Comments on: The Home Espresso Machine Blues: Rating today’s state of consumer espresso machines

By: TheShot

TheShot — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 16:39:55 +0000

Somehow I just had this vision of Nestlé dumping overseas all their stale, pre-ground coffee pods and Nespresso machines that failed QA tests — saving the passable machines and fresh coffee supplies for the European continent. How else then to explain how a pre-packaged, self-contained, superautomated system produces such drastically different results?

But that smacks of conspiracy. And I’ve learned to never suspect conspiracy as an explanation where simple incompetence will suffice.

The simple fact remains that I have yet to sample something out of a Nespresso machine in the U.S. or Europe that made me want to recommend the system to anyone.

By: rob

rob — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 14:44:33 +0000

hi,
i’m a professional Barista and fanatic blogger. At my caffenation blogspot you can see i test all kinds of coffee beans and blends and also machines.
soon i’m going to write a review about all these nespresso capsules. my motiviation in doing so i because the nespresso on my girlfriends small and cheap magimix nespresso machine is suprisingly good. and with good crema. way better than on your photo. of course not as good as my espresso’s on a good machine, but better than in most (professional) places.
soon more.

By: TheShot

TheShot — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 02:45:17 +0000

Thanks for the post. You raise an interesting question: could there be a significant difference between the espresso made with the appliance at home versus that made with a floor model at a kitchen retailer? From your observations, that sounds quite possible.

The retailer has every incentive to demonstrate a good espresso in the store to make a sale, so their demonstration models ideally should not be problematic. Of course, a good salesperson may not necessarily know much about good espresso. But since these machines, and their sealed coffee capsules, are designed with the ultimate repeatable consistency in mind, Nespresso is clearly failing at something.

They are failing at either making a good espresso or at creating a system that produces consistent results. (If not a little of both.)

By: eebahgum!

eebahgum! — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 02:08:06 +0000

Interesting article. Agree that the crema you have pictured looks offputting, but I just set up my 180 Cube yesterday and am not having the same experience as you. The crema is top class from my machine, very appetising, with nice mouthfeel, although I am finding all but the strongest of the brews lacking in the body I require. Enjoyed the Ristretto, however, and would say it’s as good as all but the very best coffee shops around these parts, and there aren’t many of them.

As a latte drinker, I also found that when made with milk around 1.3% fat, being our standard sort of skimmer in Oz, it was just a bit watery, although it’s what I would usually have in a cafe. Went to full cream milk and had a very satisfying cup of ristretto just a moment ago.

Great site–keep up the good work
eebahgum!