June 30, 2006

ESE Review: Tosteria del Corso Cialda Blu Decaf Espresso Pods

Tosteria del Corso pods come to us courtesy of Miami Espresso an importer of great Italian ESE espresso coffee pods, and ESE machines. Today we are reviewing Tosteria del Corso Cialda Blu "Decaffeinato" (Blue Decaf) Espresso Pods. Tosteria del Corso is located in Ferrara Italy and roasts some excellent espresso blends.

These ESE Espresso pods are made to be used in popular makers like the Breville Café Roma, the Krups XP4050 and the Hamilton Beach 40729 espresso machines; all have the ability to use ESE Espresso pods.

We recently reviewed Tosteria del Corso's black “Extracrem” pods and the gold “Corso Impero” pods - both of which are caffeinated. I liked them both, and they were definitely different as the Extrecrem was a bit more pronounced in its dark roasted espresso character while the Corso Impero was a bit more rounded with more acidity in the cup. Read our review for full details - ESE Review: Tosteria del Corso - Extracrem and Corso Imperio

Today though we tasted the Tosteria del Corso Cialda Blu Decaf and when this was opened a nice whiff of dark roasted espresso met us as we were preparing the machine for our after dinner espresso. The Tosteria del Corso decaf had a good balance and a clean finish with some espresso notes to it that stood out and definitely didn’t scream “Wimpy Decaf” – no this is a good dose of espresso. To be clear it’s not the fullest bodied cup of espresso that we’ve tasted, but compared to some decafs that have not back end and just run away screaming after their first punch, the Tosteria del Corso decaf hangs around like any good espresso should. I would be happy to serve this, and wouldn’t be embarrassed if I ran out of caffeinated and served this in its place.

Tosteria del Corso Decaf are available in 50 pods packs, 150 pod packs, a Decaf only sampler, and a mixed sampler.