A capsule dispenser to dispense a capsule to a user as a dispensing operation is disclosed, along with a beverage preparation machine to extract an ingredient of a beverage from a capsule supplied thereto by a user as a beverage preparation operation. Also disclosed is a beverage preparation system in which the capsule dispenser and beverage preparation machine are operatively linked by a control system. Methods of preparing a beverage using the beverage preparation system are also disclosed. Further disclosed are a computer program for a processing unit of the control system, along with a non-transitory computer readable medium that includes the computer program.