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Starbucks Caffè Verona Review
Brown foam. Intense, pungently spicy aroma. Clearly a dark roast already from the aroma, strong, permeating, sweet and bold. Crema is quite thick. Quite dry, with a medium-full body. Some spiciness, like black pepper and turmeric, can be noticed in the aftertaste. In general, a dark chocolate, averagely bitter, cup of coffee, with notes of caramelized sugar due to the dark roasting. Very low acidity, barely noticeable when hot. Easier to drink than the strong aroma would have hinted at. The dryness marries well with the spiciness. High intensity, for a blend that is a good morning cup but works also well as an afternoon one, as it isn’t as…
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Starbucks Pike Place Roast Review
Brown foam. Intense, very roasty, nutty aroma. Acidity, apple-like, and sweetness can be both discerned from the smell already. Quite intense at the tasting too, with a thick crema and a very good body. Dry, partly velvety, with a feeble acidity that grows as the coffee cools down. Vague sweetness and only a hint of bitterness. Malted cereals, nuts, biscuits and undertones of chocolate are the main flavors. Strong, heavily dry and increasingly bitter as the coffee becomes cold, aftertaste. Precisely at lower temperatures the aftertaste acquires a pungent, spicy quality. A convincingly pepper flavor remains on the back of the palate, along with weak apple and citrus-like acidity. Overall…
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Starbucks House Blend Review
Dark brown foam. Strong aroma, well-round, very roasty. Malted cereals and a distinct sweetness, hinting at a good body and a dark roasted cup. Strongly bitter at first, confirming the medium/dark roasting. The acidity comes out mostly in the aftertaste. Good body, medium intensity. Cocoa, some nuttiness, cereals, hints of toffee, with plenty of roasted notes and bitterness are the main characteristics of this blend. A basic sweetness, caramel/toffee-like, can be discerned. Persisting and thick crema. A pungent acidity, typical of quality Arabica, resists amid the general roastiness. A blend that seems born to be paired with milk, for a strong cappuccino or macchiato. Overall a capsule that is moderate…
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Starbucks Blonde Roast Review
Light brown foam. Nutty and markedly sweet aroma. A bit of grapes’ acidity can be smelled too. Initially way more bitter than the aroma would have suggested. A delicately roasted taste, with a gentle nuttiness and cocoa notes that make up the source of the bitterness. As soon as the coffee isn’t scorching hot, acidity comes to the fore. Apple and grapes-like acidity. A medium intensity blend, as medium is the body too. At lower temperatures the acidity prevails, accompanied by a smooth and milky sweetness. The bitterness instead takes a step back and becomes much less noticeable. Persisting crema. A gentle and smooth cup, where apple and grapes-like acidity…
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How to use Nespresso compatible pods
Nespresso compatible pods are all those capsules that are sold by 3rd party companies and work with most (maybe all) Nespresso original line machines. These aren’t official capsules produced by Nespresso, and in the past they were subject to a series of problems, not the last being capable of breaking your Nespresso machine. Those were the early days, and luckily those issues aren’t common today. We said that these compatible pods should work with most, perhaps all, Nespresso machines. The vast majority of Nespresso compatible pods will indeed work flawlessly with your machine, as with any other. Not all these capsules have the same shape or material, and that influences…
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Halo Indian Parchment Review
Light brown foam. Inconsistent crema. Pleasant cereals and woody smell, with a distinct sweetness. A vague spices’ aroma too, like cedar wood and incense. Dry and light-bodied, surprisingly for a Robusta blend. Somewhat bitter, but not overwhelmingly so and surely just enough to be noticed but to not cover any of the other flavors. Practically no acidity whatsoever. Main flavors are typical woodiness, with a tinge of sweetness. Persisting aftertaste of which malted cereals and a low bitterness are the main components. A pod that works better as a ristretto or espresso, as it is not intense enough to make a flavorful lungo or larger sizes. In smaller sizes it…
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Halo Three Mountain Review
Light brown foam. Tenuous aroma, particularly on the sweet side and with strong malted cereals notes. A bit of woodiness can be discerned too. At the first taste quite dry, light-bodied and with a low intensity. Not bitterness either at first, only in the aftertaste. Feeble crema. Barely present acidity, a very low-key, mild cup with a gentle mouthfeel. Nuts and chocolate flavors dominate, with undertones of sweet molasses. The low acidity has berries qualities. To sum it up, a gentle, buttery cup of coffee where chocolate and nutty bitterness is partly contrasted by the molasses’ sweetness. Not a complex blend but a subtle one. For lovers of low intensity,…
