Espresso coffee is for Italians a pleasure that is difficult to give up. Whether at home or at a cafè, it is a ritual that marks the daily routine of all coffee lovers.
In the past few years, the consumption habits of Italians, strongly linked before to the use of Moka, have changed. More and more coffee lovers have abandoned traditional systems and embraced the use of pod or capsule coffee machines, capable of making an Espresso coffee like the one that you would drink at a cafè.
Practicality and speed of preparation are the key of their success. But is all that glitters gold?
Let’s go through some critical issues together regarding the world of single-portion coffee and the alternatives for enjoying a good Espresso coffee, without compromising quality and ethics.
ESPRESSO MACHINE: A JUNGLE OF OFFERS
The world of coffee pods and capsules has turned into a real jungle. The market for a fine drink like coffee has unfortunately been flooded with single-portion coffee of dubious quality, sold at ridiculously low prices. As told in recent journalistic inquiries, these are often blends created with poor quality raw materials, using defective beans, roasted in a very dark way in order to cover any hint of rancid or moldy. What will end up in the consumer’s cup will be an extremely bitter coffee, with a burning taste and which could result in nausea, heartburn, tachycardia, headache and stomach pain as side effects. These coffees, starting from a low quality raw material, are offered most of the time at off-market prices, very few cents per pod or capsule to attract unsuspecting consumers.
PODS AND CAPSULES: THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEM
Another issue to consider when choosing which machine and coffee pods or capsules to buy is related to waste disposal. Most of the single-serving coffee, in fact, is not recyclable. The pods can be disposed of in the wet only if they are made of food filter paper. While the capsules, being made out of a polylaminate of aluminum and plastic and also containing the residue of the coffee used, must be thrown into mixed waste.
MADE IN CHINA COFFEE MACHINES
The bargain price war also affects Espresso pods and capsules machines. Often produced in countries where the cost of labor is very low and built with poor quality materials, the market is flooded with low-cost Espresso machines, more like toys than professional machines. For a good Espresso, pressure and temperature are essential to have a hot and creamy coffee. If the components of the domestic Espresso machine are not adequate, the result will be a watery and warm coffee, far from what a state-of-the-art Espresso should be.
ESPRESSO MACHINE: A MADE IN ITALY ALTERNATIVE
Come fare quindi ad accontentare il proprio desiderio di un caffè Espresso come quello del bar, senza scendere a compromessi su qualità e rispetto per l’ambiente?
So how can you satisfy your desire for an Espresso coffee like the one that you would drink at a cafè, without compromising quality and respect for the environment? The Palermo roasting company Morettino has patented an innovative Espresso system, created precisely to embrace new ways of consumption, but respecting raw materials, nature and the consumer.
It is called “Morettino Espresso al Quadrato” (Espresso EQ machines) and is an ethical and eco-sustainable system awarded with the “Compasso d’Oro Adi 2016 Honorable Mention”, the award for Italian design masterpieces created in the 1950s by Giò Ponti, and the “GrandesignEtico International Award ”, the prize that the Plana Cultural Association assigns to the designers and innovative products of those companies that are committed to ethical contexts. It is an Espresso pod system consisting of an artisanal Espresso machine, totally Made in Italy, designed by Sicilian designers and handmade by local artisans; a pod in food filter paper which, thanks to the square shape, allows a better extraction of the coffee; a coffee list consisting of eight single origins and blends. The Espresso EQ machines have inside them professional components of the bar machines. In this way the machines brings to life to a hot, creamy and enveloping coffee like the one that you would drink at a cafè.
AN ECO-FRIENDLY COFFEE
EQ Espresso is also an eco-friendly coffee: it is processed using eco-sustainable methods that respect the product and the environment, thanks to the Morettino clean hot air roaster. The materials used for the pod and wrapping are 100% recyclable and the Espresso EQ machines have been designed to achieve maximum energy efficiency.
HOW TO GET MORETTINO ESPRESSO AL QUADRATO
It is possible to buy the Espresso EQ machines and the square pods on the Morettino.com online shop and at the Morettino shops in Palermo, Catania and Agrigento. And with the “EQ Green” promo it is possible to save money and do good to nature thanks to the scrapping of old Espresso machines. Just bring any old pod or capsule machine to one of the Morettino shops to receive up to 120 euros discount on the purchase of a new Espresso EQ machine.
Info: 091 671 50 72
