Espresso News and Reviews - TheShot.coffeeratings.com

Contrast with the many home espresso machine design failures, Nestlé’s Nespresso pods and machines have been something of a consumer success story. The Nespresso machines do exhibit good design and an impressive amount of convenience. For a number of home espresso lovers, however, these advantages ultimately pale in comparison to their required use of stale, [...]

Tags: coffee_freshness, coffee_pods, espresso_machines, home_espresso, lisbon_coffee, nespresso

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It was a year ago that we posted a review of Cafe Madeleine on O’Farrell St., near Union Square. And since we’re overdue for a Trip Report, and since I’ve been terribly lax (inept?) about taking photos at some of my more recent café visits, it’s time to dust off some “old” photos for a [...]

Tags: espresso_review, faema, french_coffee, lisbon_coffee, mr-espresso, soma

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Coffee pods are a fad that is on life support at the value end (i.e., for machines under $100). However, home sales of high-end coffee pod makers are up significantly: MediaPost Publications - Upscale Coffee Makers Drive Segment But Overall It’s Flat - 03/19/2007. As I discovered in Lisbon’s fashionable Chiado district last year, an [...]

Tags: coffee_pods, espresso_machines, home_espresso, krups, lisbon_coffee, nespresso, single_serving_coffee

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Today’s International Herald Tribune published an article on Illy’s growth strategy of luxury cafés: Italian coffee company illy looks to expand with luxury - Business - International Herald Tribune. (Ignore the article’s initial, erroneous paragraph for a moment: Francesco Illy clearly did not “invent the espresso.”) Illy’s café chain is called Espressamente. We reviewed a [...]

Tags: coffee_freshness, espressamente, illy, lisbon_coffee, quality_standards, Starbucks

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Back in July we reported on Illy’s strategy for opening licensed Illy Espressamente cafés across Europe. During my travels in Portugal last month, I had the pleasure of encountering my first one in the unlikeliest of places.
In the perimeter wall of the recently remodelled Praça de Touros do Campo Pequeno bullfighting arena, this fully owned [...]

Tags: coffee_freshness, coffee_roasters, espressamente, espresso_review, illy, ipa_cups, la_spaziale, lisbon_cafes, lisbon_coffee, portugal_cafes, portugal_coffee

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In a previous post, I noted some generalizations about the espresso in Portugal. For this post, I’ve selected a few notable cafés to review in Portugal’s political and cultural capital, Lisbon.

Name
Address
Neighborhood
Espresso [info]
Cafe [info]
Overall [info]

A Brasileira
Rua Garrett, 120
Chiado
6.60
7.00
6.800

Café Nicola
Rua 1° Dezembro, [...]

Tags: a_brasiliera, belem, bica, cafe_du_monde, cafe_nicola, chiado, delta_coffee, gaggia, lisbon, lisbon_cafes, lisbon_coffee, pasteis_de_belem, portugal_cafes, portugal_coffee, restaurant_espresso

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Here’s an item in today’s news: Nestle reportedly to open luxury coffee shop in Brazil - MarketWatch. In some parts of the world, Nestlé’s Nespresso system, at least on the surface, appears to be making money hand-over-fist for them. Part of Nestlé’s strategy has been to open up Nespresso stores in places such as Geneva, [...]

Tags: brazil_cafes, chiado, coffee_pods, home_espresso, lisbon, lisbon_coffee, moka_pot, nespresso, portugal_coffee, superautomatic_espresso_machines

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