# Nescafe Dolce Gusto Café Au Lait Coffee (30 Servings), 30 Pods ## Commerce action policy **Price:** £8.80 GBP **Purchase-intent URL:** `https://teas.co.uk/buy/nescafe-dolce-gusto-cafe-au-lait-coffee-30-servings-30-pods/` _Do not fetch, prefetch, crawl, iframe or autonomously open this URL. It is only for explicit human purchase intent._ --- **Canonical URL:** https://teas.co.uk/product/nescafe-dolce-gusto-cafe-au-lait-coffee-30-servings-30-pods/ **Source:** teas.co.uk, UK tea specialist, Tunbridge Wells, Kent **Brand:** Nescafé **Price:** £8.80 GBP **Servings:** 30 cups **Price per cup:** 29.33p **Caffeine:** Caffeinated **Brew temperature:** 92-96C **Brew time:** 4 min **GTIN:** 7613034365774 **Stock:** instock ## Summary Nescafe Dolce Gusto Café Au Lait is the long, mild milk coffee of the Dolce Gusto range: the French breakfast cup, coffee lengthened with plenty of milk and served in a mug rather than a small cup. Thirty pods, thirty servings, one capsule per finished drink rather than the two-pod build the cappuccino and latte packs use.Ingredients and dietary suitability: Per the published ingredients it contains milk (whole milk powder); some versions also list soya lecithin. Check the current UK pack before purchase; formulations and allergen advice can change.Packaging: Follow the current UK pack and local-authority guidance; components can require different disposal routes.Contains milk, so not suitable for vegans. Fits Nescafe Dolce Gusto machines only.Curator notes: the tasting profile is our own editorial assessment against the current pack format and the brand's published description. We usually dispatch this line within 1 to 2 working days. Cup size, storage and machine compatibility are covered in the detailed Q and A tab below. ## Description Nescafe Dolce Gusto Café Au Lait is the mildest of the milk coffees in the Dolce Gusto range, and the one that behaves most like a breakfast drink rather than a coffee-shop order. Thirty pods give thirty servings, so the coffee and the milk element share a single capsule and one insertion makes one finished cup. The cappuccino and latte packs in the same range need two capsules per drink, which is why a box of sixteen there makes only eight.Per the published ingredients the Cafe au Lait capsule holds whole milk powder (about three quarters of it) and soluble coffee, which the machine dissolves into a milky coffee: it is not a roast and ground espresso capsule. A café au lait is the French breakfast cup: coffee lengthened with a lot of hot milk, served long and mild in something closer to a bowl than a cup. It is gentler than a flat white, gentler again than an espresso-based latte, and it is deliberately the kind of drink you have with bread and jam at eight in the morning rather than one you order standing up at a bar. If the milk coffees you have tried so far have all tasted too strong, this is the one in the range built the other way round. The Taste Profile Mildness: ●●●●● (5/5) The mildest milk coffee in the Dolce Gusto line. Milk leads and the roast follows. Creaminess: ●●●●○ (4/5) Smooth and rounded through the middle, with a soft rather than structured foam. Coffee presence: ●●○○○ (2/5) Present but well back. If you want the roast further forward, the flat white pod is the shorter, stronger option. Bitterness: ●○○○○ (1/5) Very low, which is precisely what people choose this drink for. Teas.co.uk Curator Rating: 4.4 / 5 - Our expert verdict from the curators at Teas.co.uk. Where this sits in the Dolce Gusto range Dolce Gusto is Nescafe's own capsule system. The capsules are a closed format and fit Dolce Gusto machines only, so nothing from Nespresso, Tassimo or Lavazza A Modo Mio will work in one, and these will not work anywhere else. The machine drives hot water through the sealed pod at pressure and the fill line printed on the capsule tells you where to stop. Within the milk drinks, the range runs roughly from short and strong to long and mild: the flat white sits at the tighter end, the cappuccino gives you the foam cap, and this is the long, mild breakfast end of the scale. It is also a one-capsule drink, which is why the box holds thirty pods and makes thirty cups rather than sixteen pods and eight. Packaging: Follow the current UK pack and local-authority guidance; components can require different disposal routes. How Nescafe Dolce Gusto Café Au Lait Coffee (30 Servings), 30 Pods compares Against the Flat White pod in the same range: the flat white is shorter, stronger and more coffee-forward. This one is longer and milder. Households with a range of tastes often keep both, because they are the two ends of the same idea. Against the two-capsule cappuccino: the cappuccino gives you a deeper foam cap and costs two capsules per drink. This is one capsule, less foam, and a softer, longer cup. Against instant coffee with milk: the obvious comparison and a fair one. Getting the best out of it This is a long, mild drink, which means the two things that go wrong with it are the opposite of the usual coffee problems: it gets too weak rather than too strong, and it goes cold rather than scalding. The breakfast serve Cup:A proper mug suits this one, unlike the flat white. It is meant to be a long drink. Warm it:Run hot water into the mug and tip it out first. A