Tchibo Cafissimo and Caffitaly: one system, two names

Cafissimo and Caffitaly are two names for one and the same capsule shape. If you have a Tchibo Cafissimo machine at home, you can buy capsules from either range, and the other way round. It sounds like a detail, but this is exactly what decides how wide your choice is — and it reliably breeds mix-ups, because Caffitaly is at the same time a roaster that makes capsules for other systems. This article takes apart what really works with what, what a single cup costs you next to the other systems, and where Cafissimo has a weak spot the marketing never mentions.

Why one system has two names

The capsule system most people know as Cafissimo was not invented by Tchibo. Behind it stands the Italian Caffitaly, which developed both the capsule and the mechanics of the machine. Tchibo took the system under its own name and sold machines and capsules under it — and that created a situation in which the same capsule shape carries two different names on the pack, depending on who brings it to market.

For you there is only one practical consequence, and it is a good one: the machine does not care what name is on the pack. What it cares about is the shape of the capsule, the diameter of the rim and the fact that there is a filter inside. A capsule labelled Caffitaly and a capsule labelled Tchibo Cafissimo both meet that condition, so capsules for Cafissimo and Caffitaly make up one shared range, not two.

How the capsule works

Cafissimo and Caffitaly belong to the systems with a plastic capsule that has a filter built in. The water passes through the coffee and through the filter inside the capsule, so no grounds reach the cup and the machine has nothing to rinse out apart from the water line itself. Once it is used the capsule drops whole into the container, and the mechanism pierces it in two places only — inlet and outlet.

That principle has two visible consequences. First: the drink comes out with a fairly consistent body, because the coffee does not have to be filtered through a machine screen that clogs up over time. Second: the capsule is bulkier than a Nespresso one, so fewer of them fit into the same drawer and the container for used capsules fills up faster.

The trap almost everyone falls into: Caffitaly as a brand

This is where it gets complicated, and it is worth reading carefully, because it is the single most common reason capsules get sent back.

Caffitaly is the name of a system and the name of a roastery at the same time. As a system it means “the capsule shape that Cafissimo takes”. As a brand it means a producer that also makes capsules for competing systems. That is why the range includes Caffitaly capsules for Nespresso as well, which have the shape of a Nespresso capsule and will not fit a Cafissimo machine. Same brand on the pack, different system inside.

The giveaway is in the preposition. When the pack says “Caffitaly for Nespresso”, it is a capsule for Nespresso from the Caffitaly roastery. When the pack says “capsules for Tchibo Cafissimo and Caffitaly”, it is a capsule for the Caffitaly system. The brand sits before the preposition, the system after it.

The same logic holds for beans: Caffitaly coffee beans exist, and they share nothing with the capsules but the name. L’OR carries a similar ambiguity and we take it apart in the article on how to choose coffee capsules, where all the systems are set out side by side.

How to tell whether you have a Cafissimo or a Caffitaly

If you do not know which machine is standing in your kitchen, three clues will settle it faster than hunting down the manual.

1. The name on the front

Cafissimo is printed on the machine, usually next to or below the Tchibo logo. Machines sold under the original brand carry the Caffitaly name. Both lead to the same capsule — and both types sit side by side in the range, Tchibo Cafissimo machines as well as Caffitaly capsule machines.

2. The buttons on the top

What sets Cafissimo apart from most of the competition is that it has separate buttons for different drink lengths, typically espresso and caffè crema, and on some models filter coffee as well. Nespresso tends to have one or two buttons, while Dolce Gusto leaves the length to you, on a lever or a slider. If your machine has three programmes labelled with the names of drinks, there is a good chance it is a Cafissimo.

3. The shape of the capsule in your hand

A Cafissimo capsule is plastic, roughly half the height of a Dolce Gusto capsule, and it has a wide flat rim. A Nespresso capsule next to it is markedly smaller and usually aluminium. A Tassimo capsule you spot straight away by the barcode around the rim — Cafissimo carries no code, because the machine does not read the setting; you enter that with a button.

If even those three steps leave you unsure, compare the capsule with the photo on the product page. With capsules, the dimensions and the shape of the rim are the only things that truly decide compatibility.

What you can buy for the system

The range for Cafissimo and Caffitaly is built on Tchibo coffees. The packs are uniform — ten capsules to a box — so the prices can be compared directly, with no arithmetic.

The spread is narrow, and the gap between the cheapest and the priciest capsule comes to a rounding error on a single cup. Which means that with this system it does not pay to choose on price — decide by taste and by drink length, because at two coffees a day the financial impact of that choice disappears into the noise over a month.

