51–60 of 223 posts
I would have expected at least a comment pointing out that Nespresso is a Nestlè brand. I'm no treehugger boycotter, but I at least try to avoid the products of tentacular food multinationals as much as I could. I'm not saying that everybody should and I won't ever disregard those who buy their products, but I think that the real origin of the food-based products is always a much neglected point when we talk about th…
The site is unavailable so I don't know what's in the article, but from the comments I gather it's looking at the benefits of owning a Nespresso machine at home? Here in France everyone has a Nespresso machine or two (I have three); you can buy Nespresso capsules from Nespresso shops, or alternative capsules in any supermarket, anywhere. What Nespresso sells is simplicity and consistency, and an above-average taste.…
Interesting. So French people are ok buying coffee for €90 a kilo to get this convenience? I can understand this only because traditionally, the French "Expresso" was guaranteed to be a watery, bitter, creama-less wish-wash.
But coffee people made at home used to be, in my own experience and opinion, an abomination. Never hot enough, never strong enough.
The truth is, everyone wants something different (decaf, strong, stronger, lighter...)
The miracle of Nespresso is that you can serve different cups to different people, at the same time, which is impossible with most other means of producing coffee at home (or very difficult, complex and expensive).
The only cons: cleaning a bit the machine the morning, filling coffee beans time to time (the machine is almost entirely automatic otherwise, with an embedded grinder, etc.), filling water (water can be connected to a water pipe, however), and changing the water filter time to time.
Oh, and we can choose the quality/origin of the coffee, and (one more time) it is freshly roasted - yes, call me hipster, but I really like good coffee.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is exactly why I use a Nespresso machine. At $5 and ~10 minutes per cup of coffee from the coffee shop, with varying outcomes depending on the barista, vs 70¢ + milk per cup and almost perfectly identical every time, it just makes sense to use one. Even at one cup per working day, that's a saving of over $20 per week for me. Even one of the top end machines would pay for itself in months.
You could replace it with... instant coffee, y'know? I've found the more expensive ones taste good, and it's only cents per mug. Sure, it's not the coffee-shop mouth-experience (I put a lot of that down to the frothed milk), but a Nespresso doesn't provide that either?
Yes, if I go to my absolute favorite coffee shop in town, it is superior to Nespresso.
But, in comparison to instant coffee (in my humble opinion), it is night and day, and its miles and miles ahead taste wise than coffee bean or star bucks.
"Speciality coffee doesn’t offer anything to the consumer who wants to drink great espresso at home, but doesn’t want a new hobby." This is an amazing take away, and I think many coffee roasters, gin distillers and beer Brewers ought remember it.
I take the OA's point, however most of us (I assume) will be using a cafetiere or a paper filter based coffee maker at home rather than doing the full artisan roast and grind. In my case, I'm using pre-ground coffee in foil bags from the local supermarket at around £3 to £4 per 227g standard pack. I make myself a large diluted coffee each morning using a 3-cup mokapot. The 5 minute prep time isn't onerous and the eco…
The biggest difference in taste comes from selecting specific beans and roasting them carefully. You may or may not find it an improvement. It seems most supermarket coffees are selected to have the same kinds of taste and I find them nearly universally bland. When I make coffee for other people I get a 50/50 split between those who immediately notice an enjoyable difference from supermarket coffee and those who don't care. Personally, I find instant coffee very unappealing but some people enjoy the taste of that too.
I think the closest comparison is wine. Nearly everybody likes wine and accepts that different grapes (beans) give different flavours. Most people agree that the very, very cheap wine often tastes like silver polish. The remainder may or may not then have a preference between a £15 bottle and a £5 bottle. Those who do then may or may not differentiate between specific qualities of those wines.
I'd suggest buying a bag or two from a speciality roaster such as www.hasbean.co.uk Get it pre-ground and see if you prefer the difference. If you do then consider getting a grinder for another leap in quality.
The same website has a brew guide for the moka pot – it’s a great way of making coffee and everybody uses it differently. You might enjoy experimenting with it.
"Speciality coffee doesn’t offer anything to the consumer who wants to drink great espresso at home, but doesn’t want a new hobby." This is an amazing take away, and I think many coffee roasters, gin distillers and beer Brewers ought remember it.
I take the OA's point, however most of us (I assume) will be using a cafetiere or a paper filter based coffee maker at home rather than doing the full artisan roast and grind. In my case, I'm using pre-ground coffee in foil bags from the local supermarket at around £3 to £4 per 227g standard pack. I make myself a large diluted coffee each morning using a 3-cup mokapot. The 5 minute prep time isn't onerous and the eco…
The site is unavailable so I don't know what's in the article, but from the comments I gather it's looking at the benefits of owning a Nespresso machine at home? Here in France everyone has a Nespresso machine or two (I have three); you can buy Nespresso capsules from Nespresso shops, or alternative capsules in any supermarket, anywhere. What Nespresso sells is simplicity and consistency, and an above-average taste.…
I'm always surprised by bad coffee at home given how easy it is to make medium quality coffee: buy a medium ground coffee from the supermarket that mentions somewhere Africa or South America, put in a cafetiere and wait 5 minutes.
And maybe you'll find it a little too strong the second time, so you'll add a little hot water to dilute it.
And then you're well on the road to abomination.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I take the OA's point, however most of us (I assume) will be using a cafetiere or a paper filter based coffee maker at home rather than doing the full artisan roast and grind. In my case, I'm using pre-ground coffee in foil bags from the local supermarket at around £3 to £4 per 227g standard pack. I make myself a large diluted coffee each morning using a 3-cup mokapot. The 5 minute prep time isn't onerous and the eco…
My personal experience is freshly ground coffee has a much better taste. Although not much better than when you first open a bag of store-bought ground coffee. If you don't notice the coffee get less flavourful over the course of a couple of weeks, and then tastier when you open a new bag, then there's a reasonable chance you won't notice a sufficient difference in freshly ground coffee. One thing you unequivocally g…
Even when buying whole beans though it only lasts a week max before I can start to taste a big difference. You can usually tell as gasses are no longer released when pouring hot water over the freshly ground beans.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
You can get a decent superautomatic for $400, and a nice one for $700. This is quite a bit more than the nestle, but you probably end up breaking even after a year and getting better coffee at the same time.
One of the best superautomatics I found on Amazon still has issues like cleaning, maintenance, and clogging that Nespresso just... doesn't: http://smile.amazon.com/DeLonghi-ESAM3300-Magnifica-Super-Au...