If you’re like the majority of Kiwi coffee drinkers, your day doesn’t really begin until you’ve had that first cup of coffee. That aromatic cup wakes you up, and gives you the kick start you need to begin the day. That sweet hit of caffeine not only gets us going, it also helps improve blood flow, boosting motivation, creativity and productivity.
Being able to make a good cup of coffee at home or work not only helps us get a caffeine hit when we want it, it also saves time and money compared to buying it from the café. In addition our own handmade cup of coffee taste better confirms a 2015 survey by Canstar Blue, stating that nearly half of survey respondents (49%) said they actually preferred the coffee they made at home to the coffee they could buy in a café.
Over the last few decades, New Zealand has developed a strong coffee culture. Once a nation of tea drinkers, we’ve turned to the bean in droves since specialty coffee was introduced in the late 1980s. Now New Zealanders are some of the biggest coffee drinkers in the world with Kiwis consuming 3.7kg of coffee per capita per year, according to statistics from the International Coffee Organisation. Kiwis’ per capita consumption ranks among top 20 in the world, at 0.94 cups per day, according to statistics portal, statista.com.
As our coffee drinking culture continues to strengthen so does our desire for the best. One way to control the quality of the cup is to know everything about the brew, from the origin of the beans, to the intensity of the roast, to what milk and how much of it is added. Being an at-home barista helps to control this process, creating that perfect cup to tantalise your own unique taste buds.
When it comes to sourcing the coffee, Nespresso know the importance of quality control and collaborate closely with over 70,000 farmers to ensure their high standards, as well as paying special attention to roasting, grinding and packaging. The invention of capsules has definitely assisted the home barista as not only do they keep the coffee fresh, they also assist in getting the ratio of coffee to water right which is essential to a good cup. Too much water and it is going to be weak, too much coffee and it is going to be under-extracted.
Of course, it’s not just the bean that makes the difference, the coffee machine is vital. You can ruin the best coffee with improper brewing. A good home machine gets the water temperature right; boiling water should never be used as it burns the coffee, and water that’s not warm enough will not extract properly. Extraction length also needs to be controlled properly, too short and you won’t get the full flavour, too long and you will dissolve too many alkaloid making it too bitter.
Obviously, Nespresso creates coffee machines that do all the hard work for you. Last year, the company launched the Creatista, a revolutionary machine that makes the barista-style coffee experience even more achievable at home. The Creatista is also the first Nespresso machine that allows users to choose their preferred milk texture and temperature. Kiwi coffee lovers are known for their preference of hot milk-based coffee recipes so this feature is invaluable.
If you do love hot-milked based coffee, all of Nespresso’s coffees are delicious paired with milk. Recently, the company released a limited edition BARISTA collection comprised of three coffees, two of which were especially created to be prepared with milk. BARISTA Chiaro made for a sweet, indulgent Cappuccino with a smooth creamy taste, roundness and exceptionally delicate biscuit notes, while BARISTA Scuro was created for an intense, flavourful and full-bodied Espresso Macchiato.
BARISTA Corto, the strongest in flavour of the three,has an extra intense taste with a thick syrupy texture along with a dark marbled crema – ideal as a black coffee or a latte Nespresso releases several limited edition collections each year, joining their permanent range of 24 coffees for a short time. BARISTA won’t be around for much longer, but Nespresso’s three festive coffees for Christmas are released at the end of October – just in time for Christmas!
