Nespresso – Good or evil?
A blast from the past - reposted from 2014
This was first posted on The Magic Roast back in February 2014. Reposting this following my appearance on the Home Barista Podcast, where I explain to The Drumming Barista my love of Nespresso!
While things with Nespresso machines have moved on a bit, and you can get reusable pods and recycling them is a bit easier, I’m still prepared to say there are easier and cheaper ways to get great coffee, that is better for the environment.
This is a hill I’m prepared to die on.
Nespresso - Good or evil?
We have all seen the ads – the one where George Clooney, who has a net worth of $180 million USD [at the time of writing], goes into a shop that gets opened just for him so he can pick up his nespresso pods. Wow – this shit must be magic. GEORGE CLOONEY is using it!
Well, even though I had never tried these magical little pods, I immediately thought:
These MUST be shit – it’s just instant coffee right?
Surely George has a personal barista
These won’t catch on
Well blow me down and call me a ginger – these things have caught on and are taking over the god damned world. Everyone I talk to seems to have one of these things delivering “really good coffee in less than a minute”.
For the purposes of this blog, I had to try it. I mustered all the courage I had, and launched into it. I expected it to be crap. I WANTED it to be crap.
And I have to say, it wasn’t crap…. It wasn’t GREAT – but it wasn’t crap. But it is a great big CON!
These little magic pods seem great, and seem cheap, and seem like a good alternative to instant coffee or slaving over a Chemex – but they aren’t. Here’s why:
They are EXPENSIVE! More expensive than SPECIALITY COFFEE! Seriously. $1 a pod seems cheap, but on a gram by gram basis, they work out to be about $120+ a kg. Specialty coffee isn’t even that expensive. The most expensive coffee Supreme had last year as $100 per kg, and it was a MOTHER FLIPPING GEISHA! And the gadget itself starts at like [$200ish] bucks. Wow.
While a press of a button seems easy, WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO WITH ALL THOSE PODS?? Recycling them? ha – you’re too lazy. I know that, because you have just purchased a NESPRESSO. Fool. Bad for the environment. Boo.
Good coffee isn’t even that hard. If you don’t want to stand over a pour over all morning, fine. If you don’t want to grind your own coffee every morning (though you should), fine. ALL you need to do, is get some coffee from your local roaster, and USE A PLUNGER. Get it pre ground so you can be super lazy, and then follow this super easy method. Plungers are like $20 [you can even use a Pyrex jug if you don’t have a plunger]. So much cheaper than the Nespresso bull.
So, in conclusion, Nespresso is both bullshit and evil.
If you make your own, it will TASTE better, be CHEAPER, and be better for the ENVIRONMENT.
Don’t full for the marketing bull shit.
Rant over - now go make yourself a proper coffee.
TMR
Things haven’t got better for Nespresso
That blog post was from 2014 - an age in internet years. In a time before COVID. A time before TikTok. I time before coffee got even better, cheaper and more accessible.
George Clooney has pledged 'work will be done' after an investigation uncovered child labour at farms linked to the Nespresso coffee he advertises.
The actor, who has reportedly earned £31million as the brand's ambassador, said he was saddened after youngsters were filmed working eight-hour days on plantations for less than £5.
I stand by the article from back in 2014.
I’ll repost more from the archives - cos they’re funny as shit, and a great snap shot of a time and place!