Great espresso produced from a pod (ESE) coffee product.
Written: Mar 12 '04 (Updated Jan 09 '05)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Convenience, less mess simplicity of use. Readily available online.
Cons: Not as fresh as buying Illy beans and grinding and brewing yourself.
The Bottom Line: Illy is the best. There are other great ones, Illy is the best. readily available online or by phone if no retailer is near.
|
|
|
| zooropa9's Full Review: Illy Espresso Pods Regular Roast |
Illy Espresso is renowned, world over for their espresso coffee. The idea behind the Easy Serving Espresso (ESE) pod is: simplicity, convenience, less mess. With Illy brand pods, you get all that plus the uniform consistency of great espresso of Illy espresso. The espresso produced is superior than most. Great crema. Good rich body. Fruity taste. Illy uses "a single blend of the finest 100% Arabica beans meticulously selected from around the world... skillfully roasted and air-cooled... then packaged in an air-free pressurized environment". There is a noticeable difference in overall consistency with this product. Their quality control is very high. The pods are easy to use and clean up. Simply place a coffee pod into the filter basket of the espresso maker. no measuring of coffee, or tamping the coffee in the filter. They are round filter packs of ground espresso coffee. Just discard pod when done. Follow the instructions that came with your E.S.E. compatible espresso machine for best results, not all machines operate the same. Many E.S.E. espresso machines also can use ordinary espresso grind coffee loose with a separate filter basket designed for that, though any espresso machine that is E.S.E. compatible can use illy E.S.E. serving pods, not to be confused with the recently introduced coffee pods for Phillips Senseo single serve coffee pod coffee makers, Black and Decker or the other "european style coffee" makers on the retail home market. www.illy.com has a wealth of information on their E.S.E. espresso pod product. Check it out for more information
Though most coffee connoisseur will agree that the best coffee is roasted, ground and brewed as soon as possible to preserve the taste -and the concept of ESE pods fly in the face of that principle, the convenience benefit alone is a great influencing feature of ESE pods. Great way to have espresso in a hurry!
The pods are easily available online via Illy's own website, "www.illy.com", or by phone at 1-877-ILLY-DIR, in medium, dark and decaffeinated roasts. Shipping is free for orders over $50.00 and $7.00 for orders less than $50.00. They are available in freshly packed canisters of 18 pods, and dispenser boxes of individually foil wrapped pods, for even greater freshness of the coffee in the pods. I have also bought them at major, nationwide retailers such as Bed Bath and Beyond. I have also seen them at higher end gourmet kitchen and cooking stores. My local restaurant supplier didn't even know who or what Illy Espresso was, but, I live in a hick town.
This opinion is only a comment on this product. Which I feel is a superior product. Freshness with coffee is a very important key to getting good tasting coffee. I order from illy, direct, or in the pinch, from a local mass retailer, knowingly taking my chances that the coffee pods will probably have sat in a warehouse for some time, but the packaging is freshness dated, always check the freshness date. ordering from some websites can be risky because you have no guarantee of freshness, then it becomes a case of let the buyer beware. Buy direct from illy, they do stand by their product and it's freshness.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID: zooropa9
|
|
Reviews written: 10
Trusted by: 0 members
|
|
|