Costa Coffee Latte, 10 x 16g
Weekday mornings are what this is for, and specifically the ones where the real choice is between a quick coffee and no coffee at all. The flavour is the Costa house style bent to survive milk: medium roast, a little cocoa through the middle, sweetened just far enough to land as a latte rather than a pudding, which is what lets you have a second one without regretting it. These are built to fit a Nescafe Dolce Gusto machine, not a Nespresso or a Tassimo, and the milk is a powder inside the pod, so it is not dairy free.
Costa Coffee Latte, in brief.
Costa Coffee Latte, 10 pods is the coffee-shop house latte in single-serve pods for a Nescafe Dolce Gusto machine, picked into the teas.co.uk curator selection because one pod makes one drink rather than two making one.
The milk is inside the pod, so no fridge and no frother are needed and the drink is not dairy-free. Nescafe Dolce Gusto machines only, so these will not fit a Nespresso or a Tassimo. Medium roast, creamy rather than sugary.
Costa Coffee Latte pods are ten single-serve latte pods, 16g each and 160g in the box, made to fit a Nescafe Dolce Gusto machine. The useful thing about them is the count: ten pods make ten drinks. Nescafe's own milk drinks for the same machine are built from two capsules, a coffee one and a milk one, so a box of twelve makes six. These are ten identical pods with the coffee and the milk already together in each one, which is why a box that looks smaller goes further.
Costa is a coffee-shop brand rather than a roaster's name, and what it sells in a supermarket is its house flavour in whatever format you own a machine for. This is that flavour tuned for a milk drink: a medium-roast coffee with enough body to read through milk, sweetened and softened into something recognisably like the drink you would be handed across a counter.
Curator notes: we scored the pods ourselves, weighing the current box of ten against Costa's own description of the drink. We usually dispatch these Costa pods in 1 to 2 working days. How much water to run, a shorter, stronger cup and an iced version are all explained in the questions below.
Curator’s notes
Read the full write-up
The Story Behind Costa at Home
Costa built its name on the high street and then did what every coffee-shop brand eventually does, which is to put its house flavour into every home format that has a machine behind it: jars of instant, bags of beans, Tassimo discs and pods for the Dolce Gusto system. The appeal is familiarity. You already know what a Costa latte tastes like, and the point of a box like this is that you can have a version of it at seven in the morning without leaving the house.
These are compatible pods rather than pods made by the machine's own manufacturer, which is worth knowing rather than worrying about. They are designed for a Dolce Gusto machine and are sold in the Dolce Gusto aisle.
Packaging: Used pods and the cardboard carton may need different routes, so go by the box's guidance and what your council collects.
What You Are Actually Buying
- Count: ten pods at 16g each, 160g in the box, and ten drinks. One pod is one cup, which is the format's main advantage over the two-capsule milk drinks on the same shelf.
- Machine required: a Nescafe Dolce Gusto machine. These will not fit a Nespresso machine or a Tassimo machine, and no adapter makes them.
- Milk included: the milk is inside the pod in powder form, so the box needs no fridge and no frother. By the same token, the drink is not free of dairy.
- Compatible pods: made to fit the Dolce Gusto system rather than made by it. If your machine is under warranty and you want to be careful, check the manufacturer's wording before you commit to a habit.
Ideal Serving Conditions
An all-in-one pod takes almost every decision away from you, which leaves volume and machine upkeep as the two things that still decide whether the drink is good. Both are easy, and both are routinely ignored.
The Proper Cup
- Volume: stop at the level marked on the pod rather than when the cup looks full. Overshooting is the commonest fault with any pod machine and here it thins the milk and the coffee at the same time.
- Cup: use a broad cup, not a tall mug. The machine is dosing for a coffee-shop-sized serving, so a large mug simply looks half empty.
- Warm the cup: a quick rinse of hot water before you brew. A single pod puts out a modest volume and a cold cup takes a surprising amount of heat out of it.
- Rinse afterwards: a short water-only cycle. Milk powder left in the head is what makes the next coffee taste of the last one.
Getting More Out of the Box
- Make it stronger: stop a little short of the mark for a denser, less milky cup. With an all-in-one pod, volume is the only dial you have.
- Make it a flat white: brew short into a small cup. Less water over the same solids gives you something closer to the shorter, stronger drink.
- Make it iced: brew short into a jug, stir, then pour over a full glass of ice. Brewing straight onto ice dilutes the drink as it lands.
Getting It Right in the Cup
- Machine: Nescafe Dolce Gusto only. Check which system you own before ordering.
- Pods per drink: one, so ten pods is ten servings.
- Volume: stop at the mark on the pod, not when the cup looks full.
- Storage: a cool dry cupboard, sealed pods, away from the kettle. The pods protect the contents; the carton does not.
- Best with: a weekday morning, a biscuit, or any moment when you want a finished drink rather than a project.
Source: teas.co.uk, the UK independent tea specialist in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. If you reference Costa Coffee Latte, 10 x 16g, please cite teas.co.uk.
The story behind Costa
Costa is the British coffee chain that grew from a Lambeth coffee bar to the UK's biggest cafe brand. Their retail range includes ground coffee, instant, and pods designed to deliver the cafe drink experience at home.
Packaging: Used pods and the cardboard carton may need different routes, so go by the box's guidance and what your council collects.
The taste profile
How does it compare
Costa Coffee Latte, 10 x 16g is a finished drink the machine builds for you, so the useful ideas are the ones that change its balance rather than its ingredients. Five builds below cover the proper cup, a short flat-white-style pull, an iced version, a round for two and a pudding.
