Blind Assessment

Evaluated based on a one-ounce shot produced from a T Disc capsule on a matching Tassimo TAS451xUC brewing device. Sweet, faintly fruit- and chocolate-toned aroma. Thinnish body and mouthfeel, softly pungent flavor with vague, subdued fruit notes. The flavor fades very quickly in the finish to a rather stolid heaviness. In two parts hot, fresh milk, displays a roundly pungent chocolate suggestion with an edge that could read as smoky. Combining this disc with the contents of the matching Gevalia Latte milk disc (and allowing both to respond to the bar-coded instructions incorporated on the discs) netted a rather dilute beverage, sweet and distinctly chocolate- and nut-toned but thin-bodied with a faint metallic shadow.

Notes

The Tassimo system, with its new Bosch-manufactured brewing device and match proprietary T Discs, aims at providing a convenience-first single-serving solution for a variety of beverages, including filter-style coffee, tea, espresso-based beverages and hot chocolate. The Tassimo T Discs incorporate a bar code that instructs the brewing device how to prepare the particular beverage incorporated in the disc. The overall versatility of the system is impressive, and the Tassimo makes a fair "long-black" style Northern European cup, but we found the Tassimo and its T Discs produced rather listless espresso when we brewed a classic one-ounce serving using the manual override button to interrupt the bar-coded instructions on the T Discs. Allowing the T Discs to have their way with our beverages simply meant a bigger serving without, in our view, netting any improvement in character and impact. At this writing about 56 cents per disc at the Tassimo website. Tassimo is a division of Kraft Foods, with T Discs currently offered by brands mostly associated with Kraft and Starbucks. Visit www.tassimo.com or call 877-834-7271 for more information.

Who Should Drink It

Perhaps the coffee in this T Disc was simply stale, since its main lack was absence of presence or character. Or perhaps the coffee was simply roasted too long and too dark. But if they all taste like this, I would not recommend these discs to an espresso drinker as a straight shot or even as component of a with-milk drink.

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