Too Much Coffee

Nespresso is still quite interesting stuff.

Its about 5.5g of coffee, and its very coarsly ground. Through a combination of how they use the vibe pump and little rubber discs in each capsule and other things like that - they achieve an incredible crema. Too fluffly [sic] for me, and the taste is so very very bland. They crowbar a lot of robusta in and get very cagey when you start talking to them abou their roasting and blending - which I suppose is fair enough. Even their 7g commercial pucks are thin on flavour.

Clever stuff though - if monstrously expensive.

joey wrote:But it shouldn't be called espresso. just coffee.
there are many ways to make "a coffee", but there is just one way to make "an espresso".

Huh, chief joey has spoken ;-D

I 1000000000% agree with you. That's what I say to everybody around me. It is not an espresso. That's what I liked with Senseo at their beginings, they were only talking about coffee and not espresso. Btw, I tried Senseo for the first time last week and it's just like nespresso, I think they're putting vanilla in their "vienna blend".

Jim, do you know if they use any chemical stuff to enhance that crema? I mean 5 grams has to be too little to achieve any decent crema, right? Plus, those shots come through in like 10 seconds if I remember correctly from my own Nespresso days (yes, I'm duly ashamed of those).

joey wrote:What is with the "espresso" made in these Italian stove top cooking devices, which even the Italians call "espresso"? The silver thingies you have to unscrew, fill, close and wait for boiling.... how much coffee gets how much pressure, water...and so on..... ????

mmmmh. I don't know, italians, at least in my region (Marche), call this Moka. I never heard an italian talking about espresso if it isn't. Of course, some may be wrong but it's rare.

I have to disagree on the Senseo, Stéphane: it's not just like Nespresso, it's worse.