Balancing convenience, efficiency and quality; there are plenty of reasons to love a Nespresso machine.
You’ve put in the effort to find the machine that works best for you, and to source some of the finest Fairtrade & Organic CRU Kafe coffee; it’s equally as important to ensure you are setting the correct pour for your blends, and your personal taste.
Don’t know where to start? Don’t know the difference between an espresso, lungo or ristretto? Sounds like I’m spouting a bunch of gibberish to you?
Read more below to find out what exactly an espresso, lungo and ristretto are, and what CRU Kafe pod works best for each pour.
Espresso
A Classic Pour
Known as a shot, the classic espresso is rich and intense in flavour.
Originating in Italy, an espresso is traditionally brewed with a small amount of nearly boiling water forced under 9-10 bars of pressure through finely-ground coffee. This results in a rich, flavourful short pour, topped with a ‘crema’ - the brown foam created by the air bubbles and soluble oils of the finely ground coffee.
The ideal espresso shot is poured between 40-60 ml, and good crema adds to the lingering rich flavour and 'thicker' mouthfeel.
Many coffee drinkers like to enjoy an espresso as is, and others might use it as a base in other coffee drinks, like cappuccinos, lattes, macchiatos or americanos.
All CRU Kafe pods are designed to be enjoyed as an espresso (so you can’t really go wrong with setting at least one of your machine’s pours as an espresso!) but our Organic Espresso and Light Roast make for an exceptional espresso.
Lungo
Sometimes the longer a coffee lasts, the better it is...
Lungo, meaning ‘long’ in Italian, is a term coined by Nespresso for a long poured shot. It is brewed with about double the amount of water as compared to a classic espresso.
Essentially, it is a milder form of an espresso, best poured between 80-100 ml. As it contains more hot water than an espresso, it is milder in taste and less intense. Because of this, a general rule of thumb whilst drinking a lungo pour is to not add milk!
Our Organic Colombian, Dark Roast and Espresso pods work especially well as Lungo pours
Be careful to not over-extract, the coffee can become bitter!
Ristretto
A quick hit
A ristretto is a ‘short shot’ - more highly concentrated than an espresso. It’s made with the same amount of ground coffee, but extracted with a finer grind and brewed with half as much water. Because less water is used, a ristretto will tend to be thicker than an espresso, and can have more crema.
Whilst a normal short shot might look like a ristretto, in reality it would only be a weaker, more diluted shot.
Our Organic Indian, Intense Roast, and Light Roast make for a fabulous ristretto pour. We recommend between 20-40 ml, and are perfect with a little dollop of frothed milk!
