Nutrition Facts
Calories | 15 kcal |
Total Fat | 0.7 grams |
Sodium | 8.1 grams |
Total Carbohydrate | 1.2 grams |
- Dietary Fiber | 0.0 grams |
Protein | 0.6 grams |
Ingredients and Price List
Food | Amount Used | Unit Cost (SGD) | Cost Per Use (SGD) |
|---|---|---|---|
Nescafe Dolce Gusto Milk Capsule (Can be substituted by any milk of your preference) | 17g (1 Milk Capsule contains 17g of milk powder) | $10.90 (for 8 milk capsules and 8 ground coffee capsules) | $0.68 |
BOH Cameronian Gold Blend Black Tea (Can be substituted by any tea of your preference) | 1 sachet | $6.90 (for 20 sachets) | $0.35 |
Water | To taste | - | - |
| TOTAL: | $17.80 | $1.03 |
I recently bought a NESCAFÉ® Dolce Gusto® Genio S Automatic Coffee Machine, and life is never the same again. Haha! I may be exaggerating, but I've been dreaming of owning a coffee machine for a while now. Now that I've been working for over a year, I've decided to treat myself to one. (One day, I shall make the dream of owning a barista coffee machine come true, too. 😌)
Even though I've previously gushed about how affordable and convenient portable coffee machines are (and I still stand by that if you're on a tight budget), automatic coffee machines have seriously made my life so much easier. Just slot in a coffee capsule and press a button, and your daily dose of caffeine is ready. The best part is that it's still so hot that you cannot drink it right away without burning your tongue. That's a crucial part of a good coffee for me - the heat, not the pain. I have also purchased a mug heating coaster before, but it doesn't seem to retain the heat that much - it is a work-around, but it is not a solution.
One may argue that the coffee machine lifestyle is luxurious and coffee capsules are expensive. But if you do the calculations, for example, a Nescafe Dolce Gusto Cappuccino box of 8 servings cost $10.90, making one cup of coffee $1.36. That's way cheaper than what's available at Starbucks, cafes, or even at hawker centres. It's also cheaper than making coffee with French Press at home. If you're an avid coffee lover like me, purchasing a coffee machine is definitely an investment, and after about a month of drinking coffee every day, you have probably broken even on your coffee machine purchase. It's even better if you find a second-hand coffee machine (make sure that it's still in good quality, of course). I bought mine from Carousell, and it was a great deal.
There's also another NESCAFÉ automatic coffee machine series, the Nespresso coffee machines. I could go into the details, but to keep it short, if you prefer convenience and love your coffee with milk, go for Dolce Gusto, as the Dolce Gusto Cappuccino capsules come with milk capsules. If you love having a wide variety of coffee (there are more Nespresso capsule flavour options than Dolce Gusto capsule options) and don't mind frothing the milk with a separate coffee accessory such as the Nespresso Aeroccino Milk Frother or an electric hand-held milk frother, plus you love the environment, go for Nespresso.
The point about loving environment - it's because Nespresso pods are made of aluminium and easily recyclable. Here's an article about the sustainbility of Nespresso pods. Besides, Nespresso offers doorstep collection service for your used coffee capsules - just request for complimentary recycling bags when you place your coffee order through the Nespresso website, fill your recycling bag with used coffee capsules, and pass it to the courier when he delivers your next order.
On the other hand, Dolce Gusto capsules are not as easy to recycle, and they do not offer doorstep coffee delivery (they rely on third parties such as Redmart or Lazada) or used capsule collection services. Dolce Gusto capsules are made of polyethylene, a plastic material often used in the food industry, and they are designed in such a way that it is not easy to remove its lid and content before recycling. The only eco-friendly option for Dolce Gusto capsules is to repurpose them. First, email them at dolce.gusto@sg.nestle.com to ask for a capsule cutter, and they will deliver one to you (for free) within two weeks. Then use the cutter to remove the capsule lid, and you can reuse it as a flower pot or container for other usages.
Anyway, enough rambling about coffee machines. One thing I realised is that, unfortunately, while Nescafe Dolce Gusto milk capsules offer convenience and a longer shelf life, their taste is not as fresh and sweet as the milk that one would buy from grocery stores. Hence, when I have more time to prepare my coffee in the morning, I would heat up some milk (if I'm making a cup of hot coffee) and use an electric hand-held milk frother to froth some milk before using the coffee machine to prepare the espresso. It's either convenience or taste; sadly, you can't have the best of both worlds.
This is why I'm left with extra milk capsules, and I wasn't sure what to do with them, apart from buying more Dolce Gusto ground coffee capsules and making latte or cappuccino with the milk capsules. Until I was scrolling on my Instagram food blogger account @caloriecountsnet and stumbled upon a fellow foodie's simple recipe for cold brew milk tea. This is how I got inspired to make hot milk tea using these leftover milk capsules and BOH Cameronian Gold Blend Black Tea.
Simply brew a cup of hot tea by pouring freshly boiled water into a cup and steeping a tea bag in the water for about 5 minutes. Simultaneously, use the Nescafe Dolce Gusto Genio S coffee machine to prepare a cup of hot milk. Then, pour the hot tea into the hot milk.
Disclaimer: my blog posts and their nutritional information are usually based on the packaging of the ingredients I bought. If I cannot find the actual ingredients I have used, I would guesstimate their values by benchmarking with similar products in the market. But this time, it's really a rough estimation based on other milk brands since there is no way to find the nutritional information for Nescafe Dolce Gusto milk capsules. Additionally, they do not sell milk capsules alone. Hence, I have tried to estimate to the best of my abilities.
If you're interested in the classy-looking circular wooden coaster, this is the Shopee store where I bought it. As for the beautiful glass with grooves on the interior, I bought it from a Lazada store.☕
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