My coffee set up has become quite streamlined over the past few years: french press, pour over and my nespresso. It’s easy for keeping my counter space clean and works well for both individual and entertainment set ups. Now, I’m not a coffee every day kind of girl. I switch between tea and coffee depending on what my body will tolerate. But I love my nespresso*.
For those of you who don’t know what nespresso is, it’s an at home espresso machine that’s quite similar to the Keurig. It has all the convenience of the pod system without the expensive prices of lattes. If you’re a coffee house regular, you should check it out. And if you live near a Sur La Table, head in there because they will brew you one for free. Every time! It never gets old. 🙂
But despite my love for nespresso, I struggle to keep pods on hand. Nespresso does very well in control it’s quality output. There are not a ton of store fronts that offer pods on site. This is good because then you don’t have coffee sitting for a month before it’s brewed. The downside is that it is difficult to get ahold of them if you’ve just realized you’ve run out.
After my move last fall, I waited until I ordered more pods to unpack my favorite coffee machine. But I decided to see if I could find a less expensive options for pods. I googled and found the topic of today’s review: Hiline Coffee. With a price point that is half of the traditional pods, I decided to try it.
The pods come in 20 per bag and are available in a multitude of flavors. I opted for a few mild flavors, a bag of decaf and a bag organic pods. Because HiLine’s all about quality of brewing, they wait until an order is placed to create your capsules. This insures you aren’t getting 2 month old coffee. So with my order placed, I unpacked my nespresso and patiently waited for my coffee to arrive.
I received my order within a week. But as I began to unpack my decaf pods, I noticed one had split open in the bag. One pod lost isn’t a big deal but on a whim I decided to email the company.
This email is the reason I decided to do this review. On a friday evening, I got a response within 4 hours. They asked me which pods had busted and offered to send out a replacement bag right away. Super quick. Super helpful. Best customer service I’ve dealt with in years. And wouldn’t you know days later I had a new bag of decaf pods at my door.
I wanted to wait until I’d been using my pods for a bit to review them. I’ve been working my way through my collection and I can honestly say I really love it. My pods work great with my nespresso and I’m able to save some cash. Win win.
The one thing I’ve noticed, and it could simply be because my machine is over 5 years old, I have to hold the button on the machine to get the pods to brew the amount I want. I’m not sure if there is something special on the pods the machine reads like the Vertuoline which brews both coffee and espresso. I’ll keep you posted once I order some nespresso pods and let you know. Also, HiLine sells Keurig pods if you’re into those. They currently have an autoship free sample package on their site. You can find it here.
Have you found a nespresso alternative you love? What’s your favorite way to brew coffee? Leave me a comment below and let me know.
For now, I’m off to brew a little afternoon pick me up and enjoy this wonderful weather we are having.
Until next time.
Xoxo,
Savannah