It’s no secret that Italy is known for certain things, coffee being one of them.  It’s part of Italy’s DNA you could say.  Many brands have been created and have flourished on the foundation of Italian coffee. Starbucks for instance was created with the Italian coffee experience as its inspiration.  I’ve often said (and I’m sure I’m not the only one), once you leave the boarders of Italy an espresso just isn’t the same.  Which brings me to an article that I read yesterday by Tim Manners at Reveries.com on Nespresso…. if you’ve never heard of it, it’s Nestle’s pod espresso. The basic jist is that you pop an aluminum coffee pod into a Nespresso machine and one espresso serving comes out.

I had never heard of Nespresso until last year when I was planning an event in Barcelona and was collecting quotes from from several caterers.  Every quote I received had Nespresso on it….???? I thought the Spanish had gone cRaZy.  Surely they didn’t think espresso was spelled with an N.  Then I thought, maybe that’s how you spell espresso in Spanish.  So that was my first experience with Nespresso and the Nespresso machine.  Back to the article, Illy is actually credited with inventing the single serving pod machine (iperEspresso) but apparently Nestle is the market leader.  According to the article, it costs 7 to 8 times more per serving to make a cup of Nespresso than it does to brew a traditional espresso but it hasn’t stopped people from buying it as Nestle increased sales by 30% in 2008 to $1.7 billion.  Nespresso machines start at 149 Euro and go to over 1800 Euro add that to the cost of each pod .34 Euro and Nestle has itself a gold mine…. it doesn’t stop there however.  Surf the Nespresso website and you’ll find that beyond the 9 premium blends, there are also 3 lungo varieties, limited edition blends and “Special Club” blends from around the world each with an intensity rating.  To top it all off, they have a selection of accessories and 175 retail points around the world… according to the article, at the Nespresso flagship store in Paris (Champs-Elysees) people wait at 5 cash registers 6-7 people deep.   Like it or not, it’s pure marketing genius.  So although Nestle isn’t Italian, they took a piece of Italian DNA (Espresso) and are riding it straight to the bank.  Illy, what happened??

My personal opinion on Nespresso: Not Italian bar quality but pretty good and super easy to make.   I’ll sign off with this Nespresso Commercial staring George Clooney, which also gives you a look at a Nespresso retail store.  (Thanks to “Rockonjuju” for the video and Mawel from flickr for the photo)

There’s nothing like that frothy espresso that you get at the “Bar” in Italy.  If you have ever had a proper espresso, you know exactly what I mean.  It makes it special, tastier, worth paying for… doesn’t it?  The espresso maker at home can whip up a decent caffe’ but it lacks the frothy aspect.  I know they sell all sort of gagets that shake, pump and whatever else is necessary to bring the froth to your home brew, so you may have already solved the froth issue. (I actually got one as a gift from my uncle but broke it soon after.)  If not, here’s a simple way to give your espresso a nice froth that My Zia Mina in Calabria showed me a long time ago.

• Place a few teaspoons of regular sugar in a cup or small bowl.
• Make your espresso as you normally would with your home espresso maker.
• As the first drops of espresso come up, pour a small amount into your cup with the sugar.  It’s important to get the first coffee that comes out as it’s the strongest.  Then put your caffettiera (coffee maker) back on the flame to continue making your espresso.

• Mix your espresso and sugar (give it a good fast mix/whip) and the mixture should look as it does in the picture below.  If it’s too dark, add some sugar.  if it’s too grainy add another drop of espresso.

• Place a small amount into your espresso cup and then add your espresso. Give it a stir and… WALAH!!  a nice frothy caffe’.  My aunt calls it caffe’ all nonna… I call it caffe’ alla zia

PS – Don’t forget to leave a comment on the previous post “Tweak it until it Works” to be entered to win a $25 gift card from Barnes&Noble or Amazon.

Every Starbucks in the US (approx. 7100 stores) closed this past Tuesday from 5:30pm -9pm for a barista retraining. Apparently the company wants to fine-tune the way their baristas make espresso and other coffee drinks. It makes me wonder:

• Has Howard Schultz been reading my blog?
• Maybe he just came back from a trip to Italy and realized that the water his company is passing off for espresso doesn’t match up.
• I’m not sure 3 hours is going to do it.

I hope it helped… I’ll have to go try one and let you know.

I did some more walking today and ventured into the Venetian’s new hotel and casino that recently opened. The new hotel and casino is called “Palazzo” and is a continuation of the Venetian with more Italian shops and themes. As I walked past the new shops I bumped into “Espressamente” which is an Italian “bar” or better known here in the US as a cafe’. Espressamente is apparently owned by illy, the Italian coffee brand. I had to go in! I was just blogging about how difficult it is to find a good espresso…. illy has to know how to make a good espresso, right? Espressamente had gelato, caffe’ and much more. Everything looked great! So, I ordered an espresso and a chocolate briosce.

The results are in: Caffe’ = B, Briosce = C- ….. damn! it looked sooo good. I’ll have to try their gelato next and keep you posted. Buon weekend a tutti! Joe