Audioaffair's post a couple months ago has prompted me to repurpose some Nespresso-related thoughts I recently sent to some friends. Quote:
Originally Posted by audioaffair /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Has anyone tried a Nespresso machine? A little gimmiky, but with 19 bar pressure, they do make a perfect cup of espresso and create much less mess than a standard espresso machine.
(Nespresso machines are the ones where you put the sealed capsules in rather than your own measure of coffee - arguably ensuring the coffee is always fresh)
The capsules cost around 23-26p each in the UK, yet its good value if you're not a mad coffee drinker and always want that perfect cup.
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Very belated response (been away from the forums a while).
Yes, and I largely agree with what you say. Nespresso is very good. In fact, it's what I'd recommend to most people. I'm a buy-fresh, grind-fresh, keep-practicing-technique espresso drinker myself, but for friends and family less dedicated than that, Nespresso's been the right choice.
First, though, it's important to be clear about what Nespresso is good for. It's good for making espresso drinks - specifically a "single" sized espresso, an Americano, or a cappuccino or latte if you get a steam-capabile machine are are okay with big-bubble frothy foam and not the pourable microfoam the artisan coffeehouses make.
Nespresso isn't a substitute for drip coffee, French press (AKA cafetiere in the UK), or other non-espresso preparation methods. Although Nespresso offers some "lungo" capsules that are intended to be drawn as more or less full cups (small cups, not mugs) of coffee, they really don't stack up to a good coffee you could make pretty easily some other way.
But Nespresso
does make very good espresso. By "very good" I mean a pleasure to drink, and to my taste much more enjoyable than the espresso sold by the big chains -- but not as good as what you'll be served in a real artisan coffee house.
Better than what you would make at home by some other means? That depends on you. If you are willing to go to the effort of keeping always fresh coffee in stock (for me that means <= 2 weeks from date of roast), individually grinding each shot just before it's used, and spending some time getting your skills in order, then you can, at least after a bit of practice, draw a shot that's better than Nespresso.
But if you aren't going to do those things, then Nespresso will make a better shot than you will.
And I truly mean that. Someone who owns an espresso machine and feeds it preground weeks-old coffee, whether it's supermarket, Illy, or the local branch of your favourite chain, is not, in my experience, getting shots anywhere near as good as what Nespresso produces.
Even though the Nespresso capsules are also preroasted and preground, they seem, just as audioaffair says, to last a very long time, to the point where "hmm, when did I buy this box of capsules?" effectively ceases to be a concern. At least that's been my experience with them -- and again, I'm someone who throws beans away two weeks after roast (and is often dismayed by their deterioration by day 10 or 11). You can stock up months' worth of capsules at a time and not worry about freshness, just use as needed. Depending how much you drink, the long-lasting capsules can be a significant cost advantage. At roughly US$0.50/capsule, a shot a day is a generally a good deal less than a fresh bag every two weeks from an artisan roaster. Two shots a day is about par with buying fresh, exclusive of transportation costs and convenience. But convenience matters a lot to most people. You have to be a little bit dedicated to commit to buying fresh beans every couple of weeks whether you've run out of the old ones or not.
So I really do think Nespresso is the right choice for
most people. That said, we on Head-Fi are not "most people," but people who go to unusual lengths in the service of particular kinds of sensory experiences. If that describes how you feel about your coffee, then you won't be satisfied with your Nespresso for long. It offers a repeatably very good result, but not a perfect one nor one that can be endlessly fine-tuned to your taste.
Note: I am speaking specifically of Nespresso, not the various other capsule systems that are available. I haven't tried those, and won't generalize about them. (I
have tried the Illy pods, prepackaged ground espresso teabag sorts of things individually sealed in foil, which can be used with ordinary espresso machines. They weren't good.)
Note: folks, don't worry about that 19 bar number. It may be the pressure the pump can develop against an infinite impedance, but it doesn't achieve anything like that in practice pumping against an actual capsule.
