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Discover our quality coffee for the real Nespresso experience
Perfect coffee isn't something that can be left to chance.
Along the complex path from bean to cup there are quicker ways of doing things than we do, and there are certainly cheaper ways. But there is no better way.
Knowing a single faulty bean can taint a whole batch, we take control of quality down to the very last one - with a deliberate dedication to getting the details right at every step of the way.
How we make coffee
It is the seed of the coffee cherry (called “green bean”) that we transport to roasting facilities in Switzerland. Once here, it is blended and roasted to perfection. As a final step, it is ground and encapsulated. Let’s dig into each step
Responsible sourcing tastes best
To address the issue of coffee's future, we created the Nespresso AAA Sustainable Quality™ Program in 2003 in conjunction with the non-profit organisation, Rainforest Alliance. This approach enables Nespresso to safeguard the future supply of the highest quality coffee, while paying farmers a higher income and protecting the natural environment. But our commitment goes beyond this, it is about a long-term relationship and continued loyalty to the coffee farmers in the program.
Values of Nespresso
Quality
The best quality coffee
Sustainability
The natural environment
Productivity
A long-term relationship with our farmers
Harvesting quality from the best terroirs
Great coffee draws its characteristics from its terroir: the result of harmony between soil, weather conditions, variety, aspect and altitude. We call the tree's fruit a "cherry" for its luscious red colour whe ripe and its cherry-like shape. As with any fruit, coffee tastes best when harvested perfectly ripe.
Coffee is a cherry
In order to pick only correctly ripened fruit, the majority of coffees used for Nespresso coffees are harvested by hand. Though costlier in time and money, this guarantees the best quality, since beans that are too green or overripe, are eliminated.
From the French word "terre" (soil), terroir designates a defined region in which the growing environments share similar altitude, soil composition and climate (temperature, rainfall, sunshine, humidity etc).
Not all beans are created equal
The better the grading, the more consistent the beans... the more even the roast, and ultimately the more balanced the cup.
Safeguarding quality through all of a coffee stages from farm to cup requires us to carry out repeated and systematic physical and taste checks: prior to bagging the coffee at origin, prior to transporting by sea or air, and again upon arrival in Europe. Taste (or "cup") testing ensures only the finest, cleanest coffee is selected.
Just as a perfumer knows the harmonics of his ingredients, so our master blenders create aromatic compositions.
Back in Switzerland, we develop our coffees in a blend composition much like a form of magical alchemy. We select specific coffee origins for their unique characteristics, (aroma, flavour, body, etc), combining components in proportions designed to enhance their individual brilliance.
The subtle blending of varieties reveals a wealth of flavours, each contributing remarkable characteristics. The two main commercial coffee species grown, Arabica and Robusta each bring distinct characteristics to a blend. Coffees of both types must pass physical, sensory and sustainable standards tests of the highest order.
Where Arabica brings finesse, acidity, clarity and elegance to the cup, Robusta adds heft, body, texture and pure coffee aromatics. Nespresso uses between 90% to 95% Arabicas with some Robustas to either add spice to select coffees, or create unique personalities in others.
Terroir-specific roasting for terroir-specific aromas
La torréfaction et la mouture sont des étapes cruciales dont la maîtrise révèle la subtile harmonie qui fait l’âme de nos cafés.
Correct roasting depends on finding the time, temperature and other parameters best suited to a blend, thereby allowing origin characteristics to be fully expressed.
Whilst poor roasting can ruin the finest coffee, an expert technique elicits the best of every ingredient, balancing origin-specific characteristics and allowing each coffee to show its unique personality. For this reason, Nespresso develops a specific roast profile for each blend.
Depending on the roast technique used, the same coffee can acquire vastly different cup results. By knowing the character of our beans, we roast each with the goal of optimising and maximising its flavour. Origin, type, shipment, batch… all these variables impact roasting. Our expert understanding ensures consistency cup after cup, year after year, irrespective of seasonal fluctuations.
Made-to-measure grinding for optimal extractions
Ultimately, grinding is what allows coffee's aromas to be released, making it a critical step in delivering the experience of a Nespresso coffee.
Capturing freshness: safeguarding aromas for your cup
Nespresso created the hermetically sealed aluminium capsule as the optimal way to lock in freshness.
Why aluminum?
The material was also favoured because it is repeatly recyclable and thus not only maintains quality and flavour integrity, but is not a spent resource once used. Compared against the production of primary aluminium, the recycling of aluminium products consumes as little as 5% of the energy and emits only 5% of the greenhouse gases. As part of our vision, Nespresso has already put in place used capsule collection capacity for recycling above 80% at end 2013, reaching our target one year earlier than planned.
In the final quality step to the customer, extraction, Nespresso's comprehensive quality system ensures that finished capsules interact with machines in such a way as to extract all the flavours that have been so carefully sought, selected for, roasted, ground and packed... In other words, to serve as the ultimate expression of all that has gone heretofore. Our brewing systems operate at the right water temperature, quantity and pressure for each coffee design, so they deliver our quality promise in te cup.
