Bella Pronto, coffee capsule for compact professional machines at home

- september 16, 2013

With a Londinium I at my home / office and a Rocket Giotto at my girl friend's place, I enjoy excellent coffee all the time but I'm the only one using these great machines. My girl friend and her daughter don't ever touch the Rocket when I'm away and when I'm there I'm their barista. The procedure of weighing beans, grinding at the right setting for the day, stirring, tamping, locking in and timing the shot seems something they are not willing to be fully introduced to. It's probably my fault because I'm not a good instructor, having a low tolerance for any deviation from the 'right' way to do it.

So when I'm not around, they use the old simple Nespresso machine and its cups, getting themselves a thin, bitter overpriced coffee base for the foamy blob of milk dumped on top of it from the Nespresso frother.

Last week I read about Bella Barista in the UK who are introducing coffee capsules for the big pro coffee machines at home. They fill their capsules with 7g of coffee which is less than what I use (16-18g per cup) but it's more than the average 5g that Nespresso puts in their different capsules.

Mechanically the Bella Barista capsules are different because they fit in an adapter that easily slides into the naked portafilter of E61 machines like my Rocket and even into the naked portafilter of my Londinium I machine.

So, if this works, the women around the Rocket could very easily use that machine! No procedures, just flip in the capsule, start the machine, stop it when the desired amount of espresso has been extracted, froth milk in whatever way they desire and enjoy.

I ordered the adapter, 100 capsules of Bella Barista's Bella Pronto capsules, another 100 of their decaf (plus some green beans to roast myself) and tried it all just now right after the box was delivered.

First impressions: much better than what I get from a Nespresso machine. I find a Nespresso tolerable if I first heat up a tiny cup and just make a very short ristretto, but with the Bella Pronto I find the taste enjoyable. I played a bit with pre-infusion times and it seems a short pre-infusion of just a second or two and then 10-12s extraction is best to avoid any bitterness or thinness. The aftertaste is pleasant too. It seems a fairly Italian middle of the road café roast, kind of dark, what most people would expect from "espresso". I trust the Bella Barista people will experiment further and develop different roasts. I'd be excited to try unwashed Sidamo for instance, seeing if the subtleties of those beans come out well with the capsule technology.

The crema when extracted on the silent, plumbed-in Londinium I is a little thin. It will be interesting to see how the Rocket does with these capsules. The vibe pump and E61 group could make a difference.

Anyway, the girls can now use the Big Machine with as much ease as they use the little Nespresso and I have the feeling that the temperature stability and brew pressure of the Rocket will please them more than the little rickety marketing thing.

Some pictures: