THE JOURNEY TO PERFECTION FROM BEAN TO CUP
Perfect coffee is no coincidence. Which means we push the boundaries uncompromisingly at every step of the long value chain from tree to cup, deliberately creating our high quality coffee for your pleasure.
PERFECT COFFEE ISN’T SOMETHING THAT CAN BE LEFT TO CHANCE
Perfect coffee pleasure, is no accident: it must be deliberately created, consistently and without compromise, cup after cup, by living our principles.
Along the complex path from bean to cup there are quicker ways of doing things than we do, and there are certainly cheaper ways. But there is no better way. Knowing a single faulty bean can taint a whole batch, we take control of quality down to the very last one – with a deliberate dedication to getting the details right at every step of the way.
Farming
Responsible sourcing tastes best
Our approach necessitates another level of selectivity which concerns the sustainability of the coffee tree and coffee world in general.
To address the issue of coffee’s future, we created the Nespresso AAA Sustainable Quality™ Program in 2003 in collaboration with the NGO Rainforest Alliance. This program enables Nespresso to safeguard the future supply of the highest quality coffee, while paying farmers a higher income and protecting the natural environment.
But our commitment goes beyond this; it is about a long-term relationship and continued loyalty to the coffee farmers in the program.
Harvesting
Harvesting quality from the best terroirs
We attach extreme importance to the choice of terroirs on which coffee trees grow. Because like any agricultural product, coffee builds its personality on the land that carries and nourishes it: latitude, altitude, soil, sunshine and rainfall.
Coffee is a cherry
Cherries of the same tree will ripen at differing rates and therefore should be picked at different times. In order to pick only correctly ripened fruit, the majority of coffees used for Nespresso are harvested by hand. Though costlier in time and money, this guarantees the best quality, since beans that are too green, or overripe, are eliminated.
1 to 2%. It is the quantity of coffee grown in the world that we believe meets our requirements in terms of quality, aromatic notes and taste.
Blending
"As a perfumer knows the harmonics of his ingredients, so our master blenders create aromatic compositions"
To create a Nespresso coffee with a unique personality, our master blenders, with 25 years of expertise in the art of assembly, marry coffees of different origins so that their aromatic profiles complement and sublimate each other.
We use in our blends Arabica for the finesse, the acidity, the clarity and the elegance of the cup, and Robusta for body, texture and aroma.
Roasting & Grinding
A roasting adapted to each terroir
It is at this stage that the aromas of coffee develops. Our goal is to find the perfect balance between time and roasting temperature to allow each origin to express itself fully.
By knowing the character of our beans, we roast each with the goal of optimising and maximising its flavour. Origin, type, shipment, batch - all these variables impact roasting. Our expert understanding ensures consistency cup after cup, year after year, irrespective of seasonal fluctuations.
Grinding for optimal extractions
The fineness of the grind influences the speed of water flow during the preparation and therefore the appearance and taste of your Nespresso cup. As every coffee type or blend extracts differently, our grind approach is not uniform, but varied, highly individualised, and set for the best quality cup of each high quality coffee.
Encapsulation
Capturing freshness with optimal encapsulation
Nespresso created the hermetically sealed aluminium capsule as the optimal way to lock in freshness.
Aluminium capsules were designed for their complete barrier capacity that protects around 900 volatile aromas of coffee. Sealing in this manner prevents oxidation and guarantees optimal cup freshness. From the completion of roasting onwards, all processing is under a controlled atmosphere in order that no oxygen should touch coffee en route to encapsulation. The material was also favored because it is infinitely recyclable and thus not only maintains quality and flavor integrity, but is not a spent resource once used. Compared against the production of primary aluminium, the recycling of aluminium products consumes as little as 5% of the energy and emits only 5% of the greenhouse gases.
Tasting
Serve the ultimate expression
In the final quality step to the customer, extraction, Nespresso’s comprehensive quality system ensures that finished capsules interact with machines in such a way as to extract all the flavors that have been so carefully sought, selected for, roasted, ground and packed - in other words, to serve as the ultimate expression of all that has gone heretofore. Our brewing systems operate at the right water temperature, quantity and pressure for each Nespresso coffee design, so they deliver our quality promise in the cup.
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Our Professional coffee capsules