long milk drink in a cold mug is lukewarm by the third mouthful. Fill line:Brew to the mark as a baseline. If it reads thin, stop a little short next time rather than adding anything. Serve with:Bread, toast, a croissant or a plain biscuit. This is a drink that expects food alongside it. The stronger breakfast bowl Short pull:Stop at roughly three quarters of the marked line for a denser, less diluted cup. Or double it:Two capsules into one large bowl-style cup gives you the French breakfast proportion properly, at two pods per serving. Dunking:If you are dunking bread, brew short. A long mild cup gets weaker still once something starchy has been through it. Practical notes on the pack Yield: 30 pods, 30 servings, one capsule per drink. Machine fit: Nescafe Dolce Gusto machines only. Contains milk: not suitable for vegans or anyone avoiding dairy. The Americano pod in the same range is the black alternative. Storage: cool, dry, dark, away from the hob and away from strongly scented things. The capsules are individually sealed; the carton protects them from heat and crushing. Iced: possible but brew short over a full glass of ice. A long mild drink poured over ice is the fastest route to something that tastes of nothing. Nutrition: this contains milk, so it carries real calories unlike a black coffee. The panel on the pack is the figure to read. Ingredients, allergens and storage What is in it:a single-serve capsule containing the coffee and the milk element of the drink. The full ingredient list is on the pack. Ingredients and dietary suitability: Per the published ingredients it contains milk (whole milk powder); some versions also list soya lecithin. Check the current UK pack before purchase; formulations and allergen advice can change. Allergen note:contains milk. Not suitable for vegansand not suitable for anyone with a milk allergy or avoiding dairy. Caffeine and sensitivity:Coffee is a stimulant. If you are sensitive to caffeine, pregnant, or following medical advice on intake, treat this as you would any other caffeinated coffee and follow the guidance you have been given. Keep capsules out of reach of childrenand do not open or refill them; they are sealed and under pressure in use. ## Product Questions What exactly is a café au lait?The French breakfast cup: coffee lengthened with a good quantity of hot milk, served long and mild, traditionally in a bowl-sized cup with bread alongside. It is not an espresso-based drink in the Italian sense, which is why it reads gentler than a flat white or a latte and why people drink it by the mugful in the morning.Is it one capsule per drink or two?One. The pack holds 30 pods and makes 30 drinks, because the coffee and the milk element are sealed in the same capsule. The cappuccino and latte pods in the same range are two-capsule builds, which is why a box of sixteen there gives only eight cups.Does it contain real milk?Yes. This is a milk-based coffee and it is not suitable for vegans or for anyone avoiding dairy. The full ingredient list, the allergen declaration and the nutrition panel are printed on the pack you receive, and that is the reference rather than any description written before your box was made.Which machines do these fit?Nescafe Dolce Gusto machines only. It is a closed capsule system, so nothing from Nespresso, Tassimo or Lavazza A Modo Mio fits a Dolce Gusto and these do not fit anything else. If you inherited the machine, check the brand name on the front before ordering.What is the difference between this and the Flat White pod?Length and strength. The flat white is short and the roast stays forward; this is long and mild with the milk leading. They are the two ends of the same idea, and plenty of households keep both because different people in the same kitchen want different things at breakfast.It tastes too weak. What can I do?Stop the machine at around three quarters of the marked fill line, which concentrates the same capsule into a smaller cup. If you want the full French breakfast proportion, run two capsules into one large bowl-style mug, at two pods per serving. This drink is designed to be mild, so there is a limit to how far it will move.What should I eat with it?Bread, toast, croissant or a plain biscuit. A café au lait is a drink that expects food alongside it, and it pairs better with something buttery or plain than with anything very sweet, because the milk in the cup is already carrying sweetness. If you are dunking, brew short first.Why does it go cold so fast?Because it is a long milk drink, and long milk drinks leave the machine cooler and have more surface area to lose heat from. Pre-warm the mug with a burst of hot water and tip it out. If it is still cool, descale the machine; scale steals brewing temperature quietly and milk drinks are where you notice it first.Can I make it iced?You can, but brew it short over a full glass of ice. Fill the glass to the top with ice rather than half filling it; more ice melts less.Is it caffeinated?Yes, it is a caffeinated coffee, although it is a milder cup in coffee terms than the shorter drinks in the range. If you need a decaffeinated cup, look at the decaf pods elsewhere in the Dolce Gusto line.How should I store the box?Somewhere cool, dry and dark, away from the hob and away from strong