October 22, 2010

Nespresso Variations Espresso Capsules for 2010 - What will they be?

11/30 UPDATE: Nespresso Variations are available NOW! We just ordered up some, got our shipping confirmation and are excited to welcome in the Nespresso Variations 2010 season.

UPDATE: We Announced the New Nespresso Variations Flavors for 2010 - see the details and more.

In addition to the Kazaar Limited Edition that was recently put out, Nespresso brings some holiday treats our way in the form of flavored espresso capsules that meld interesting worldly holiday flavors and their espresso coffees to create drinks that challenge the drinkers to explore and have a little fun for the holidays.

Nespresso Variations 2010 - What will the Flavors be?

To think about looking ahead, we have to look back. A quick review of flavors lead us to some predictions.

Nespresso Variations 2006

Absolute Vanilla - clean and obviously vanilla
Spicy Apple - hints of cinnamon
Anise seed - surprisingly good flavors

Nespresso Variations 2007

Almond- Nice Roasted true almond flavor
Cardamon - delicate but polarizing
Chocolate Orange - classic holiday flavor

Nespresso Variations 2008

Caramel - subtle, best with sugar and milk
Mandarin - bright, basic orange flavor
Crystalized Ginger - true ginger flavor that lingers; breakthrough favorite that I drank for months

Nespresso Variations 2009

Chestnut Creme - intense aroma from this one was better than the flavor
Gingerbread - strong ginger with subtle spice, not nearly as good as the Crystalized Ginger
Apricot - juicy and intense apricot flavors were my absolute favorite this year and surprisingly wonderful

Let's take a look at these and they break down to four categories (they include some double counts):

Spice - Crystallized Ginger, Cardamon, Ginger(bread), Absolute Vanilla, Anise Seed
Confection - Caramel, Chocolate (Orange), Gingerbread
Fruit - Mandarin, Chocolate Orange, Apricot, Spicy Apple
Nut - Almond, Chestnut Creme

One has to think that this year will grow out of the last three year's worth of concoctions. I would predict that we get a spice flavor based in some of the popular coffee shop flavors like nutmeg, or cinnamon. If that's too boring and unadventurous they would move into the sweet spice area and not the savory area. I would like to see some more surprisingly good fruit ones this year, potentially other citrus or acidic style fruits. Nuts would be a logical one with hazelnut being a strong omnipresent contender that might be too obvious. Who knows, we'll see in a little over a month. they usually hit the store in late November, to early December.

The Nespresso capsules can be brewed in the new super slim Nespresso Citiz, the Nespresso Essenza C-100 or the Nespresso Le Cube brewers.