomach ache. Unfortunately they need to do some work on their pod construction. The first box I received, five of the pods malfunctioned. The second time I ordered three pods malfunctioned. That seems to be a very high rate of failure. The nespresso brand pods seldom fail.

NOT strong