Nescafé Dolce Gusto Café au Lait Decaffeinato: A Milky Evening Cup

Pod milk drinks are nearly always caffeinated, which leaves anyone who wants a milky coffee after dinner with very little to choose from. This capsule fills that gap, and because the milk and the coffee share one pod, it is also one of the simplest drinks the machine makes.

Inside the decaf capsule

The published ingredients list whole milk powder at 71.8% and decaffeinated soluble coffee at 26%, with stabilisers and butter oil. Milk leads, but the coffee has enough presence to give the cup some depth under it. The machine dissolves everything in a single pass, so there is no order of capsules to remember and nothing to assemble in the cup.

The result is a flat, milky coffee rather than a foam drink. Softness is its defining quality, the sweetness is mild and comes mostly from the milk, and the finish is short and clean, with a gentle nutty note underneath. Decaffeination takes a little off the aromatic top of the cup, so it smells rounder and softer than a caffeinated milk coffee, but the body comes through intact.

Decaffeinated, not caffeine-free

Decaffeination removes most of the caffeine from the coffee but never all of it, so a trace remains in every cup. That is the trade you accept for a milky coffee at the end of the day. Anyone who has been told to avoid caffeine altogether should regard it as low in caffeine rather than free of it, and read the current pack.

Sixteen pods make sixteen drinks. Cappuccino and latte macchiato boxes use two pods per cup, a milk pod and a coffee pod, and so give eight servings from sixteen, with twice as many used capsules to dispose of. Recycling routes for pods vary between manufacturers and councils and change over time, so follow the carton and your council's guidance instead of guessing.

Serving it the French way

The French take café au lait at breakfast, long and milky, with something on the side for dunking. That tradition travels well to the evening. Give it room, because a narrow cup undersells a drink this gentle, and put a plate beside it: toast and jam, a couple of biscuits or the last slice of a cake. It is a drink to sip while talking or reading rather than one to study, which is why it fits the end of the day.

Water is the only thing you control, since milk and coffee leave the same pod together. Keep to the mark printed on the capsule; letting the machine run past it waters down both at once and is the quickest way to a disappointing cup. The capsules fit Nescafé Dolce Gusto machines only, and the milk in the powder rules the box out for a dairy-free household.

The packs we stock

• Nescafe Dolce Gusto Cafe Au Lait Decaffeinato Coffee (16 Servings), 16 Pods (barcode 7613035397934)

What the label says

The published ingredient list for Nescafe Dolce Gusto Cafe Au Lait Decaffeinato Coffee (16 Servings), 16 Pods says it contains milk. Read the current 16 pod box before buying; Nescafé can change this decaf café au lait and its milk warning.

Ingredients, as published: Whole Milk Powder (71.8%), Decaffeinated Soluble Coffee (26%), Stabilisers (Potassium Phosphates and Sodium Citrates), Butter Oil (Milk).

Ingredient and nutrition information for this product, as published on the manufacturer's label. The decaf Café au Lait box itself has the last word.

What to eat with it

• Border Classic Biscuit Sharing Pack, 400g: A sharing pack fills the plate beside the cup, which is how a café au lait is meant to be drunk.
• McVitie's Digestives Milk Chocolate Biscuits, 433g: A milk chocolate digestive dipped into a soft, milky cup makes a gentle end-of-day treat.
• Oreo Vanilla Cookie Chocolate Sandwich Biscuit Twin Pack, 2 x 154g: A chocolate sandwich biscuit gives a mild, softly sweet coffee some contrast.

Elsewhere in the Nescafé range

• Nescafe Azera Americano Decaff Instant Coffee, 90g
• Nescafe Azera Americano Instant Coffee, 140g
• Nescafe Azera Americano Intense Instant Coffee with Finely Ground Beans, 140g
• Nescafe Azera Decaf Americano Instant Coffee with Finely Ground Beans, 135g
• Nescafe Cappuccino Decaf Unsweetened Taste Instant Coffee Sachets, 7 Sachets 105g
• Nescafe Cappuccino Instant Coffee, 7 Sachets

The full range is on the Nescafé brand page.

FAQ

Do sixteen pods really make sixteen drinks? Yes. The milk and the decaf coffee are sealed in one capsule, so each pod is a complete cup.

Is it caffeine-free? No. It is decaffeinated, which removes most of the caffeine but leaves a trace.

Why is there so little foam? Because the drink is simply coffee and hot milk rather than a foamed one, a modest head is exactly right.

Does it contain milk? Yes. Whole milk powder is the main ingredient, and the published allergen information lists milk.

How much water should I use? Stop at the mark on the capsule. Going past it is the quickest route to a thin cup.

Curator's note: Use a proper bowl of a mug and have something to dunk beside it. It is the nicest way to end the day on this machine. Lee, teas.co.uk, Tunbridge Wells.

In short: Nescafé Dolce Gusto Café au Lait Decaffeinato: A Milky Evening Cup

More from the tea wiki

• Nescafé: The Instant Coffee Benchmark
• Tea vs Coffee: Taste, Caffeine and Switching
• Caffeine in Tea
• Tea vs Coffee
• Tea for Coffee Drinkers: Where to Start
• Chai vs Coffee
• Decaf Tea
• Chai Without the Caffeine

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