Espresso (ESE pod)

Blind Assessment: Produced from an ESE pod on a FrancisFrancis! pod brewer. Crisply sweet-toned aroma with subdued caramel and cherry chocolate notes. In the small cup fullish mouthfeel, creamy textured though very slightly astringent. A salty-sweet, aromatic wood dominates, rounded by a continued cherryish chocolate. Milk develops the chocolate tendencies, though in the long finish the pervasive salty astringency prevails.

Notes: ESE (Easy Serving Espresso) pods are wafer-like single-serving sized portions of ground espresso coffee compressed and enclosed in filter paper. Any coffee company that has access to the proper machinery can produce them. Although "pod adaptors" are available for many home espresso machines, ESE pods seem to produce best results when used on home machines exclusively designed for them. We tested this set of sample pods on the pod-only FrancisFrancis! X6 Trio home espresso machine, which allows for some control of extraction rate by how firmly the pod-bearing portafilter is tightened into the machine. We evaluated this espresso at a 21-second extraction for a one-ounce serving, probably too short an extraction to best showcase this coffee, but the best we could do with the available set of sample pods and the FrancisFrancis! machine. At this writing about 87 cents per pod. Visit www.mybraziliancoffee.com for more information.

Who Should Drink It : With a fresher pod or a newer crop green coffee this Brazil may better express its potential for round body and complexly fruity chocolate.