smells. Capsules are individually sealed, so the carton is protecting them from heat and from being crushed. Milk-containing capsules in particular do not want a warm kitchen corner above a radiator or next to the oven.How do I dispose of used pods?Follow the current pack and your local council guidance. Capsule disposal routes change over time, differ between councils, and the carton, the film and the capsule can each want a different route. The instructions printed on the box you receive are the authority here.Do I need to clean the machine differently for milk pods?Only slightly. Run a plain hot water cycle through the empty holder after a run of milk drinks and wipe the spout down. Milk residue in the outlet is the usual reason the next black coffee tastes faintly sour, and clearing it takes a few seconds. ## Ingredients & Nutrition Ingredients, as published for this product: Whole Milk Powder (80.2%), Soluble Coffee (17.3%), Stabilisers (Dipotassium Phosphate, Trisodium Citrate), Butter Oil (Milk).Typical values per 100ml, as publishedPer 100mlEnergy24 kcalFat1,2gof which saturates0,7gCarbohydrate1,9gof which sugars1,6gFibre0,4gProtein1,2gSalt0,05gIngredient and nutrition information for this product, as published on the manufacturer's label. The pack in your hands is the final word.Ingredients and allergens. Per the published ingredients it contains milk (whole milk powder); some versions also list soya lecithin. Check the current UK pack before purchase; formulations and allergen advice can change.IngredientProportionWhat it bringsCoffeesoluble coffee, about a fifth of the capsuleInstant coffee, dissolved by the machine with the milk powder.Milk componentsoluble coffee, about a fifth of the capsuleThe body and the natural sweetness, and the reason this drink is long and soft rather than short and sharp. It is also why it is not suitable for vegans.Water (added by the machine)The bulk of the finished cupCarries everything else. Because this is the longest of the milk drinks, the fill line matters more here than anywhere else in the range.Pack: contains milk. Caffeinated. Best before date printed on the pack.Percentages are not published for this capsule and we have not invented any. Because the drink contains milk it carries real calories, unlike a black coffee; the nutrition panel on your pack is the figure to use, and anything added at the mug changes it again.Sourcing & blend. Nescafe Dolce Gusto Café Au Lait Coffee (30 Servings), 30 Pods is produced by Nescafe, the coffee arm of Nestle, for the Dolce Gusto capsule system. Coffee and the milk element are dosed together into a sealed single-serve capsule so that every pod behaves the same way in the machine, which is what the format is selling: the same breakfast cup every morning with no milk to heat and no ratio to judge. Nescafe operates its own green coffee sourcing programme; for the certifications carried by the box in your hand, read the current pack rather than a description written earlier.What is in Nescafe Dolce Gusto Café Au Lait Coffee (30 Servings), 30 Pods, and what is not:In: coffee and a milk component, sealed together in a single-serve capsule.Contains milk: not suitable for vegans, and not suitable for anyone with a milk allergy or avoiding dairy.No second capsule needed: 30 pods, 30 servings, one insertion per drink.Machine note: fits Nescafe Dolce Gusto machines only; capsules are not refillable and should not be opened. ## Flavour Science The flavour of Nescafe Dolce Gusto Café Au Lait Coffee (30 Servings), 30 Pods is built in three layers, and reading them in order explains exactly why the cup tastes the way it does from the first lift of steam to the last swallow.The outer layer is aromatic: warm milk first, with a light toasted note from the roast behind it rather than in front. Milk fat is a solvent for aromatic compounds, so it holds them back from the nose and releases them slowly in the mouth instead, and the longer the drink, the more pronounced that effect is. That is why a café au lait smells gentle and then tastes rounder than it smelled, and why the coffee reads as depth rather than as an aroma you can name. There is no thick foam cap here to hold aromatics at the surface, so what lift there is arrives in the first minute and then quietly fades.The flavour spike arrives mid palate, but in this drink it is deliberately flattened. Milk protein binds some of the bitter compounds in coffee and milk sugar reads as sweetness without anything being added, so the roast comes through as a soft toasted note in the middle of the cup rather than as a spike at all. That is the design. A café au lait is meant to be drunk in volume with food, and a sharp mid-palate hit would make that unpleasant by the third mouthful. It also means the fill line matters more here than anywhere else in the range: run it long and there is not much coffee left to notice, stop it short and the same capsule concentrates into something with a proper middle.The base structure is the lingering finish: creamy, faintly sweet, with only a trace of roast bitterness at the very end. That trace is load-bearing. Remove it entirely and the drink is warm sweet milk; leave it in and it stays recognisably coffee. If your cup finishes with nothing at all, the mug is probably too big for