Espresso, caffè crema and flavoured: how the ranges differ

The range splits into three logical groups, and it is useful to know which of them matches the way you actually drink your coffee.

Espresso

A short drink, darker roast, full body. This group takes in Espresso intense aroma as the most straightforward option and Caffé Espresso BARISTA with a more pronounced roast. Go for these if you drink your coffee without milk and in a small cup, or if you use the espresso as the base for a cappuccino with milk you froth yourself.

Caffè Crema

A longer drink for a big mug, gentler and less concentrated. This is the strongest group in the Cafissimo range — it holds Coffee Crema fine aroma for a lighter taste, Coffee Crema rich aroma for a fuller one and Caffé Crema BARISTA as the darker profile.

One thing matters here: an espresso capsule and more water do not add up to a caffè crema. Capsules for the longer drink hold a different dose and a different grind, so diluting an espresso gets you a weaker, flatter drink, not a gentler coffee. If you drink your coffee out of a big mug, it makes sense to buy crema in the first place.

Single origin and flavoured

The Barista line goes to a single origin: Barista Espresso Brasil and Coffee Crema Colombia give a clearer, less “averaged out” taste than the blends do. The difference against an ordinary blend is there in the cup, but let us not overstate it — capsule brewing levels out the finer notes, because the dose and the pressure are both fixed.

Espresso Caramel is the flavoured option. The caramel is in the coffee as an aroma, not as a milk component, so what comes out of the capsule is a black flavoured espresso — if you are expecting a finished caramel latte, this system will not make one from a single capsule.

Price per drink against the other systems

For a comparison of systems to make any sense, it has to be counted per drink, not per capsule. The pack price misleads, because packs hold different numbers of capsules, and the price per capsule misleads with Tassimo, where one milk drink needs two capsules — one with coffee and one with milk. A pack labelled “16 capsules” is a pack for eight drinks there.

In this comparison Cafissimo holds the middle ground. It is clearly cheaper than a branded Nespresso capsule and far cheaper than a milk drink from Tassimo, but it does not reach the pods, which come out cheapest of all, because they are sold in large packs and all you pay for is paper and coffee.

One comparison in the table does limp, though, and it is fair to say so: Dolce Gusto and Tassimo stand in it with milk drinks, that is, with a finished latte macchiato out of a capsule. Cafissimo stands there with a black espresso. If you want milk with your Cafissimo espresso, you have to add it yourself — and that is both a cost and a job that the table cannot show. So compare on the basis of what you actually drink: for black coffee Cafissimo sits in the middle band, for milk drinks from a single capsule it is not in the running at all.

Three weak spots worth knowing up front

The system works reliably and the capsules are easy to get hold of, but it comes with three specific limits. None of them is a serious flaw, just things it is better to know before you buy the machine than after.

1. A narrower choice of roasters than Nespresso

The range for Cafissimo is largely built on Tchibo coffees. With Nespresso you pick from the capsules of dozens of roasters — Italian, branded and own-label — and the difference in breadth is noticeable. If part of the pleasure of coffee for you is rotating between roasters, this is the strongest argument against the system. If Tchibo coffee suits you and you want a quiet life, it works the other way round, as an advantage: there is nothing to test.

2. The system will not do milk drinks from a capsule

The capsules hold coffee, not milk. You will not get a latte macchiato or a cappuccino out of a single one. There are two ways round it: a machine model with a milk frother of its own, or milk frothed separately. In households where milky coffee is the main drink and nobody wants to froth anything, Dolce Gusto capsules or Tassimo are the more practical choice.

3. Recycling a plastic capsule

The capsule is plastic and it holds coffee grounds and a filter inside. For the plastic to get into recycling, the capsule has to be emptied out — it will not come apart on the sorting line, and whole it ends up in general waste. Aluminium capsules have the advantage here, and paper pods a bigger one still, because they go into food waste whole. Anyone who treats that as the deciding criterion will find a comparison of the materials in our guide to choosing capsules.

Care, storage and what to do with a used capsule

A capsule machine needs less care than a portafilter machine, but not none. Two things decide whether it lasts.

Descaling. Limescale is the most common reason coffee from a capsule machine starts running slower, cooler and weaker. The interval depends on the hardness of your water and on how many coffees a day you make; the machine usually flags it with a light of its own. Use a product intended for coffee machines, not kitchen vinegar — coffee machine cleaning products are made up at a concentration that will not damage the seals.

