FAQs

All our Starbucks^® Dolce Gusto^® drinks require one or two coffee pods. The amount of water you add to each is of course up to you, but our suggestion for how to prepare each hot drink is printed on the box.

 
If you have an automatic machine, you can follow the bars on the pods and match this up to the number of bars you select on your coffee machine’s volume selector. This gives you the right serve every time.

The top of the coffee pod will tell you which drink it is, but you will need to look at the colour of the base to see which kind of pod it is, whether milk or coffee:

• Milk pods have a white base
• Coffee pods have a black or dark brown

You can buy our most popular coffee pods from all major supermarkets such as Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Waitrose, Morrisons, Co-op, Ocado or NESCAFÉ^® Dolce Gusto^® webshop.

To get the best results from using our NESCAFÉ^® Dolce Gusto^® coffee machines, we always recommend you use Starbucks^® By NESCAFÉ^® Dolce Gusto^® or NESCAFÉ^® Dolce Gusto^® coffee pods, as these are specially created for use with our machines.

The bars on the Starbucks^® Dolce Gusto^® pods reference how much water and/or milk is required to get it to the right strength. On our automatic coffee machines, it’s simply a case of setting the bars on the machine to match those on the pod.

No, you don’t need to take the lid off coffee pods. The machine will pierce the pod for you during the process.

In order to get the delicious flavour you know and love, you should always use coffee pods with a machine. Where some suggest it’s possible to use coffee pods without a machine, we don’t recommend it as it will compromise on taste.

For milky drinks such as our Lattes or Cappuccino, you will need to use two pods – one of which contains the milk. Many of our varieties don’t come with milk, such as our Espressos and Americanos.

The top of the pod will tell you which drink it is, but you will need to look at the colour of the base to see which kind of pod it is – whether milk or coffee.

• Milk pods have a white base
• Coffee pods have a black or dark brown

If you check your box and you feel that you were not given the correct amount of milk pods, please call the Starbucks^® By NESCAFÉ^® Dolce Gusto^® hotline free on 0800 707 6066 in the UK or 00800 6378 5385 in ROI.

We are always looking to add new drink varieties to the range and we launch on average one to two new products a year.

Yes! Request a free recycling bag at your Nespresso^® boutique or call us on 0800 279 3160 in the (UK) / 1800 856 002 (ROI) to request one at any time.

Save your capsules - Place your used capsules in the Nespresso recycling bag and when your bag is filled to the line (approx 200 capsules) seal it securely.

You then have the option to choose how to return your recycling to us. We want recycling capsules to be easy so we offer 2 ways to recycle:
- You can drop off your used capsules at all Nespresso boutiques. Find your nearest boutique here
- At over 7,000 CollectPlus locations. Learn more here

Starbucks^® By Nespresso^® capsules do not contain common food allergens, including dairy, gluten, nuts, soy, and eggs. References to "nutty" or "cocoa" notes are components of the aromatic profile and do not suggest their presence in the coffee.

Starbucks^® By Nespresso^® capsules do not contain any preservatives. The coffee is kept fresh by being hermetically sealed in aluminum capsules, which offer an impermeable barrier to light, moisture, and oxygen.

You can buy our most popular coffee capsules from all major supermarkets such as Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Waitrose, Morrisons, Co-op and Ocado.

No, you don’t need to take the lid off coffee capsules. The machine will pierce the capsule for you during the process.

C.A.F.E. Practices is a verification programme, not a one-time certification system, because we believe there is always more work to do to ensure the long-term supply of high quality coffee and to positively impact farming communities.

Starbucks^® is continuously improving this programme by working with groups such as Conservation International to measure the true impact our purchasing programmes have on participating farmers and producers. The programme allows us to gain insights into the challenges faced by farmers and supply chain operations in more than 30 different coffee-producing countries around the world.