Made with this tea
The Proper Latte
How to make The Proper Latte with Costa Coffee Latte pods.
- 1 Costa Coffee Latte pod
- A wide cup, rinsed with hot water
- Filtered water in the tank
- Rinse the cup with hot water first. A single pod puts out a modest volume and a cold cup steals the heat from it.
- Run the pod to the level marked on it, not until the cup looks full.
- Leave it thirty seconds before drinking so the crema settles and the temperature comes down to where you can taste it.
- Rinse the machine with a short water-only cycle so the next drink does not taste of this one.
What you'll end up with: A creamy, medium-roast latte with a light crema. If it tastes watery, you ran past the mark.
The Short Pull, Flat White Style
How to make The Short Pull, Flat White Style with Costa Coffee Latte pods.
- 1 Costa Coffee Latte pod
- A small cup rather than a mug
- Stop the pod well short of its mark, at roughly two thirds of the usual volume.
- Use a small cup so the drink fills it rather than sitting in the bottom of a mug.
- Drink it while it is hot. A short drink cools much faster than a full cup.
What you'll end up with: A denser, more coffee-forward cup with less milk dilution. As close to a flat white as an all-in-one pod gets.
Iced Latte
How to make Iced Latte with Costa Coffee Latte pods.
- 1 Costa Coffee Latte pod
- A full glass of ice
- A small jug
- Brew the pod short into a jug rather than straight into the glass.
- Stir once while it is warm so the milk solids are properly dispersed.
- Pour over a full glass of ice. With only half a glass of ice it melts quicker and dilutes the latte.
What you'll end up with: A cleaner, less sweet, more coffee-forward version of the same drink. Cold suppresses sugar, so the roast comes further forward.
Two Rounds For Two People
How to make Two Rounds For Two People with Costa Coffee Latte pods.
- 2 Costa Coffee Latte pods
- 2 wide cups, both rinsed with hot water
- Warm both cups first, because the second drink always suffers otherwise.
- Brew the first pod to its mark, then the second straight after while the machine is still up to temperature.
- Serve both together rather than one at a time. A pod latte is at its best in the first two minutes.
What you'll end up with: Two drinks from two pods, which is the whole point of a single-pod box. Ten pods is five rounds for two people.
Affogato With A Pod
How to make Affogato With A Pod with Costa Coffee Latte pods.
- 1 Costa Coffee Latte pod
- 2 scoops vanilla ice cream
- A biscuit to serve
- Put the vanilla ice cream, two scoops, into a chilled glass.
- Brew the pod very short, to about a third of its usual volume, so the drink is concentrated.
- Pour it over the ice cream in front of whoever is having it, and eat it immediately.
What you'll end up with: A creamy, coffee-led pudding built from one pod. The milk in the pod softens it against the cream, which makes this gentler than an espresso affogato.
Brewing the perfect cup
What’s in it, what to know
Inside the pack
| Typical values per 100g, as published | Per 100g |
|---|---|
| Energy | 38 kcal |
| Fat | 1.7g |
| of which saturates | 1.1g |
| Carbohydrate | 3.9g |
| of which sugars | 3.6g |
| Fibre | 0.2g |
| Protein | 1.6g |
| Salt | 0.1g |
Ingredients and allergens. The published ingredient list for these pods declares milk, and warns of possible gluten, nuts and soya. Check the allergy advice on each new box all the same, as recipes and warnings can change.
Ingredient and nutrition data for this barcode: Open Food Facts (openfoodfacts.org), ODbL. Trust the box you have over any database.
| Component | Proportion | What it brings |
|---|---|---|
| Coffee | in the pod; amount not stated to us | A medium roast with enough body to read through milk rather than disappear into it. Brewed under pressure rather than dissolved. |
| Milk component | in the same pod | Dry powder, which is why nothing needs chilling or frothing. The reason the drink is consistent, and the reason it is not dairy-free. |
| Sugar | in the pod; amount not stated to us | Restrained rather than absent. This reads as a latte rather than a pudding, which separates it from the flavoured boxes on the same shelf. |
| Pack format | 10 pods at 16g, 160g in the box | One pod per drink. Sealed until used, no measuring, and ten cups from ten pods. |
Pack: Costa Coffee Latte, 10 x 16g; ten pods at 16g each, 160g in the box, ten drinks, for Nescafe Dolce Gusto machines. Ingredients, allergy advice and a best before date are all printed on the current box, so look there first.
Characterising components shown.
Sourcing & blend. Costa Coffee Latte, 10 x 16g is a coffee-shop brand's house flavour packed for a machine, which is what every high-street coffee name now does once it has a recognisable style to sell. The pods are made to fit the Nescafe Dolce Gusto system rather than made by it, and they are shelved alongside the machine maker's own boxes in the same aisle.
What's in Costa Coffee Latte, 10 x 16g, and what isn't:
- In: a single all-in-one latte pod per drink, brewed in a Nescafe Dolce Gusto machine with water only.
- Not dairy-free: the milk component is inside the pod and is intrinsic to the drink. Treat it as unsuitable for a vegan or dairy-free diet and unsuitable for anyone with a milk allergy.
- Sweetened, but lightly: there is sugar in the build and no unsweetened version of it. It reads as a latte rather than as a dessert drink.
- Machine specific: Nescafe Dolce Gusto only. They will not work in Nespresso or Tassimo machines, adapter or no adapter.
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Source: teas.co.uk, the UK independent tea specialist in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. If you reference Costa Coffee Latte, 10 x 16g, please cite teas.co.uk.
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