Emptying as you go. On this system the container for used capsules is small relative to the size of the capsule, so it fills up faster than people expect. Let it overfill and the mechanism will jam the next time you load a capsule. Empty it sooner rather than later, along with the drip tray.

Storing capsules. This is where capsule coffee has the advantage over ground: every capsule is sealed away from the air, so it keeps its aroma for months, even once the box has been opened. All you have to do is keep it dry and out of direct sun. An opened bag of ground coffee, by contrast, is a matter of days, as we go through in more detail in the article on how long coffee lasts. And if your capsules lie about the kitchen in their boxes, a capsule holder earns its place, because it keeps them together and you can see at a glance what is running out.

Once it is drunk. Empty the capsule out, put the grounds in food waste or on the garden — they make a decent fertiliser for plants that tolerate slightly acidic soil — and the plastic body in with plastics. Anyone who would rather not empty them should reckon with the capsule going into general waste.

Frequently asked questions

Are Cafissimo and Caffitaly capsules the same?

In shape, yes, and that is why they can be used interchangeably. A Tchibo Cafissimo machine takes Caffitaly capsules, and a Caffitaly machine takes Cafissimo capsules. In taste they differ, of course, because each comes from a different roaster — the compatibility is about the shape, not the contents.

Which coffee capsules fit a Tchibo machine?

Tchibo Cafissimo machines take capsules for the Cafissimo and Caffitaly system. The only thing to watch is that the pack says “for Cafissimo” or “for Caffitaly”, not “Caffitaly for Nespresso” — the latter is a capsule from the Caffitaly roastery made for a different system, and it will not fit a Cafissimo.

Will a Nespresso or Dolce Gusto capsule fit a Cafissimo?

No. A Nespresso capsule is smaller and has a different rim, and a Dolce Gusto capsule is larger. Neither of them will sit in the Cafissimo holder, and even if somebody forced one in, the mechanism would not pierce it properly. Capsule systems are mutually incompatible, without exception.

Are there refillable capsules for Cafissimo?

Refillable capsules for this system do exist, but the result depends on how precisely you keep to the dose and how you tamp the coffee. It tends to be less consistent than a ready-made capsule, and capsules without a built-in filter raise the risk of grounds getting into the cup. Anyone who wants full control over their coffee will get a better result from a grinder and beans than from a refillable capsule.

Why is the coffee from my Cafissimo weak and under-extracted?

Limescale is behind it most often, and the second most common cause is the wrong capsule for the drink — an espresso capsule on the long programme. Try it in this order: descale the machine, check that the capsule matches the button you are pressing, and only then start looking at the coffee itself.

What can I use instead of Cafissimo capsules when I have run out?

Within the system, any capsule from the Caffitaly range. Outside the system it cannot be done, because capsules from other systems will not go into the machine. If what you need is a stand-in for a particular taste or for a range that has disappeared from the shelves, there is a separate rundown of substitutes for Vertuo and Cafissimo capsules.

Is Cafissimo better value than coffee beans?

On the price per cup, no — beans from a grinder are markedly cheaper at a comparable quality. Cafissimo pays off where time, a consistent result and zero clearing up are what count. If you make two coffees a day and do not want to think about any of it, it is a sensible choice. If you make eight coffees a day, the difference in the price per cup starts to add up — and it is worth a look at Tchibo coffee beans, because the flavour profile you are used to from Cafissimo is there in bean form too.

How do I tell how many capsules the machine holds before I empty it?

On most models the container is transparent or has a window. A practical rule: with capsules from this system, reckon on fewer of them than you are used to from Nespresso, because the capsule is bulkier.

Summary and recommendations

Cafissimo and Caffitaly are one system under two names, so capsules from both ranges can be bought together and the choice is wider than the name on the machine suggests. The only trap is that Caffitaly is also a roastery making capsules for other systems — what decides it is the preposition on the pack, not the brand.

Find your way around the range by drink length: espresso for a small cup, caffè crema for a big mug. On price the system is even, and the gap between the cheapest and the priciest capsule is so small that choosing on price makes no sense. Against the other systems it comes out in the middle band for black coffee — cheaper than branded Nespresso compatible pods, dearer than paper pods.

Before you buy the machine, weigh up two things: that the choice of roasters here is narrower than with Nespresso, and that the system will not make a milk drink out of a single capsule. If you drink your coffee black and want a consistent result with no clearing up, Cafissimo is a good choice. If latte macchiato is the main drink in your house, take a look in the range of coffee capsules at the systems that handle the milk inside the capsule instead.