It almost feels wrong to begin Coffee Notes with Nespresso pods. After all, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of amazing coffee vendors all over the internet vying for our attention. They arguably even have better, cheaper product.

But I won’t belie Nespresso the quality of their products. After all, it’s their machine that I use to brew my coffee. So they’ve got to know what works best with it, right?

Besides, I recently ordered a box set of Nespresso pods. So the first five reviews (probably, unless I get bored and order something different) are going to be of Nespresso pods. Here goes.

The Nespresso Livanto

Ah, this coffee was smooth. Too smooth! Those ten pods vanished fast. Partly because it’s a six on thirteen medium roast (point of order – Nespresso’s rating system is out of thirteen.)

The taste was rich and smooth. I didn’t bother having it black, but I reckon it would have been creamy and absolutely drinkable. But throw in milk and sugar and it was quite glorious!

Since it was a medium roast, I ended up having it two at a time for my afternoon coffees. At three pods a day, I finished the box in about three days. I had to brew a Moka pot with my Indian coffee for the fourth day, to get through the afternoon.

At almost a dollar per pod (eighty cents, to be precise), these pods are at the expensive end of the range of OriginalLine pods I buy for my machine. Though, if I had a VertuoLine machine, I’d be averaging a dollar twenty five for similar pods. I seem to remember doing that research when considering which machine to buy. My Breville Nespresso Creatista won on that aspect.

I don’t have much else to say about this coffee. It was nice. It went fast. I’d definitely order more of it and keep it for light-coffee-drinking visitors. But usually, I end up serving them decaf or whatever other medium roast I have sitting around.

I will say – I love the aluminum pods Nespresso ships. The color, the shape, the solidity of the pod, are all plus points in experience. These ones have a beautiful caramel color and I’m all for it!

Read about my Coffee Notes series in the introductory blog post here.