Fantini Arabica and Tre Stelle ESE Pods

The Fantini company started roasting coffee in the 1960's in Rome and these days they deliver coffee to more than 10,000 espresso bars around the country and around the world. Their new plant, built to ISO 9002.2000 standards for quality and care. The new plant location is about 12 miles south of Rome.

I recently got some Fantini Arabica and Tre Stelle pods to try out. They are some pretty authentic style ESE pods from Italy, but I found both a little bit lacking in complexity and overall body.

100% Arabica - It's a pretty dark roasted Arabica that has some peppery notes layered on top of some of the roasted/burnt notes. The slightly nutty lingering dark roasted flavors is prominent, but still allows for a clean typical arabica finish. The flavor is a classic acidic arabica flavor.

Fantini Tre Stelle - Similar to the Arabica, the Tre Stelle is dark roasted and a bit thinner than I like on flavor complexity. There is some caramel flavor mixed into the dark roasted flavors, but overall its not as well balanced as I like. The Robusta blend is definite, but not overpowering and lingers nicely in the aftertaste.

Both the Fantini Arabica and the Fantini Tre Stelle are available at Select Brands

Starbucks ESE Pods

A lot of people may have been introduced to espresso drinks through Starbucks, and as a result have developed their taste for that signature flavor. After getting a machine home that brews espresso with ESE pods, they might just want that taste you can find in the stores. Well, you can to some extent by picking up Starbucks ESE Pods - 7 grams of espresso ground and pre-packaged to work easily in your ESE compatible espresso machine. I liked them when I reviewed them a while back and I continue to work them into my usual rotation when using my ESE pod machines, like the Cuisinart EM-200 that I am using right now.

Starbucks ESE Pods are available in Decaf and Regular, at Amazon and at most full sized Starbucks cafes.

Hausbrandt ESE Espresso Pod Review

Haustbrandt has several different origin coffees in their ESE Espresso pod line that makes it a fun rotation to taste the pods together seeing what Hausbrandt can do with the coffees in an expression of espresso; how they bring out the best in a typical country's coffee. Hausbrandt is based in Trieste, Italy and was founded in 1892 by Hermann Hausbrandt. He set up the Prima Tostatura Tiestina di Caffe and brought innovation to the coffee roasting business using the first electrically monitored roasting process, a cooling cycle and efficient distribution to get fresh coffee to users.

Today, Hausbrandt still practices the craft of roasting high quality coffees and by working with coffees all over the world, they can bring an experience that is fun to explore and with ESE pods, easy to use.

Overall, I liked the Hausbrandt ESE Pods, and could easily see the differences in the ones it tasted.

• Kenyan AA - Bright and light with a dark roasted flavor, but not smokey, it has an earthy flavor without being dirty.
  

• Costa Rican - tamper acidity with a little grassiness it has a bright flavor without being overly sour. The flavor profile is woody and toasted.
  

• Guatemalan - A lot of base coffee flavor, with a fuller body and more earthy profile throughout, with a clean acidic finish.

• Brasile - A nice toasted aroma with a slight bourbon aroma to it. The flavor is light, slightly grassy with toffee flavors. The coffee certainly has a definite acid presence, with lingering flavor but clean, not dirty.
  

These can be found in the Hausbrandt Sampler at Amazon, so you can do your own run-off, or separately.

Mokarabia ESE Espresso Pods

This past week I had the pleasure of checking out some Mokarabia ESE pods, and thought I would pass them along. There are three versions to choose from, and I was able to have the Mokarabia Strong pods, which are impressively good.

Mokarabia is based on Bologna Italy, and have a pretty good reputation for excellent coffee. It is produced by the Zanetti family of Bologna who have been trading coffee since 1700. The coffee today is roasted slowly in small batches, "Cured" and then blended to keep flavor high and consistent. The signature blends are then packed into the classic pods that we can use to create simple delicious espresso at home.

Mokarabia Arabica - smooth and clean finish; packed with flavor

Mokarabia Strong - an Arabica/ Robusta blend that has a great profile and a full flavored finish.

Mokarabia Decaf - An arabica blend that is clean and a little bit lighter than the Arabica caffeinated blend.

Try them out at Pod Merchant, either alone or in a Mokarabia Sampler.

Cafe Gioia Decaf Quick Pick

Caffe Gioia is made by Labcaffe, and is "based on a deep passion for coffee," according to their website. They are certainly concerned with quality, having achieved ISO 90001 certification for their manufacturing facility. I found their coffee available in regular and decaf ESE Espresso pod varieties.

Caffe Gioia Classico "White" (Decaf) - I picked up the Caffe Gioia Classico "White" pods for this review. The aroma is clean but not overpowering. The flavor profile is dominated by the tnagy acid flavor, with hints of smokiness. The body is full, but at the expense of the acidity a bit, not the most well rounded cup I have ever tasted.

These ESE Espresso pods are made to be used in popular makers like the Breville Café Roma, the Krups XP4050, and the DeLonghi EC155 espresso machines; all have the ability to use ESE Espresso pods.

Available at Pod Merchant.

Fantini Decaf ESE Pod Review

Thought I would start playing around with decafs as a lot of readers are asking for a few ideas on decaf pods to try out. I ordered the Fantini Decaf ESE Pods up and

have been enjoying even more espresso later into the night and am still able to sleep without issue, waking to a fresh caffeinated shot in the morning.