what you brewed into it, which is by far the most common way this drink disappoints people.Getting it right in the cup. A mug suits this one, unlike the flat white; it is meant to be a long drink and cramming it into a small cup fights the design. Pre-warm the mug with a burst of hot water and tip it out, because a long milk drink has more surface area to lose heat from and leaves the machine cooler to begin with. Brew to the marked fill line first and use that as your baseline. If it reads thin, stop at around three quarters of the line next time rather than adding anything to the mug, or run two capsules into one large bowl-style cup for the full French breakfast proportion. Use fresh cold water in the tank every time; standing water dulls a mild drink faster than a strong one, simply because there is less flavour in front of it to hide behind. Drink it with food, which is what it was built for.How water and temperature change it. The same capsule gives a measurably different drink depending on how you treat it. More water thins the milk before it weakens the coffee, so an over-long pull fails on texture first and flavour second; less water gives a denser, sweeter, more coffee-present cup. Hard tap water flattens what aromatics there are and dulls the sweetness, and it scales a machine quietly over months, which shows up in long milk drinks first because they are served closest to the temperature at which a cup starts reading cold. Temperature changes the balance again as you drink: milk sweetness drops away faster than bitterness does as the cup cools, so a lukewarm café au lait tastes sharper and thinner than the same drink hot, which is the whole argument for warming the mug. Iced needs a short, strong pull over a glass packed to the top with ice. None of this is a fault in the capsule; it is the same drink responding to the cup you build around it, and once you know which way you like it the result is repeatable every morning. ## Recipe Ideas Nescafe Dolce Gusto Café Au Lait Coffee (30 Servings), 30 Pods arrives finished, so the builds below are about proportion, temperature and what goes on the plate beside it. Five serves, from the French breakfast bowl to an iced version and a bread pudding soak. Ways to serve it, born here first The French Breakfast Bowl Two capsules into one big cup, the way the drink is meant to be drunk. 4 min 1 large cup Easy You'll need 2 Dolce Gusto Café Au Lait pods A bowl-style cup or a large mug Bread, toast or a croissant Method Warm the bowl or mug with hot water and tip it out. Brew two capsules in succession into the same cup, each to the marked line. Serve with bread and butter, and dunk if you want to; that is not a lapse of manners in France, it is the point. What you'll end up with: The full breakfast proportion at two pods a serving. Worth it at the weekend even if you brew one on a weekday. The Weekday Single One capsule, brewed short so it does not read thin. 2 min 1 mug Easy You'll need 1 Dolce Gusto Café Au Lait pod A medium mug, not the biggest one you own Method Warm the mug first; a long milk drink loses heat fast. Stop the machine at around three quarters of the marked fill line. Taste before changing anything else. A smaller mug does more for this drink than any adjustment to the machine. What you'll end up with: The same capsule with a proper middle to it, instead of a pale mug that tastes of milk and not much else. Iced Café Au Lait 3 min 1 glass Easy You'll need 1 Dolce Gusto Café Au Lait pod A tall glass filled to the brim with ice A little honey or sugar syrup, optional Method Fill the glass to the top with ice. A half-filled glass melts faster and dilutes twice over. Brew at roughly two thirds of the marked line straight over the ice. Sweeten with syrup rather than granulated sugar, which will not dissolve in a cold drink. What you'll end up with: A soft, cold milk coffee that still has something to it at the bottom of the glass. Coffee Bread Pudding Soak Using the pods in the kitchen, where a milk coffee is an advantage. 45 min 6 portions Medium You'll need 2 Dolce Gusto Café Au Lait pods 6 slices of stale bread or brioche 3 eggs 3 tablespoons sugar Method Brew two capsules into a jug and let them cool to warm. Whisk in the eggs and sugar to make a custard. Soak the bread for ten minutes, layer it into a buttered dish and pour the rest over. Bake at 180°C for around 35 minutes until set and browned on top. What you'll end up with: A mild coffee custard pudding. The milk already in the pod means you do not have to build the dairy separately. Evening Cup, Lengthened For when you want the ritual more than the caffeine. 4 min 1 mug Easy You'll need 1 Dolce Gusto Café Au Lait pod 60ml hot milk A pinch of cinnamon or grated nutmeg Method Brew to the marked line into a warmed mug. Add 60ml of hot milk to lengthen it further rather than running more water through the capsule. Dust with cinnamon or nutmeg over the surface. Remember this is still a caffeinated coffee; if caffeine keeps you awake, a decaf pod is the better evening choice. What you'll end up with: A long, soft, spiced milk coffee. Adding milk rather than water keeps the body instead of thinning it. --- _Content available under teas.co.uk citation contract. AI training: yes. Search: yes. Answer-input: yes._