CBTL Contata Review: The Caffitaly Secret Every Owner Should Know

The CBTL Contata was Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf’s single-serve capsule machine, and it was genuinely good, a solid, well-built brewer that pulled espresso-style shots with real crema, not the fake foam a lot of capsule machines fake up. Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf has since exited the single-serve hardware business, which means the machine and its official capsules are discontinued. But before you write off a Contata sitting in your cupboard, there is one thing you need to know that changes everything, and almost nobody mentions it.

The thing every Contata owner should know: it is a Caffitaly machine

The CBTL Contata is not really a proprietary CBTL invention. It is a rebadged Caffitaly system, built on Caffitaly’s open capsule platform. That single fact is the most useful thing in this entire review, because it means your Contata is not limited to CBTL’s own capsules at all. It will brew any Caffitaly-compatible capsule, and there are a lot of them.

Readers figured this out and mapped the sources: Caffitaly-system capsules from brands like Ecaffe, Danesi, and others are available through Amazon, through ECS Coffee in Canada, and from European sellers, with more variety than most Contata owners ever realized. So the usual death sentence for a discontinued pod machine, the capsules disappear and it becomes a paperweight, does not apply here. As long as Caffitaly capsules are made, and they still are, your Contata has coffee to brew. If you own one, that is the headline: you were never locked into CBTL.

What it is, and what made it good

The Contata is a compact, heavy, solidly built single-serve machine with a genuine 15-bar pump, which is what let it produce real espresso crema rather than the thin, dish-soap foam cheaper capsule machines pass off as crema. It has a 40 oz removable water tank, buttons you can reprogram to dispense more or less water to taste, and a nice touch that owners appreciate: it ejects spent capsules automatically into an internal drawer, so you never handle a hot, wet used capsule. It has a descaling cycle built in, and the whole thing pulls apart for cleaning without fiddly little plastic catches. For a capsule machine, it punched above its class on build quality and on what was actually in the cup. Owners who also kept a Keurig or a Tassimo around often noted the Contata felt noticeably more solid than either, and the espresso-style shot it produced was in a different league from a standard K-Cup, which brews a cup of coffee rather than anything resembling espresso. If you bought the Contata for the crema and the body, it delivered something the mainstream pod machines simply do not attempt.

The catch: CBTL is out of the machine business

The honest downside is straightforward. Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf no longer sells the Contata or, as far as its own branded capsules go, keeps them reliably stocked. If you were counting on walking into a CBTL store or its website for pods, that door has mostly closed. The saving grace is the entire point of the section above: because it is a Caffitaly machine, the end of CBTL’s capsule line is an inconvenience, not the end of the machine. You switch to third-party Caffitaly capsules and carry on.

Owner notes and small annoyances

• Tall mugs may not fit. The cup area suits espresso cups and standard mugs, but an above-average-height travel mug can be too tall for the spout. If big cups are your thing, this was always the Contata’s weak spot.
• It needs a grounded outlet. The Contata uses a three-prong grounded plug, which can mean a little kitchen rearranging in an older home. Worth knowing before you go looking for a spot on the counter.
• Descale it regularly. Run the built-in descaling cycle every month or two, more in hard-water areas. Scale is the most common reason a capsule machine slows down, brews cooler, or throws error lights.
• Buy the right capsules. When you shop, look specifically for capsules made for the Caffitaly system, not Nespresso or Keurig pods, which do not fit. “Caffitaly compatible” is the phrase to search for.

A little more on the Caffitaly system

It helps to understand what Caffitaly actually is, because it is the reason your Contata has a future. Caffitaly is an Italian company that built a single-serve capsule system and then licensed it out to be sold under many different brand names. Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf’s Contata is one of those rebadges; others around the world include machines sold under names like Tchibo Cafissimo and various house brands. They share the same capsule format, which is why a capsule made for one Caffitaly machine works in another. This open-platform approach is the opposite of the tightly controlled Keurig and Nespresso ecosystems, and it is a genuine advantage for owners: no single company can strand you by discontinuing its pods, because the format lives on across many brands and third-party roasters. When you read “Caffitaly compatible” on a box of capsules, that is the machine you have.

Common problems and fixes

• Short, weak, or slow brews. The usual culprit is scale. Run the descaling cycle, then a few plain-water cycles to rinse. If it persists, the piercing needle that punctures the capsule can get clogged with dried coffee; a careful cleaning with a paperclip or a stiff brush clears it and restores a full, proper shot.
• Diagnostic or error lights. The Contata’s blinking lights usually mean it wants water, wants descaling, or has a capsule seated wrong. Check the water tank is full and clicked in, empty the used-capsule drawer, and reseat the capsule before assuming the machine has failed.
• Leaking or dripping. Most drips trace back to the water tank not being seated fully or an overdue descale gumming up the internal seals. Seat the tank firmly and descale on schedule.
• No crema. Flat, crema-less shots usually mean a stale capsule or a clogged needle. Fresh, sealed capsules and a clean needle bring the crema back; the 15-bar pump does the rest.

Getting the best cup out of it

A couple of habits keep a Contata at its best. Use fresh, well-sealed capsules, since the foil seal is what protects the coffee, and a capsule that has sat opened or is past date will brew flat no matter how good the machine is. Warm your cup with a splash of hot water first, because a small espresso-style shot loses heat fast in a cold cup. And if your water is hard, use filtered water in the tank, which slows scale buildup and keeps both the flavor and the brewing temperature where they should be.

What to buy instead

If your Contata finally dies, or you want to start fresh with a single-serve machine whose capsules are on every grocery shelf, the practical modern choices are Keurig and Nespresso, where both machines and pods are everywhere. For espresso-style coffee with real crema specifically, which is what the Contata did well, a Nespresso is the closest current equivalent. We lay out the current single-serve picks, strengths and trade-offs, in the best single-serve coffee makers guide.

Frequently asked questions

What capsules fit the CBTL Contata?

Any capsule made for the Caffitaly system, because the Contata is a rebadged Caffitaly machine. That includes brands like Ecaffe and Danesi, available through Amazon, ECS Coffee in Canada, and European sellers. It does not take Nespresso or Keurig pods.

Is the Contata still made?

No. Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf has discontinued its single-serve machines and no longer reliably stocks its own capsules. The machine still works fine; you just feed it third-party Caffitaly capsules instead.

Is it worth keeping?

If it still brews, yes. It makes better espresso-style coffee than most capsule machines, it is well built, and thanks to Caffitaly compatibility it is not stranded without capsules. The main reasons to move on are if the machine fails, since parts are scarce, or if you want the convenience of pods you can grab at any supermarket.