For the Kassensturz episode on SRF broadcast on August 21, 2018 on the topic of capsule coffee, we hosted the program. Together with Patrick Zbinden, we led the sensory panel and ensured the quality of the evaluation. It's always exciting to see what emerges in a short piece after a long day of filming. In my view, however, some key messages came across well. The tasting was diverse (see test as pdf).
Capsule in the test
Coffee from the capsule can taste bad, good, and very good. We also tasted quality coffee beverages in the test. Nevertheless, it's 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 to an espresso.
In the test, we measure a TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) of 3.67% for capsule coffee using a Refraktometer. This is not surprising when you consider the use of only 5.5 grams of coffee. From 5.5 g, you simply cannot extract as much as from 7–9 g in an espresso from a portafilter machine. When the coffee from the capsule is then pulled "long," as recommended on many packages (40 ml), the concentration can hardly be strong.
With espresso, we regularly measure results between 7 to 9.5 TDS. This naturally shows in the texture of the beverage and the intensity of the Flavors.
Strength as the difference
In my view, coffee beverages should first be classified based on the concentration of dissolved particles in relation to water.
Secondarily, it can also be considered what equipment the beverage was brewed with. This approach makes sense because today, espresso-like beverages can be brewed from both a portafilter machine and from a very good fully automatic piston machine.
In a Filterkaffeekurs, 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 filter in the portafilter, the beverage was very similar to the filter coffee brewed with a hand filter.
For the record
The tasting was conducted blind. 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 also Beluga from Café Royal.
Without the waste issue
The environmental factor of capsules was not considered in the piece. Of course, we look very critically at any waste generated in connection with brewing coffee. After all, you can make really great coffee quite easily yourself, from filter coffee to espresso.
