A friend of a good espresso as I am, I have through the years been experimenting with various espresso machines and coffee grinders. One thing I haven’t quite grasped is the success of coffee solutions with pre-prepared coffee buttons (or the “unique combination of premium quality Grand Cru coffees, smart coffee machines and exceptional customer services”, as the official message has it).
I appreciate simplicity, but I have always felt that you lose a part of the makings of a great cup of coffee if you don’t get to feel the beans, smell the freshly ground coffee and analyze the combinations of roasting, grinding and brewing in search of the perfect crema.
Now I am temporarily living in an apartment which comes with a Nespresso compatible coffee maker so I have been forced to get acquainted with its secrets. This is the verdict after a week of real-life experience.
The coffee is good, there is no denying that, and an espresso is easy to make without making a mess. That I guess is enough for many.
On the downside, it is incredibly expensive. You also miss the chance of testing all the local coffee houses when you let an impersonal multinational pick your coffee (selecting from ten different capsule types in the supermarket doesn’t really cut it for me).
And then there is the trash. I always suspected there to be a lot of unnecessary packaging, but the amount of residue was beyond all my expectations. In the picture is what you get from a package of ten shots.
No matter how unique, premium and smart this kind of coffee brewing is claimed to be, it simply feels bad. George Clooney would do an ecological deed if he started to promote quality coffee grinders instead.
Designed, no doubt. No award.
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