Dolce Gusto Neo arrives in France with the promise of a greener and more varied coffee, but still in pods

At the end of last year, Nescafé launched a new pod coffee maker in Brazil called Dolce Gusto Neo. The compatible pods were new too. More than a simple Dolce Gusto machine, it was therefore a full-fledged system making its debut, and we were finally able to discover it ahead of its French launch. Dolce Gusto Neo is indeed preparing to land in France, with some additional novelties.

Varied and automatic recipes

The Neo machine that will be available here is not quite identical to the one launched in Brazil, although of course we find the same fundamentals. The first of these is none other than the SmartBrew technology. In charge of extracting the best from compatible pods, SmartBrew first relies on a reader to identify them thanks to the patterns of the lid closing them, then adapts the parameters of the machine accordingly, starting with the pressure. .

Like the Dolce Gusto machines that we already know, the new incorporates a 15 bar pump, but should not fully exploit it for all recipes. Nescafé particularly wanted to seduce lovers of slow coffee, closer to filter coffee, by offering a gentle and long extraction: 2 minutes with a pressure of less than 5 bars. The 15 bars of pressure are of course interesting for espresso, but also for lungo and, this is a first for pod machines, for americano. As a reminder, the latter consists of an espresso lengthened with pure water; it does not pass into the coffee, unlike the water which lengthens the espresso to arrive at the lungo.

And if the machine launched in Brazil stops there in number of recipes, the one that is about to land in our country goes a little further with its AirFoam technology. This must create micro-foam milk from sachets to be inserted into a dedicated compartment on the front of the machine for the production of a cappuccino or a latte. In total, Nescafé will launch its machine with 10 different coffee recipes, to which is added a hot chocolate recipe from just one sachet; no pod in this case.

A mobile app to customize recipes

As with a Tassimo, the user therefore has nothing else to do than insert a pod and/or a sachet and press a button to start the preparation. The machine, by the way, offers only one button. Exit the classic system slider. The length of the drinks can still be personalized, but to do so you have to go through the Nescafé mobile application, which has the advantage of displaying settings to the nearest ml. The Dolce Gusto Neo coffee maker is indeed connected. It is more exactly compatible with wifi and Bluetooth, which should also make it possible to find information on its status in the application and to take advantage of the Premio loyalty program more easily in order, for example, to claim vouchers once a certain number of accumulated points.

Compostable pods and recycled plastic

After extraction, the pods fall into a tray to be removed from the front, just like the rinsing water which ends up mixing with it for a result… rather unsavory, let’s say it. Said tray, according to Nescafé, can hold up to nine pods. Compared to the 1.5 liter water tank, this may not seem like much, but remember that the Dolce Gusto Neo can prepare both short and long coffees. On the other hand, it is not impossible that it may ultimately contain far fewer pods depending on the recipes prepared, their thickness varying with the amount of coffee they contain in order to reduce packaging. The packaging, moreover, is mostly made of paper and allows the pods to be composted at home as well as in an industrial unit; they have received the OK compost HOME and OK compost INDUSTRIAL certifications from TÜV Austria.

The manufacturer indicates that it has worked hard on reducing the ecological footprint of its new machine by integrating this reflection from the start of its development. There is, for example, recycled plastic or an automatic shut-off function, and we are assured that the coffee in the pods will come from responsible agriculture. The sachets used for milk drinks are recyclable, but, unlike pods, must be extracted manually after each use.

Launch end of August

The Dolce Gusto Neo machine will be available from August 29 in white and black. It will be launched at the recommended retail price of €169 and will be accompanied by 11 recipes: espresso, intense espresso and lungo for short coffees, grande, carafe and breakfast blend americano (Starbucks) for slow coffee, café au lait, cappuccino, latte caramel macchiato and latte macchiato (Starbucks) for dairy coffees, and finally hot chocolate. The pods will be sold in packs of 12 or six, with as many sachets for recipes calling for both; Nescafé suggests a price of €4.35, except for Starbucks recipes, whose packs are advertised at the recommended retail price of €4.99. Of the 11 recipes planned, it should be noted that only six should be offered in mass distribution at first. You will have to go through the Nescafé online store to get the others.

For the time being, Nescafé denies wanting to replace the classic Dolce Gusto system and claims to want to maintain it alongside the new one, which is still much less affordable. The Dolce Gusto Neo machine ranks among the most expensive capsule models, with Nespresso machines and another machine that is also very focused on ecology with its coffee balls almost without packaging, but reserved for coffee lovers. black: the CoffeeB Globe.