A Quick Coffee Guide
There’s a chance that you’ve largely been consuming whatever coffee’s been handed to you — and that’s okay. When you don’t know better, that’s what happens.
There’s a world of caffeinated beverages, and many ways to consume them, so let’s take a look at what’s on the docket.
Despite what you may think, this isn’t even remotely off topic. When you buy Nespresso capsules, you have to determine how you want to drink your morning mud first.
Nespresso VertuoLine machines use codes on the capsules, and each comes with a different amount of beans, ground at various levels of coarseness or fineness.
You can’t just buy a standard type of pod and make espresso, coffee, or lungo — you have to make sure the capsule says just that on the code.
| |
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| Brewed with the same amount of grounds but half the water, resulting in an intense pull of the good stuff |
| Brewed with the same amount of grounds but twice the water, resulting in a slightly more bitter shot of morning brew |
| This is a cup between the lungo and a cup of coffee. It’s compared to an Americano. About 5 ounces. |
| Traditional cup of the delicious stuff at just under 8 ounces. |
| For when you need that extra jolt at 2 pm, this cup has nearly double to enjoy since it clocks in at 14 oz. |
| This is a type of bean — typically considered a higher quality than Robusta. Most coffee is Arabica, and it’s grown at a higher altitude. It’s also more acidic, but less bitter. |
| This hardier type of bean is grown at a lower altitude and is considered inferior to its more cultured older sibling. More bitter, but also contains more caffeine. |
When it comes to Nespresso machines, you also need to keep in mind whether you have a machine from the OriginalLine or the VertuoLine. The capsules aren’t interchangeable — and there aren’t reusable capsules made by Nespresso.
I’ve said it before but I’ll mention it again: you can buy knock-offs, but there’s no guarantee about how well the coffee comes out.
The OriginalLine of machines only makes espresso, while the VertuoLine makes both coffee and espresso.
If you’re really only in the game for the short shots, you’ll want to lean towards the OriginalLine — espresso pods are more expensive for the VertuoLine.
If you want to read more about Nespresso machines, you can check out our other article right over here.
Because this one is about the capsules.
So.
Back on track.
Understanding the Notes
Coffee beans, much like wines, have a number of professional descriptors that companies use to identify what a bean or blend is going to taste like. Sometimes those terms are kind of vague or result in a sort of furrowed brow effect.
If you’re from North America, you’re likely most familiar with Colombian coffees. They typically boast a strong caramel sweetness and a nuttiness with a medium body, so you can use this as a place to work off of.
Brazilian coffees have a peanutty taste, cacao, and tend to have a lingering quality.
All of those descriptors are still pretty straightforward, but then you’ll come across Ethiopian coffees, which can have distinctly floral notes and they are, in fact, more reminiscent of teas. Floral can indicate a hint of jasmine or nettles, but the taste can be stronger depending on the way the fruit is processed.
There are also Ethiopian coffees that can be heavy, even wine-like, which is an indicator that the fruit “note” is a more solidified flavor. It’s typically natural, or unwashed, coffees that boast the higher intensity and settle on your tongue thickly, more like wine.
Basically, you can get a basic understanding of what a coffee is going to be like based on where the fruit is picked from, but there’s still a lot that’s dependent on the brewers themselves. Do they pre-wet or dry their fruit? Do they split roast their blends or throw them all into the same temperature?
To pick a perfect coffee, you don’t need to know everything about the process (not unless you’re going to start your own business), but keep an eye out for buzzwords and high ratings — they can be a good indicator of what’s-what in the coffee world.
The Nespresso Jargon
One last tidbit before we get into the capsules themselves: Nespresso rates all of their coffees on a scale from 1-13.
The top of that scale, 13, is the strongest of the strong. It’ll wake you up with some serious intensity before the caffeine has even hit your bloodstream.
On the other end of the spectrum, beans rated at 1 will cradle your senses gently as you sip your way through the milder drink.
Each Nespresso line comes with their own set of capsule types, too, so I’ll give you a quick breakdown.
Original Line
- Intenso: these capsules are made for ristretto and espresso, and they lean towards the intense side, if you couldn’t tell.
- Espresso: makes espresso shots (duh), but they clock in with less intensity than the intenso category. They hover around an average of 6.
- Pure Origin: this category refers to where the beans were harvested from — in this case, they’re all from a single location for a pure, uninterrupted single taste. Delicious.
- Lungo: again, this is referring to the type of coffee it produces, in this case, lungo. These capsules run the gamut from 4 to 9 in intensity.
- Decaffeinato: [read: a travesty] Coffee without the caffeine. They span the range, too, between 4 and 10 on the taste scale.
- Variations: these flavored shots all clock in at a standard 6.
VertuoLine
- Limited Edition: These will always change based on what’s being harvested, so this label refers to the grounds in the pods.
- Alto XL: these capsules make 14 oz. cups of coffee for fewer trips to the machine on a lazy sunday morning. There’s no designated intensity.
- Pure Origin: this category refers to where the beans were harvested from — in this case, they’re all from a single location for a pure, uninterrupted single taste. Delicious.
- Coffee: these capsules make just under 8 ounces of coffee.
- Gran Lungo: colloquially, an Americano. These capsules make 5 oz.
- Espresso: these beauts give you that coveted shot of caffeine, clocking in at 1.35 oz.
The OriginalLine is interesting, largely because some of the labels refer to the type of beans in the capsule, and some of them refer to what type of coffee it produces.
Let’s take a look at which ones really helped folks shake off that morning grogginess and awaken the taste buds.
