Thanks to Illy Espresso Pods, we actually use our espresso machine.
Written: May 11 '05
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Excellent coffee, reasonably priced. ESE standard
Cons: Pods get stuck in the espresso machine. What's with the excess paper?
The Bottom Line: The quickest, neatest way to make real Italian espresso at home.
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| prfstars's Full Review: Illy Espresso Pods Dark Roast |
According to writer Jeffrey Steingarten, who knows more about food than anyone alive, the perfect shot of espresso must be made by forcing two tablespoons of 192º F water through seven grams of finely ground and tightly packed coffee under nine atmospheres of pressure for twenty five seconds. I may never pull a perfect shot, but now that I've invested in a gleaming new FrancisFrancis! X1 Espresso Maker, I'd really like to try.
As much as I love coffee, I hate-hate-hate grinding it. Sure, I love the aroma as the beans disintegrate, but I hate the mess. I hate the coffee dust on the counter, I hate the loose grinds that make their way to the wrong parts of the coffee maker, and I hate the sludge that remains in the filter basket after the coffee's done brewing. With a standard coffee maker, you just lift out the filter and toss it. With an espresso maker, the grinds sit directly in the brewing handle and must be cleaned out after each shot. Yuck,
Enter Illy E.S.E Espresso Pods.
An espresso pod is a tightly packed disk of perfectly ground espresso that's sealed in a filter and stored in an inert gas to keep it fresh. It's a simple, effective alternative to grinding, transferring, tamping, and cleaning.
ESE, or "Easy Serving Espresso," is a standard used by coffee makers and espresso machine manufacturers to insure compatibility between pods and brewing handles. If you have an ESE brewing handle on your espresso maker, you can use any ESE compatible espresso pod. I've always loved Illy coffee when it's served in restaurants, so when I heard about the Illy at Home promotion, I signed up.
Illy at Home is similar to programs offered by other companies, such as Gevallia. When you sign up for home delivery of their coffee, Illy offers you the option to purchase an espresso machine from them at a significant discount. Unlike Gevallia, which allows you to cancel at any time, you must agree to buy coffee from Illy for a full year to qualify for the discount. For us, this has been a great deal.
Illy Dark Roast Pods
Since we were nervous about committing to a full year of coffee delivery, we chose the minimum quantity-- four cans of pods every other month. Each can holds eighteen pods.
When you open the can the first time, there's a peel-away metal top that keeps the pods fresh. Each pod has a mark on it indicating which side to place down in the brewing handle. The pods, which are perfectly round and very flat, have an extra, perforated piece of paper sticking off one end. We thought these were there to help remove the pod if it gets stuck in the machine, but the paper peels away so easily that it's useless.
The Shot
Illy pods produce excellent coffee. It's highly fragrant, and strong but not bitter. I tried a couple of Starbucks pods, but there was no comparison.
We've tried Illy's regular roast pods, too, and they have a softer, more mellow flavor. If you like strong coffee, the dark roast pods produce the best shots I've ever had anywhere.
There's one glitch in all of this. After we make a shot and remove the brewing handle, the pod often gets left behind in the espresso machine. It's easy enough to fish it out if you don't mind the sizzle of flesh against hot metal.
Pod Failure
We've pulled about 200 shots since we got out espresso machine, and we've had one pod fail. We're not sure how it happened, but one of the pods had a small hole or tear in it. When my husband turned on the water, he got a shot full of espresso grinds.
Availability
We get our pods directly from Illy at illyusa.com, but they're available at local stores, too. High end grocery stores carry them, and so do some coffee places that use Illy beans.
If you can't find Illy pods locally, keep in mind that Illy offers free shipping on orders over $50.
Price
The Price of Illy pods seems to vary quite a bit. I've seen them for as little as $9 per can, and for as much as $13. We get ours for $10 per can from Illy. Illy has raised their price to $12, but since we have a one year contract, we can still buy as much as we want at the $10 price. As a new customer, you can still get that price if you buy by the case-- 10 cans for $100.
At $10 per can of 18, you're paying $0.55 per shot. Even if you pour on tons of milk, this makes a double cappuccino less than half the price you'd pay for one at Starbucks. And really, it's better coffee.
Final Thoughts
One of the reasons we bought our espresso machine was, in theory, to save money. We were sick of spending $4 each-- almost every day-- on our drinks. An espresso machine is only cost effective if you use it, though. If it just sits on the counter, looking lovely, while you sip a Starbucks latte, you've wasted a small fortune. We use our espresso machine every morning because Illy Dark Roast pods make it so easy to pull perfect shots at home. If we had to grind coffee every morning and then clean up the mess, we'd never do it.
Recommended:
Yes
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prfstars
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