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Jacobs Espresso Intenso Review
The second most intense Jacobs capsule for espresso/ristretto measures. Brown foam. Quite good aroma, medium sweet and of a delicately roasted coffee and a tinge of chocolate. Medium acidity. Body is medium too, with the chocolate flavor being the strongest. Slightly bitter, with a long lasting aftertaste of burnt-related bitterness and chocolate. Undertones of spices and vanilla mixes with the far prevailing chocolate ones and bitterness. Acidity is a tad dull. Strong intensity for a not very flavorful capsule that works better as a ristretto and hot.
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Table of coffee origins - The Caribbeans
Country/Region Denomination Notes Cuba Cuba (general) Low acidity with a heavy body Santa Clara Pinar Del Rio Vuelta Abaja Oriente Sierra Maestra Sierra del Escambray Sierra del Rosario Haiti Haiti (general) Rich, fairly acid, relatively full-bodied, mildly-sweet flavor, sometimes spicy. The naturals are extensively used for french roasts. St. Marc Gonaive Cap Haitien Jacmel Les Cayes Jeremie Haitian Bleu Rich, opulent and sweetly low-toned. Can be inconsistent as it is from all around Haiti. Dominican Republic Dominican Republic (general) High grown are of a good body, fair flavour. The lower ones are strong, approaching a Rio from Brazil in flavour. Classic Caribbean taste, overall well balanced, relatively clean and low…
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The different coffee brewing methods: Chemex, Aeropress, French Press, Siphon, Moka Pot, Turkish Coffee
A topic not directly related to Nespresso and its capsules, but there’s so much confusion and lack of knowledge about the various machines and devices that can brew coffee these days that we thought of writing a quick breakdown of them all, and for what they are best used for. Just a brief description of what they are and what type of coffee you can expect to brew with each of these brewing methods. Enough to know how to differentiate them. Chemex A Chemex is a glass brewing machine that looks like an hourglass carafe. It comes in a few slightly different shapes, but usually all have a wooden or…
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Roma Review
Not a very strong aroma. Light brown, nearly creamy-colored, foam. Woody/cereals smell, with some tobacco and dark cocoa. Tasting quite dry but also quite good foam, persistent and pleasurable. Definitely more bitter at the taste, with a strong bitter aftertaste and woody notes that prevail over any other flavor. Second notes would be cereals and a vague milk aftertaste. Acidity fades quickly and leaves bitterness come to the front. Quite a dark, Italian, roast.
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Main species and varieties of the coffee plant
A general reference on the differences and origins of the various coffee beans around the world. The classification of each is not exact, as some institutes may call some plants a cultivar or a variety. There’s plenty of confusion and different takes on what is a proper species and what is a cultivar only of the main Coffea natural species. The main species of coffee Coffea Abbayesii. Found in Madagascar. Coffea Affiniis. Found in tropical Africa, it is probably an interbreed between Coffea Liberica and Coffea Stenophylla. Coffea Arabica. The most widely cultivated. Originally from Ethiopia, South Sudan and north Kenya. Coffea Benghalensis. Distributed in the area between Nepal and…
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India Review
Very brown foam. Nice smell when brewing, slightly burnt. Could appeal a lot of die-hard espresso fans. In the mouth, hints of wood, maybe even chocolate (dark one obviously), perhaps a spicy kind of chocolate bar. The flavor is definitely intense. Bitter. Low acidity. A bit of a salty ending.
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Are pods good for the environment?
A very interesting article on Wired about what impact have the various pods on the environment, plastic, aluminum and compostable ones. Comparing them with the older methods of brewing coffee like a moka pot or a pour over, turns out that the energy needed to brew a single cup of coffee with a coffee machine using pods, like any Nespresso ones, is inferior or very close to the other methods that produce less waste in materials but require more coffee (and thus more energy to harvest, roast and ship it) and energy to give you a cup of coffee. That sheds a different light on the much criticized coffee pods…
