Espresso (ESE pod)

Blind Assessment: Produced from an ESE pod on a FrancisFrancis! pod brewer. Fresh, bright aroma: flowers, cherryish fruit, just-cut fir, leather. In the small cup lean mouthfeel with continued refreshing, gently acidy fruit notes and hints of flowers, fir and milk chocolate, all of which carry into a clean, sweet finish. This bright, rather delicate blend is subdued in two parts milk, although a crisp, muted chocolate is pleasant.

Notes: ESE (Easy Serving Espresso) pods are wafer-like single-serving sized portions of ground espresso coffee compressed and enclosed in filter paper. Any 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 31-second extraction. At this writing about 70 cents per pod. Visit www.jollycaffe.com for more information.

Who Should Drink It : A straight-shot espresso for those ESE-brewers who enjoy an espresso-ized version of a gently acidy, aromatically complex drip coffee.