We hosted the Kassensturz show on SRF broadcast on August 21, 2018, on the topic of coffee capsules. Together with Patrick Zbinden, we led the sensory panel and ensured the quality of the testing. It's always exciting to see what appears in a short segment after a long day of filming. However, from my perspective, some key statements were well conveyed. The tasting was diverse (for the test as a pdf).
Capsule in the test
Coffee from a capsule can taste bad, good, or very good. In the test, we also tasted good coffee beverages. Nevertheless, it is important to note: strictly speaking, coffee from a capsule is not an espresso. The concentration of dissolved coffee particles makes capsule coffee more similar to a Café crème than an espresso.
In the test, we measured a TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) of 3.67% for capsule coffee using a refractometer. This is not surprising given the use of "only" 5.5 grams of coffee. Of course, not as much can be extracted from 5.5 g as from 7 – 9 g for an espresso from a portafilter machine. If the coffee from the capsule is then pulled "long," as recommended on many packages (40 ml), the concentration can hardly be strong.
For espresso, we regularly measure results between 7 and 9.5 TDS. This is naturally reflected in the texture of the beverage and the intensity of the flavors.
Strength as a difference
From my perspective, the classification of coffee beverages should first be based on the concentration of dissolved particles in relation to water.
Secondly, one can then consider what equipment was used to brew the beverage. This perspective makes sense because, even today, espresso-like beverages can be brewed both from a portafilter machine and from a very good fully automatic piston machine.
In a filter coffee course, we brewed an espresso and then adjusted it to the strength of a filter coffee by adding water. After filtering out the solid particles that pass through the metal sieve of the portafilter, the beverage was very similar to filter coffee brewed with a hand filter.
For the record
The tasting was done blind. The participants did not know which capsules were available. I myself had no influence on the selection of coffees.
I would have found it interesting to taste more coffees, also to put the results in relation to international specialty capsules or even Beluga from Café Royal.
No waste issue
The environmental factor of capsules was not considered in the report. Of course, we are very critical of any waste generated in connection with brewing coffee. After all, you can make really great coffee yourself quite easily, from filter coffee to espresso.
