Many people ask about the viability of brewing a quality cup of coffee using a capsule. In this article, we discuss why a capsule is better than any other method.
The most important thing to know right off the bat? A great cup of coffee is about the coffee cherry itself-– not the roaster, coffee machine, or barista. Coffee connoisseurs know that the farmer is responsible for 90% of the flavor of any cup of coffee.
Weighing the Factors
Before making a choice, you must weigh all the varying factors. You can’t make a decent cup of coffee if your machine is not tuned properly and your capsule contains cheap, bad coffee. However, you can make a good cup of coffee if you use good coffee and your equipment is tuned properly. For this reason, many Michelin Star establishments use capsule machines over espresso makers. They consistently offer quality coffee. Large restaurants can roast and grind their own coffee and serve it the same day, adjusting the roasting process for humidity and acidity, and tuning the grinder for grind size. But once the bag is open, the aromatics quickly disappear. Thus, the Nespresso pod, being sealed, assures consistency and freshness.
Nevertheless, simply asserting that you can have high-quality coffee from a capsule is insufficient for the skeptics out there. Therefore, here, we will demonstrate it to you instead. To begin with, we will contrast an espresso from a capsule with an espresso from an espresso maker for the purposes of this debate. We will focus on three simple variables for YOU, the kitchen barista, to recognize and manage: water, coffee volume, and quality.
Water
Your coffee is 98 percent water. You’ll get off to a strong start if you do this correctly. Espresso and capsule machines both heat the water to the recommended range of 86 to 89 degrees Celsius. The water is heated differently by each machine, though.
Thermal blocks, a block of metal with a narrow tunnel or torrent that lets water pass through to your capsule at the touch of a button, are used by capsule machines to heat the water. Your neighborhood coffee shop’s espresso machines employ a boiler system to heat the water before you even place your coffee order. Both techniques produce the ideal cup of coffee. Both accumulate calcium deposits. However, we frequently neglect to maintain our machines at home.
Every 300–400 cups, it is wise to descale your machine. This will guarantee that only water of the highest caliber enters your cup.
Quantity of Coffee
The brew ratio is essential to brewing the ideal cup of coffee. Simply said, the brew ratio is the proportion of dry coffee, or the dose, to the amount of coffee extracted, or the yield. Most businesses advise you to extract 40mls from your 5.5 grams of coffee. However, your neighborhood coffee shop will use 8 grams to make a 25ml espresso.
There is a distinction here, without a doubt. This is one of the primary causes of the misconception that coffee from a capsule machine is inferior to coffee from a café. Too much water will merely dilute your coffee if you run it through your capsule. Therefore, it is advisable to extract no more than 25ml. Nevertheless, if you prefer a sweeter coffee, reduce the amount to 17ml.
Your Coffee Capsule’s Quality
You “can’t weave a silk purse out of a sow’s ear,” as the saying goes. The same holds true for coffee. You can add ingredients to coffee to cover up its bad flavor; some businesses already do this. However, you will undoubtedly get a better-tasting cup of coffee if you invest in premium coffee. This means getting the same quality your barista will look to buy for his café That’s really all there is to it.
Returning to the original question, is it possible to obtain quality coffee from a capsule? From our perspective, the response is an unequivocal YES! This is why choosing premium-grade coffee for your machines is a good idea.
The Final Word from Amir Gehl
Amir Gehl said, “Coffee produced from a capsule is also less damaging to the environment than coffee produced using a traditional machine. We’ve actually done our own research using a third party, and most of the CO2 caused in coffee, is created at the farm level and in brewing.
With a traditional machine, you need to warm a double boiler to 94 degrees. It requires a tremendous amount of energy. Difference Coffee is a carbon positive company, so we offset everything, all the waste and all the CO2, because we believe in being responsible for the future.”
Amen.