What Is A Nespresso Pour Over Coffee Pod & How Do You Use It?

Mike C
Written By Mike C

I've been writing about coffee and espresso machines for 3 years. My goal is to provide you with helpful content that you can trust based on my own personal experiences, information from manufacturers, and tips and tricks I've gathered from other coffee and espresso machine users.

I may get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

What Is A Nespresso Pour Over Coffee Pod & How Do You Use It?

Nespresso Pour over coffee pods brew an 18 ounce carafe of coffee. They are compatible only with only four of the Vertuoline machines. Keep reading to learn more about what a Nespresso pour-over style pod is and how to use it.

What Is Nespresso Pour Over Coffee?

A traditional pour over coffee is made by slowly pouring water over coffee grinds for several minutes. The water flows through the grinds into a carafe that is shaped like an hour glass. Compared to a regular coffee, a pour over style coffee tends to be more flavorful.

The Nespresso carafe pods try to replicate this pour over style coffee by slow brewing the pod. The brewing process can take as long as three to four minutes. This is because the machine will spin the carafe pods more slowly than it does other pod sizes. The Nespresso Vertuo carafe pods make 18 oz of coffee. This is great if you need to share with family or friends.

There are currently two carafe pods available on Nespresso.com. There is the regular pour-over style pod and the mild version. The regular has a bold and smoky taste profile, whereas the mild is more balanced.

Which Nespresso Vertuo Machines Can Use Pour Over Carafe Pods?

In order to use the Nespresso pour-over style carafe pods, you will need a Vertuo Next, Vertuo Pop, Vertuo Creatista or Vertuo Lattissima. These carafe pods are not compatible with other Nespresso models. You may also want to consider getting the carafe accessory from Nespresso. It was designed to help enhance the flavor of the pour-over style coffee pods. It can help maintain the temperature too. The carafe accessory does not come with any machine – it needs to be purchased separately.

How To Use Nespresso Pour Over Coffee Carafe Pods?

To use a pour-over pod with the carafe, first remove the drip tray so you can fit the carafe under the coffee outlet. Make sure your water tank is full, insert the carafe pod and hit the button the begin brewing. After a few minutes, the brewing will complete. Use the long spoon that came with the carafe to stir the coffee and mix in the thin crema on top.

Note that if you have the Vertuo Pop, the carafe will not fit under the coffee outlet if your Pop is placed directly on your counter. If you have enough space above your Pop, I would recommend placing it on a pod drawer or pedestal so you can fit the carafe underneath.

Why Is My Nespresso Pour-Over Carafe Pod Not Working?

vertuo next can brew nespresso pour over coffee carafe pods
Nespresso Vertuo Next

Nespresso Vertuo machines use barcodes on the underside of the pod to recognize the pod size and use the correct amount of water to brew. As mentioned above, the Nespresso Pour Over Carafe style pods only work with the Vertuo Next, Vertuo Pop, Vertuo Creatista or Vertuo Lattissima models. If you have a different Vertuoline model – like the Vertuo Plus, Vertuo or Evoluo – you won’t be able to use the carafe pods because they won’t recognize the barcode.

Which Vertuoline Machine Should You Buy To Brew Pour Over Pods?

The Vertuo Creatista and Vertuo Lattissima are both expensive machines. If budget is not a concern and you like making milk-based drinks like lattes and cappuccinos in addition to pour overs, then you’ll enjoy these machines. But for most people, they are probably not worth it.

Sale
Breville Nespresso Vertuo Creatista BVE850BSS, Brushed Stainless Steel
  • Craft your every milk moment with Vertuo Creatista. With a wide range of coffee options made for different cup sizes, you can indulge in black coffee or create your own milk recipes
Sale
De’Longhi Nespresso Vertuo Lattissima, Black
  • The Nespresso Vertuo Lattissima offers a full range of coffee pods, from an intense Espresso and Carafe to Latte and Cappuccino, all at the touch of a button and with a smooth crema.

Between the Vertuo Next and Vertuo Pop, I would recommend you buy the Vertuo Pop if you are looking to regularly brew pour over carafe pods.

Nespresso Vertuo Pop+ Deluxe Coffee and Espresso Machine by De’Longhi, Silver
  • SIGNATURE COFFEES AND ESPRESSOS: Vertuo Pop plus offers a variety of coffee formats in 5 sizes, including 5, 8, 12oz coffees, as well as single and double espressos brewed hot or over ice.
  • COMPACT: Sleek Vertuo design with 37 fl. oz. removable side water tank placement for easy access to fit tiny spaces.
  • SIMPLE AND CONVENIENT: One-touch coffee system, 30 second heat up time, automatic used coffee pod ejection and adjustable drip tray for shorter cups.

Compared to the other Vertuoline models, the Vertuo Next is the least reliable. There are serious technical flaws with this model. As a result, owners have more issues with the Next than any other Nespresso model. These issues include coffee or water leaks from the machine, coffee that tastes like plastic, or a range of orange blinking light problem indicators that Nespresso Customer Support can’t even help users fix. There’s even a mysterious purple light that isn’t mentioned in the user manual but usually appears a couple days before the machine dies.

Nespresso Vertuo Next leaking
Vertuo Next Leaking Coffee

For those who are fortunate enough to have issues while their Next is still under its one year warranty, Nespresso has been replacing them. Usually they send another Next, but many people report having been successful in begging Customer Support to send them a Vertuo or Evoluo instead. If you buy a Next, be sure to register it with Nespresso ASAP so that any issues will be covered under your one year warranty.

The only downside with the Pop is that it is too short to fit a carafe underneath. However, this can easily be solved by placing it on top of a pod holding drawer.

Amazon Item Images and Prices Last update on 2024-04-21 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

Leave a Comment