I’ve spent the past couple of weeks trying as many Nespresso coffees as I can.
To my taste, here are the 3 best Nespresso pods and capsules to try:
- Aged Sumatra (Master Crafted Single Origins capsules)
- Amaha Awe Uganda (Vertuo Reviving Origins capsules)
- Ethiopia (Master Crafted Single Origins capsules)
I share all 8 of my picks, along with a brief review of each coffee, in this post. I’ll also tell you about my first Nespresso Boutique experience.
The Nespresso Boutique – THE Place to Try the Best Nespresso Coffees
If you’ve never been to a Nespresso Boutique, I recommend it.
Normally, you can’t buy Nespresso pods and capsules in stores. But, in 20 cities in the US and hundreds more around the world, you can walk into a Nespresso Boutique store and buy pods, capsules, machines, and anything else you need to enjoy Nespresso coffee.
I had no idea the Houston Galleria had a Nespresso store. As far as I know, there’s only 3 or 4 in the entire state of Texas. They’re pretty hard to find.
My wife and I were at the Galleria in Houston to eat at Nobu Houston. Before we had one of the best meals in our lives (you have to try the Lamb Negi Chimichurri) we happened to walk right by Houston’s Nespresso Boutique.
The employees were patient and knowledgeable. The shop was small but modern and clean, like an Apple Store for coffee capsules.
I brought home 5 sleeves of pods and capsules, all recommended by the employees, some of which I was allowed to taste right there in-store.
Out of the 30 or so Nespresso coffees I’ve tried, the 8 below are the most likely to satisfy the tastes of gourmet coffee lovers.
These are the 8 best Nespresso pods and capsules to try if you absolutely love coffee. They’re listed in alphabetical order.
1 – Aged Sumatra
The employee helping me at the Nespresso Boutique was really excited to pour this for me. I love when employees make recommendations that they’re really excited about.
After I tasted the Aged Sumatra, I understood her excitement.
This is part of Nespresso’s Master Crafted Single Origin series, so it’s a limited release, and at some point they won’t be selling it anymore.
In Indonesia, coffee production looks a little different from the rest of the world. Their wet-hulled process ferments and ages the beans along the way, before they’re roasted. They calculate the roast on the beans to bring out the amazing flavors produced by the aging and fermentation process.
The result is like nothing you’ve ever tasted: zero acid, intense notes of wood and spice, plus a long bittersweet finish that coats the tongue.
I drank my capsule as an espresso, as recommended by the Nespresso Boutique employees. The thick crema impressed me to no end. My cup was almost mushroomy, with a little barnyard thrown in.
It went really well with a fresh chocolate chip cookie.
My wife brewed her capsule right into a cup of ice, the way she likes it. She added sugar to her taste and told me she liked it. This is kind of a big deal, since her coffee tastes run more towards traditional drip coffee and ready-to-go iced coffee products.
You can buy a sleeve of ten Aged Sumatra Nespresso capsules for $10, or $1 per cup. That’s an incredible deal for a rare and indulgent coffee treat like this.
2 – Amaha Awe Uganda
Amaha Awe Uganda is another limited edition release by Nespresso, this time for their Vertuo Reviving Origins series.
The purpose of the Reviving Origins series is noble and worth supporting. Nespresso works with more than 2,000 coffee farmers around the world, training them to improve the quality and yield of their product. The farmers make money and Nespresso gets unique single-origin coffees to treat us with.
“Amaha awe Uganda” means “Hope for Uganda” in Swahili. The beans are amazing – they’re shade-grown in soil shared with banana plantations, which is the perfect environment for Arabica beans.
You’ll notice the beans’ famous sandalwood and floral notes when you open the sleeve of capsules. It’s an intense and somehow familiar aroma that bears itself out well in the brew.
I say Amaha Awe Uganda is the perfect crowd-pleasing gourmet coffee. It has perfectly medium acidity and body. While there are plenty of interesting notes in the flavors and aromas (fresh mint on the nose when you first sip it, then a little bright citrus fruit on the finish) it’s not so gourmet that it turns off regular Joe coffee drinkers.
3 – Cape Town Envivo Lungo
A Lungo is twice the size of a normal espresso. It’s a longer cup for people that want a little more coffee than the Nespresso espresso size.
The Cape Town Envivo Lungo is a tribute to South Africa’s coffee traditions. Cape Towners like their coffee dark and rich, influenced by the heavy trading of Indian Arabica beans in the city’s old ports. It’s common for coffee drinkers in Cape Town to splash a little milk or heavy cream on top of the rich dark-roast brews common in the area.
The coffee itself has a full body and medium bitterness, which stands out against an almost zero-acid backdrop.
I notice potent roasted wood and spiced cherry from the aroma all the way to the finish. It would be a nice coffee to pair with Old Spice aftershave, if you’re into these kinds of gourmet shaving sensual experiences where you track your aftershave, shaving cream, and coffee choices every morning.
The caffeine content is high; you’ll feel a real buzz from this brew. Between its low acid and hefty caffeine punch, I drink Cape Town Envivo Lungo in the morning.
But, of course, you can drink it any time of day.
My wife used it to make a coffee milkshake with Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla ice cream, and it was amazing.
Personally, I try to be as authentic as I can. I enjoy it straight with a cap of heavy cream.
Nespresso’s Cape Town Envivo Lungo packs two punches: brute strength from the washed Mexican Robusta beans and the punchy bitterness of Indian Arabicas.
4 – Corto
Corto is one of the most-accessible capsules on this list, since it’s not in any way limited.
In fact, Corto is one of the most popular products Nespresso sells.
