By purchasing our Espresso Pod Gourmet Sampler E.S.E. Pods you might find out that one flavor is a perfect wake up call for your body, another flavor is the perfect blend of Arabica and Robusta beans to produce the ultimate cappuccino or latte.

Gourmet Sampler Box contains a total of 16 selected single-serving Easy Serving Espresso pods:

Danesi Caffe 100% Arabica

Il Caffe Manaresi 100% Arabica

Illy Caffe 100% Arabica

Izzo 100% Arabica

La Brasiliana 60% Arabica, 40% Robusta

Lavazza 80% Arabica, 20% Robusta

Lucaffe 100% Arabica

Segafredo 60% Arabica, 40% Robusta

About Espresso pods Espresso pods, or, E.S.E. espresso pods, are paper pouches filled with espresso-ground coffee and made to the Easy Serving Espresso consortium standard. The single-serving espresso pod is 45mm in diameter and contains approximately 7 grams of ground, roasted coffee. Espresso pods are produced by all the large roasters in Italy and even many of the smaller boutique roasters offer their product in pod form.

Machines that work with Espresso Pods

Almost all home espresso machines will work with ESE pods. Many machines are designed specifically to be used with pods,like Simonelli Nuova Jazz Plus. This machine and others are designed for use with pods, will produce better results than a machine that can simply use pods. Lastly, there are machines that use only pods and cannot use manually tamped ground coffee. These produce the best results from espresso pods.

Most commercial espresso machines can use espresso pods in the single-shot filter basket. Many machines come with special filter basket for use with pods.

What machines cannot use Espresso Pods?

First off, single-serving coffee makers, such as the Senseo or Melita One-One cannot use E.S.E. espresso pods, even though they look very similar to the pods used by those machines. They do not fit. Coffee pods for those machines are much larger in diameter, contain more coffee, and the coffee is loose in the pod ¿ it is not compressed as in an ESE pod. Note: Espresso cannot be made from drip coffee makers.

Capsules

Espresso machines using proprietary capsules, such as the Lavazza Espresso Point, the Nespresso, and the Tassimo machines also cannot use E.S.E. espresso pods. With those machines you are limited to the offerings of the company that makes the machine.

Advantages of Espresso Pods?

Espresso pods make it much easier to get a great cup of espresso. The use of pods allows users without barista (bar tender) skills to get excellent results. Admittedly, the results are generally not quite as good as that produced from a trained and experienced barista using high quality equipment and fresh beans ¿ but do you have a trained barista in your kitchen? And then there's the cleaning issue. If you have never used a grinder and manually tamped your shots, you have no idea how messy it can be. The use of espresso pods just cuts that right out. Espresso pods are clean and neat with very little to clean up. You just use them and then toss into the trash.

Because the coffee is pre-ground and pre-measured, an expensive grinder is not needed, nor is the skill required to operate it. The pod is simply placed into the machine and tamping is not required.

For restaurants, espresso pods allow them to serve their customers excellent espresso drinks without the need to keep trained personnel on hand. In the our experience, most restaurants with an espresso machine serve undrinkable espresso because they simply do not have the trained staff to operate the machine properly. The use of pods greatly improves the quality of the espresso served to the restaurant's customers while reducing the maintenance and cost of providing it.

Disadvantages of Espresso Pods

The disadvantage of the espresso pod is simply that the very, very best espresso can only be made by the skilled hands of a trained and experienced barista. Fresh beans, a clean, well maintained grinder set to grind just for the espresso machine being used, the proper tamping pressure and technique, a high quality espresso machine, and the skill and experience with the coffee and grinder machine combination will result in the best espresso possible which is a rare luxury. Pods offer what might be considered a B+ cup of espresso at a fraction of the effort. Note: Most people have never had anything over a C+ cup of espresso.