The Fantini company started roasting coffee in the 1960's in Rome and these days they deliver coffee to more than 10,000 espresso bars around the country and around the world. Their new plant, built to ISO 9002.2000 standards for quality and care. The new plant location is about 12 miles south of Rome.

I've been pulling a few of these over several nights and have enjoyed them a good bit. The aroma is good, but not overwhelming like a freshly ground whole bean. In the cup, the crema is nice and full but again, it's not as voluptuous as a freshly ground set of freshly roasted coffee beans. It's not bad and covers the cup giving you a nice pillow of foam.

The roast is dark, and as a result the flavor is spicy, peppery with some chocolately flavors mixed in. It's moderately acidic, and has a finish that is fairly full bodied, but with some sharp pungent notes that stick out. It is by no means a bad espresso, and with the kind of treatment that decaffeination does for a bean, it's good to see these flavors.

The Fantini Decaf Pods are available at Selecto

Quick Pick: Lucaffe Blucaffe ESE Pods

Quick pick this weekend for Lucaffe Blucaffe Espresso Pods. I got these in recently from Pod Merchant and think that they are pretty good. They are a premium pod from Lucaffe, and are said to be sourced from the areas of the Indian Ocean, aged 18 months and slow roasted for great taste.

What I noticed is that the Blucaffe pods are fairly dark roasted, and a powerful cup, with a cleaner finish than I like with robusta pods, but fuller than typical Arabica pods. The aroma is good, crema, acceptable, not the best I have seen, and again a fairly dark roast.

Pod Merchant has a sampler pack and larger sizes too.

Lavazza Grand Crema ESE Pods

A year later, I still have to say that I love the Lavazza Super Crema ESE Espresso Pods; I felt that way a year ago when I reviewed them, and still feel that way now. They are a blended pod, not 100% Arabica, so they have a bit more body to them and a full finish, but not overly done. I got a fresh shipment the other day and have to say that I keep going back to how good they are. Absolutely well blended, seamless and full bodied. I haven't had them in a while, and had forgotten how good they really are.

They come in various sizes, from a dozen to 150 count:

Selecto ESE Pods - Free Shipping

Thought I would pass along that Selecto is running a free shipping deal on its ESE Espresso pods. They are offering two brands of ESE pods in several varieties.

Fantini - Established in Rome during the 1960's, and now moved to Pomezia, south of Rome, the company is focused on high quality coffee selecting the best beans to develop a "Creamy" espresso.

Torrefazione Settebello - A blend with just a hint of robusta to add flavor balance and a fuller body. Great crema.

More at Selecto

Illy Individually Wrapped ESE Pods

Illy has gotten on the bandwagon and is now offering individually wrapped Illy ESE Pods in medium, dark roast and decaf varieties. When I reviewed the Illy Medium Roast ESE Pods a while back I have to say that I was a bit disappointed to see loose pods in the non-air-tight tin. We tend to rip through Espresso pods around here, so freshness wasn’t a huge issue. It would be an issue if you rotate around to different types and it takes a while to get through a tin of 18 loose Pods.

Either way, you can get individual wrapped or loose ones straight from Illy.

Espresione ESE Pods Revisited

This past winter I reviewed the Espressione ESE Pods, both the classic and the 100% Arabica. My tastes lead me to like a bit of robusta in my hot espresso, so while I thought that both were good shots, well blended and all around above average, I liked the Classic version better than the Classic.

Now that the warmer weather is here I have been drinking a lot of iced espressos, and my tastes have changed. The 100% Arabica version of the Espressione is the better choice. The flavor profile is clean, but definitely espresso that stands up to the ice, milk and sugar that make up the balance of my iced espressos. Net, I can still recommend the Espressione family of pods, and for me the 100% Arabica is the iced espresso choice, and the Classic is the hot espresso choice.

Espresione Classic, 100% Arabica at Amazon

New Dock ESE Espresso Pods

There’s a new pod in town, and PodMerchant has them. Dock ESE Pods are now available at Pod Merchant and they come from Vidiz & Kessler based in Trieste Italy. The company was created by Antonio Vidiz, who worked in the bakery industry, and Bruno Kessler, who worked in the field of tea and herbal drinks. The trademark “Dock” is reminiscent of the old harbor in Trieste, the classic trading area of the city where the coffee beans come in from far off lands and the finished coffee starts its journey.

The Dock Pods come in three varieties:

Attibassi ESE Espresso Pod Review

Attibassi coffee company is located in Bologna Italy, and specializes in not only coffee but chocolate, another favorite product of mine. According to their website (www.attibassi.com) “Attibassi is an historical brand that was born in Bologna and that attracted the attention of refined palates since 1918, guarantees this pleasure for every product through the selection of the best raw materials and the use of traditional working methods. Today we continue to care for quality in the same way, but, in almost one century, Attibassi has become a modern industrial company.”

I happen to come across their ESE Espresso Pods and tried them out not only as hot espresso, but since the weather is getting hot here, as an iced espresso or Iced Americano.

Continue reading: "Attibassi ESE Espresso Pod Review"

Illy Scuro ESE Espresso Pods

Want a little richness in your life? The Illy Scuro takes the famous Illy coffee roasting skills just a little deeper and richer in flavor and brings you the Illy Scuro ESE pods. The flavor is just a bit more intense, and comes packed in a nitrogen flushed can. Like all ESE pods, the Illy Scuro pods are carefully weighed and pressed into pods to give you the easy and fast way to have great espresso.

Illy Scuro ESE Espresso Pods at Amazon