Spain’s barista culture inspired the creation of Nespresso Corto. The beans are a blend of African Arabica and Robusta, roasted long and dark for a powerful flavor with an intense body.
A true corto is a short-pulled shot of espresso. It uses a shorter brewing time (fifteen seconds or so) and less water (maybe 20 mL at the most) relative to a standard espresso shot. The result is thick, rich, and intense.
A corto is meant to be totally free of bitterness. Bitter flavors tend to come out towards the end of a standard draw. By cutting the shot short, baristas reduce bitterness without sacrificing flavor.
Here’s the thing – this coffee practically begs for milk. A corto cut with milk is technically a cortado. That’s how I reccomend you serve this Nespresso flavor bomb – with plenty of dairy, or some kind of dairy alternative.
The flavors are pretty standard for espresso, with maybe a little more dark chocolate and decidedly more “roast” flavor.
If you don’t like the $10 and up price points of some of Nespresso’s gourmet coffees, you’ll be happy to hear that Corto costs about $0.75 a cup.
5 – Ethiopia
Ethiopian Yirgacheffe is known as the Champagne of coffees. Production is difficult and time-consuming. A natural (sometimes called dry) harvesting and aging process makes the coffee both delicate and expensive.
Nespresso’s Ethiopia is part of their Vertuo Master Crafted Single Origins series. Nespresso ensures the use of traditional Ethiopian methods to produce this coffee. That means the beans ripen on the vine until the very last minute. They age and mature directly in the sun, where farmers rake and mix the beans every hour for a week or more.
All of that adds up to a bean that’s transferred all its sugars from the exterior to the inside of the bean. Protected from the roasting process, these rich sugars create some unusual (and addictive) aromas and flavors.
This Nespresso Ethiopia coffee is just about as good as the best single-origin Yirgacheffe I’ve tried. It’s a true medium roast, designed to bring out the strong fruit, floral, and spice notes.
The flavors and aromas are complex. I noted ripe blueberry, a little stone fruit, dry earth, and a sort of animal musk that wouldn’t be out of place in a fine cigar.
For me, the light body and intense taste and smell of Nespresso Ethiopia make it a great after-work pick me up, or late night cocktail enhancer.
You’re going to pay a bit more than other Nespresso capsules. I found a sleeve of 10 Ethiopia capsules for sale on their website for $11.50, or $1.15 per cup. That’s a testament to the costly production methods of Ethiopian coffees.
6 – Kahawa Ya Congo
Kahawa Ya Congo is another entry in Nespresso’s Reviving Origins line.
Kahawa Ya Congo comes from an interesting part of the world. Farmers living in the Lake Kivu region, devastated by decades of political instability and mob violence, grow every bean that goes in the blend. Nespresso supports these farmers with money and training to improve their crop, just as they do in other parts of the world.
The rich volcanic soil in the Lake Kivu region makes it one of the best coffee-growing sites in the world. A few decades ago, the Democratic Republic of the Congo produced ten times as many beans as it currently does. I feel like Congolese coffee is about to explode in popularity.
The brew is smooth, low acid and low-to-medium bitterness. It’s slightly fruity with bright cereals and a mild burnt-sugar sweetness. It’s an “any time of day” kind of coffee, with low-to-medium caffeine content thanks to the naturally low caffeine content of the local beans and the roast Nespresso chose.
I like it straight as an espresso. It’s strong enough to enjoy as a Lungo if you want a more drawn-out coffee experience.
7 – Palermo Kazaar
Nespresso’s Palermo Kazaar is, hands-down, one of the best Italian coffees I’ve ever tasted.
Sicily was once an important port city in the coffee trade, bridging the gap between African and Arabian coffee production and European coffee consumption.
Palermo’s coffee culture is, like most port cities, obsessed with dark, intense, and rich flavors and aromas. Bitterness is a virtue. A thick and almost syrupy body is a necessity. Your spoon should, as the old joke goes, practically stand up in your cup all on its own.
Palermo Kazaar undergoes a long roast to ensure a bean that’s about as dark as anything Nespresso has ever produced.
Where does the intensity and strength come from? A strong backbone of washed African Robusta beans, spiked with a few different Arabicas from Latin America for balance.
Okay, I’ll admit, this coffee isn’t for everyone. My wife won’t go near it, even to try it as an iced coffee or other specialty drink. From the first second of brewing to the last sip, you’re going to have a nose and mouth full of intense Robusta flavors and body.
Pair it with a strong cigar or old single malt Scotch. I don’t think anything else will stand up to it.
8 – Rio de Janeiro Espresso
Part of Nespresso’s World Explorations line, Rio de Janeiro Espresso is a light roast espresso known for its velvety smooth body and mouthfeel. It also brings some exotic flavors and aromas to the table.
Rio de Janiero Espresso is meant to be enjoyed as a straight-up espresso drink. The acid level is surprisingly low. That’s the first thing I noticed after my first sip. Then came some wild flavors out of left field. I wrote down “cashew, incense, and rosemary,” three words I never thought I would use in the same sentence to describe a coffee.
My wife described it as “herbal tea with a shot of dark roast coffee,” and I think that’s an apt descriptor.
I’d say this is a moderate cup of coffee. Moderate caffeine content, medium intensity, medium strength of the flavors and finish.
If you like a shot of espresso with some nice bitterness but very little acid, and you don’t mind some exotic notes, this is a great everyday pick. I found it on sale through Nespresso for $7.50 per sleeve, which is $0.75 per cup.
Conclusion: Best Nespresso Coffees to Try
Those are my picks for the 8 best Nespresso coffees to try.
If you’re a hardcore gourmet coffee lover and you’ve found an awesome Nespresso product, let me know in the comments and I’ll add it to my list.