The podly Pack for Dolce Gusto®

Using your podly reusable coffee pod is as simple as filling the pod with your favourite ground coffee, tamping the coffee (pushing down on the coffee with a tamper), replacing the lid and inserting the pod into your machine!

For further tips and ‘how-to’ videos for your specific machine, select your machine here: Nespresso, Dolce Gusto, ALDI K-Fee, Caffitaly.

The beauty of podly reusable coffee pods is that at last you are free to use your favourite coffee in your pod machine without being limited to the range of single-use pre-packed pod flavours.

In saying that, certain types of coffee and different grind sizes will have an effect on the end result, which is why we’ve list below some helpful tips to get that perfect espresso shot.

Fresh is always best! Look for a roast date on the packet or visit your local roaster for the freshest coffee.
A fresh medium roast will generally deliver the best crema (see our FAQ on crema).
If you’re buying pre-ground coffee, look for a stove-top grind rather than an espresso grind – which is too fine.
When grinding at home, you’ll generally want to achieve a medium grind (see our grind size FAQ).
Grind your coffee fresh.
Store those beans in an air-tight container.

As every coffee roast delivers a different result (even the same brand roasted in different batches), you may find that you will need to tweak your grind size and tamping pressure with each new bag. (see our grind size FAQ).

With these tips, you’ll be brewing like a professional barista in no time!

And don’t forget that you can also brew your favourite tea or hot chocolate in your reusable pod. The choices are endless!

The short answer – generally around a medium grind.

Buy why you ask? Well the answer is in how your pod machine works. Similar to an espresso machine, they both operate by heating the water and forcing it through the coffee grounds at a high pressure. This is why the grind size and tamping pressure will make a difference to the final result.

Picture pressurised water flowing through a coarse grind and light tamper – the coffee is likely to run through too easily (and unevenly) with a watery consistency – not what you want!

Now picture pressurised water flowing through a medium grind and heavier tamper – this will allow the machine to build the right amount of pressure and run like honey – that’s nice!

First of all, what is crema? Crema is the layer of golden brown foam that normally forms on the top of an espresso shot. It’s made by a combination of the pressure and heat of the water, going through the tightly packed coffee grounds and extracting the coffee oils.

Just by simply using a podly reusable coffee pod you will be able to achieve crema on your coffee. However, we have a few extra tricks up our sleeve to help you get the most out of your shot.

Firstly, beans, beans, beans! The fresher the better, look for a fresh medium roast from your local coffee roaster. If this isn’t possible, look for a medium roast stovetop grind. For whole beans, make sure you grind the beans fresh for each cup! And store your beans in an airtight container.

Secondly, it’s all about getting the pressure right. This involves achieving a balance between the right grind size and tamping of the coffee. This will take a bit of playing around. However, the general rule is, if the coffee flows like water you’ll want to either tamp harder, grind the coffee finer, or both. If the coffee drips or struggles to come out of the machine, you’ll want to tamp lighter, grind coarser or both. Don’t forget to tamp the coffee evenly and dust off any excess coffee.

Allow your machine sufficient time to warm up and you’re good to go!

Handy tip:

Press start on your pod machine. You will hear the machine start to build up pressure.
Approx 2 sec in, press stop (right as the water begins to flow through the pod).
Wait approximately 10 sec. This essentially blooms the coffee (similar to a pour over) where the coffee is seeped in water, allowing it to degas and the flavours to intensify.
Press start again. Wait for that perfect shot of espresso to flow.

Not only can you make a perfect shot of espresso with your reusable pod but you can also brew your favourite tea or hot chocolate!

Hot Chocolate:

Use a fine ground drinking chocolate, pack lightly, and off you go! Just add milk if desired.

Tea:

Add your tea leaves to your pod, Tamp the tea leaves to suit their size; larger leaves – tamp harder, smaller leaves, tamp lighter. Run your machine as many times as you like to get the desired strength.

You can easily hand wash your pod, or for convenience, your pod is also dishwasher safe! – Simply remove any o-rings on your pod before placing them in your dishwasher basket.

The coffee type, grind size as well as how you tamp your coffee will determine the flow. You may find that you will need to play around with different grind sizes and tamping to get the flow just right for your particular coffee.

If your coffee is too watery, this means that your grind size is too large and/or you haven’t tamped the coffee hard enough. Try reducing the grind size and applying a little more pressure when tamping.

For more information, see the How To tab on the product pages: Nespresso, Dolce Gusto, ALDI K-Fee, Caffitaly.

The coffee type, grind size as well as how you tamp your coffee will determine the flow. You may find that you will need to play around with different grind sizes and tamping to get the flow just right for your particular coffee.

If your coffee is struggling to flow out of the machine, this means that your grind size is too small and/or you have tamped your coffee too hard. Try increasing the grind size and applying less pressure when tamping.

For more information, see the How To tab on the product pages: Nespresso, Dolce Gusto, ALDI K-Fee, Caffitaly.

Check your machines compatibility with podly reusable pods here.

Your podly reusable pod will feel different in the chamber to the single-use pods you may be used to using. They are made from a tougher material so you will need to put a little more elbow grease into locking in your pod.

For Dolce Gusto, you will need to aline the arrow/hole on the top of your pod with the markings on the front of the Dolce Gusto pod cradle – this will ensure that the machines needle can lock into the pod.

Orders received before 2pm AEST will be dispatched the same day (excluding weekend and public holidays).

For detailed delivery estimates, see our delivery services.

First off, if you’re considering a return it’s likely because you have purchased one of our products. Which means, we owe you a big “THANK YOU!” We are nothing without our customers so your support means a lot!

While we are (quietly) confident you will love our products, we understand sometimes, things go wrong!  Rest assured, we will make right any hiccups along the way and do our very best to deliver an amazing customer experience.

For information on processing a return, please visit our Returns Page.

At podly we’re all about saving our planet, so you wouldn’t expect any less from us when it comes to the type of packaging we use. To make the full impact however, we need you, our podly customers to complete the process and make sure you dispose of our packaging how it was intended.

podly product box, insert and wrapping:

We’ve designed our product box to be reused at home. You can store your podly and accessories in there or remove the insert and use the box to store other nick-nacks around the house.

Don’t have a use for the box? The box, insert and wrapping are completely recyclable, so do your bit and make sure you place them in the recycling bin.

Mailer Bag:

While our mailer bags look and feel like plastic, they’re not even close! Our mailer bags are made from home-compostable materials, mainly corn starch and PBAT (a compostable ingredient which bonds the renewable ingredients together).

To compost them at home, it’s best to remove any labels, cut them up and place in your compost bin as “brown” materials. These will completely break down within 90-120 days in a home-compostable environment – sometimes even sooner!

These can also be sent to composting facilities to be properly broken down and composted. In Australia, check with your local council if they accept compostable materials in your green waste.

If your bag ends up in landfill, it will still break down – however this make take up to 2 years (although compared to plastics which can take 400years – we think that’s a significant improvement!)

You absolutely can! Using spent coffee grounds as a soil improver is an attractive and sustainable solution to this growing waste problem!

Adding used coffee grounds to your compost has been found to improve soil structure, improve fertility of the soil, provide a source of nitrogen, provide great water retentive qualities, help microorganisms beneficial to plant growth thrive, attract earthworms, help to sustain high temperatures – which in turn kills dangerous pathogens and seeds from weeds and vegetables.

Check out our blog on Coffee for your Compost for some more information on composting, including other ways to use your ground coffee waste!