Starbucks Hazelnut Macchiato Pods: Arabica and Pod Order

Starbucks Hazelnut Macchiato for Dolce Gusto: How It Layers

Nestlé makes the Starbucks at-home range under licence, hence the Starbucks name on a Dolce Gusto box: one company supplies the flavour and the naming, the other the pod engineering.

Published 26 Sep 2026 Curator-written, not crowdsourced

Starbucks Hazelnut Macchiato for Dolce Gusto: How It Layers, in summary: A coffee-shop hazelnut macchiato rebuilt as two Dolce Gusto pods: milk first, coffee second, so twelve pods make six drinks. The all-Arabica coffee keeps a sweet, nutty cup tasting clean rather than harsh.

Last reviewed by the teas.co.uk team in September 2026.

Nestlé makes the Starbucks at-home range under licence, hence the Starbucks name on a Dolce Gusto box: one company supplies the flavour and the naming, the other the pod engineering. The result is a two-pod macchiato in which the hazelnut rides above the milk and the coffee is laid over it last.

Why the Arabica line on the box matters

The pack names the coffee as 100% Arabica, and in this drink that is more than decoration. Of the two species grown commercially, Arabica is the sweeter and more fragrant; Robusta carries more caffeine and a coarser, rubbery edge. A dark roast drunk black can mask that edge, but a sweet milk drink puts it on display, so an all-Arabica coffee is what keeps this cup clean behind the milk and the flavour.

The coffee itself is clearly present without dominating, pressure-brewed rather than dissolved, and cleaner than many expect from a flavoured pod. Hazelnut is the lead note, and it comes across roasted and warm instead of sharp or artificial. Roasted hazelnut has a toasted, slightly savoury side as well as sweetness, which gives the drink something to be about besides sugar and stops it tipping into cloying.

Two pods, six drinks, one order

The box holds twelve pods and makes six drinks, because on Dolce Gusto every macchiato is made from a pair: one milk pod and one coffee pod per cup, run one after the other. The milk goes in first. Think of it as the base, with the coffee drawn across it as a mark from above; load them the other way round and the same pods give you a muddy latte instead of a layered cup.

Once it has brewed, leave the surface alone. Much of what reads as hazelnut reaches you through the nose rather than the tongue, and the fine crema on top holds those aromas right where you breathe in. Stirring it through before the first sip throws a real part of the flavour away. The sweetness is dosed into the milk pod at the factory, so it cannot be adjusted at the machine.

An afternoon cup with a chocolate partner

Hazelnut is one of the steady sellers in the Starbucks line-up rather than a seasonal special, and it tends to be the flavour people come back for. Hazelnut and coffee were a pairing long before flavoured pods existed, so the drink comes across as traditional rather than novel. We think it suits the afternoon best, when a sweet, milky cup feels like a treat rather than a way of getting going.

It fits Nescafé Dolce Gusto machines only; neither a Nespresso nor a Tassimo will take these pods, and no adapter changes that. For food, we reach for chocolate first. A seriously chocolatey digestive gives the soft cup something to bite against, a dark chocolate florentine stops a sweet, nutty drink from feeling one-note, and a plain butter cookie stays in the background so the hazelnut keeps the lead.

The packs we stock

Nescafe Dolce Gusto Starbucks Hazelnut Macchiato 100% Arabica Coffee, 123g (barcode 8445291733558)

What to eat with it

McVitie's Digestives Seriously Chocolatey Biscuits, 250g: a thick chocolate layer sits naturally beside hazelnut and gives the soft cup something to bite against.
Thomas Fudge's 6 Dark Chocolate Florentines: the dark chocolate keeps a sweet, nutty cup from feeling one-note.
Royal Dansk Danish Butter Cookies, 340g: a plain butter cookie stays quiet and leaves the hazelnut in front.

Elsewhere in the Nescafé range

The full range is on the Nescafé brand page.

FAQ

How many macchiatos does one box of Starbucks Hazelnut pods make? Six. The box holds twelve pods, and each cup uses one milk pod and one coffee pod.

What happens if I load the coffee pod first? You lose the layering and end up with something closer to a muddy latte. The milk pod goes in first, then the coffee.

What does 100% Arabica mean on this box? All of the coffee is Arabica, the sweeter and more fragrant species, with no Robusta. That keeps a sweet milk drink from tasting harsh.

Should I stir a hazelnut macchiato before drinking it? Not before the first sip. Much of the hazelnut reaches you as aroma held under the crema, so stirring it through throws part of the flavour away.

Why is there a Starbucks name on a Nescafé box? Nestlé makes Starbucks' at-home products under licence. Starbucks brings the flavour and the name; Nestlé brings the pod engineering.

Curator's note: Load the milk first, leave the crema alone and drink it while it is hot. If I could keep only one flavoured pod in the drawer, it would be this one. Lee, teas.co.uk, Tunbridge Wells.

In short: Starbucks Hazelnut Macchiato for Dolce Gusto: How It Layers

Field	Detail
Brand	Nescafé
Packs we stock	123g
Category	Coffee Pods & Capsules
Caffeine	caffeinated
Pod order	Milk first, then coffee
Best time	An afternoon treat
Best with	Something dark and chocolatey