Does that make us weird..? 🤔 Ok, maybe a little but whatever. We thought we’d share some of our weirdness/wisdom after years in the industry, so just follow these three steps to level up your pod game.
Let's rock!
Step #1 - Warm up your machine
Simple yet surprisingly effective. Before you pop a pod in your machine, do this:
1. Close the lid (without a pod inside)
2. Put an empty glass to catch the water
3. Press the Lungo button once - it's not necessary to hold the button
Not only will this flush out any residual coffee grinds, it'll also heat up the machine's contact points. This enables a smooth extraction and helps to regulate the amount of coffee that flows into your mug. This means a smoother pour and more delicious coffee in your cup!
Step #2 - Program your machine
Now that you're using specialty coffee in your machine, you might find it's not extracting as much coffee from the pod. The thing to keep in mind is that specialty coffee has a lot more depth of flavour compared to non-specialty coffee. Knowing this and wanting to get the most out of its delicious flavour, we grind the coffee finer for a longer extraction!
Therefore, to adjust for this, we suggest you program your machine in the following way:
1. Pop a pod in your machine
2. Press and hold the espresso button (the small one)
3. Keep doing this until you’re happy with the amount of coffee in your cup (read step 3 to nail this)
The best part? The machine will remember your setting for next time, so no need to keep reprogramming.
Step #3 - Use your eyes
This step really separates the pod-dabblers from the pod-pros. Are you ready?
What you need to know first is that espresso coffee goes three different shades of colour as it pours. It starts reddish/brown, then changes to caramel, and finally finishes with a blonde colour.
So, to nail the perfect espresso, try the following:
1. Insert a pod and press the espresso button
2. First, watch for the reddish/brown shade (this is the ristretto, which gives your coffee sweetness and body)
3. Now see how it changes to a more caramel colour (this gives the coffee its balance and is the main ‘espresso’ section of the pour
4. Finally, as soon as the espresso turns blonde, kill the water flow! (after this the light yellow colour coming through is only extracted bitter water)
If your coffee turns out like the picture above, you’re onto a winner.
Bonus - Getting the milk just right
You really thought we forgot about you milk drinkers? Seriously, what Aussie doesn't love a good flat white.
There are two ways of preparation we think work best:
1. Using the Aeroccino: If you’re using the Aeroccino, try leaving the lid off when frothing. The milk will come out nicer and won’t spill out from under the lid!
2. Using the microwave: We personally like to pour the milk (around 200ml, depending on the coffee we’re making) in a separate cup and put it in microwave for 45-60 seconds.
The second option makes the coffee less frothy and keeps the natural espresso crema intact .
And that's it! We hope our little post improves your Nespresso®* experience and helps you get the most out of our specialty coffee pods.
