THE KITCHEN

It’s our favourite bit of the house if only because the biscuits live there so treat it to some intelligent new appliances

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Nescafe Dolce Gusto Neo

When Cliff Richard lost his way, he turned to God. But nowadays everyone's turning to pod- and the Neo is Nestle's attempt to kick off a new generation of pod-based coffee machines. Its SmartBrew tech uses different brewing methods for espressos, americanos or drip-style coffee, and it automatically recognises each kind of pod, adjusting accordingly. Naturally there's an app, enabling you to fine-tune your order remotely. But perhaps best of all, the pods are responsibly sourced and compostable, and use much less packaging than most, while the machine has been designed to be easy to repair and recycle.

₹tba/nestle.com

Tweaking

The app enables you to customise various aspects of your coffee, including the temperature, but it's easy to switch back to the defaults.

Seeking

Nestle says the Neo took five years to develop because of the issue of getting nice coffee out of fully sustainable pods. Over 200 pod designs were tried out.

Not leaking

The answer was a biodegradable biopolymer lining, thinner than a human hair, to protect the coffee from oxidation. The outer pod is made from paper.

Sage Super Q