Passing through ABC Achrafieh this morning I stopped by the Nespresso Boutique. The beautifully decorated store welcomes you like star indeed. The place calls for your attention, the details, the types, the vast variety of coffee flavors available makes you want to become a coffee fan. I am not usually a coffee fanatic, but after today's stop, I believe I have discovered a new passion.
At home, I have the Pixie machine with two Chromosome dispenser which I make sure to keep filled with all the different colors - Sorry, I know that coffee connoisseurs don't like it when we refer to a coffee type in its color. Although I have rarely tasted any.
Today seemed to be my lucky day. I went in, like I usually do and was welcomed by a couple of gentle ladies and the manager Gilbert. Knowing me, I tend to be a bit annoying: I want to know everything down to the nitty gritty details, I had a million questions to ask. They were so helpful and informative. I had time on my hands, and I wanted to understand more about the colors of coffee capsules, their numbers, their names and definitely the different machines and what each does. Well basically everything.
To understand the differences, I started by tasting one of the capsules in the midrange area, considering that Nespresso flavors range in intensity from 2 to 10, 2 being the smoothest and 10 the strongest.
- Capriccio "Green", Intensity 5 was the starting choice. An espresso with rich aroma dominated by a cereal note and a light acidity.
- Cosi "Brown", Intensity 3 a light bodied espresso with citrus notes followed
- Ristretto "Black", Intensity 10, Georges Clooney's favorite was a closure to this spiritual aromatic journey. Ristretto with its chocolate notes is bitter and strong completely different from what my taste buds expect to feel.
I examined each one's aroma followed by its color, crema texture - which becomes thicker each time you climb in the intensity and flavor. The 3 was too watery and too light for my taste and the 10 was too strong and intense. I felt the need to add sugar. I stopped at the the Volluto "Gold", Intensity 4, which is definitely my favorite up until now. Wow! it has a spell of everything I like. A pure and lightly roasted Arabica, revealing sweet and biscuit flavors reinforced by little acidity and a fruity note.
To my luck, today was the launching of Nespresso's new machine, the Gran Maestria with special features like its advanced Aerocinno 4 milk frother and automatic cup warmer, the Maestria Gran specially designed for Cappuccino and Cafe Latte lovers is my next little gadget for sure:
- Brews both espresso and lungo, a shot with a longer pour for extra volume.
- Five adjustable strength settings
- Aerocinno 4 milk frother heats and froths milk automatically for consistently perfect foam. Its ability to automatically adjust to different drinks means there are no extra whisks to change out
- Convenient, built-in cup warmer sprays hot water directly into your cup to warm it
- Brewing is fully automatic – simply pop in a capsule and select cup size and either espresso or lungo
- Preheats in just 25 seconds only
After already tasting four different Expresso flavors, it was time to move on to feel the power of Nespresso's Cappuccino. I simply fell in love with it.
Gilbert carefully prepared a long cup of cappuccino for me, covered with its thick bed of foam, decorated it with chocolate syrup. You will enjoy it as you feel each and every layer separately or mix the cup all together giving it a Mocca taste.
To accompany my coffee today, a couple of bites from Fleur De Lys catering were offered: Raspberry tart, Flower Macaroons and Jam Sablets were all simply mouthwatering.
To enjoy a perfect cup of hot and tasty espresso I would recommend you follow these steps:
- Turn on your machine and pass some hot water in to heat the canalization and the cup
- Throw the hot water that filled your cup away
- Put the capsule
- Start the machine
- Add sugar at your convenience
- Enjoy your favorite drink with a biscuit or preferably with a bite of dark chocolate
Today I felt like a star indeed, a mixture between George Clooney and Arnold Shwartzeneger. I will surely be trying more of Nespresso's flavors one after the other as each is a trip to a different garden of aromas and passionate tastes.
