Our New Baby

Boyfriend and I would like to announce the newest addition to our kitchen. We recently purchased a Nespresso coffee machine. This little machine uses individual “bullets” of coffee to make your perfect cup every time. Ours is the simple version so we only have the option of espresso or the “lungho” which has more water. The Europeans might even go as far as to suggest it’s the American version that is big and weak. I know the French would. I’ve seen fancier machines that have a small container for milk so that you can steam milk and add it to the espresso to create your own cappuccinos, lattes, and macchiatos. Some other machines have a spout for tea. These people do not mess around with their caffeine intake!

The coffee itself comes in small, bullet shaped, sealed containers and is very finely ground. The coffee bullets come in a multitude of colors, each one indicating a different kind of bean and a different kind of coffee. Some are made specifically for espresso while others are meant for lunghi. Our favorites, being the weak-coffee preferring Americans that we are, are the golden yellow lungho bullets. The coffee is full flavored but not very acidic or bitter. It’s a middle-of-the-road coffee that goes great with breakfast.

The machine punctures the bullet, and runs hot water through the coffee for your perfect cup of joe. The machine is also smart enough to save your desired amount of water so that the next time you make the coffee, there is no need to hold down the button for more water if you so choose. It knows your setting. The only drawback is that it takes a couple of minutes to heat up the water and if you’re in a rush or going through caffeine withdrawal, those couple of minutes can feel like an eternity. However, if you weigh that against the time it takes to wash the pot, fill it with water, make the coffee and clean the pot again, you come out way ahead.