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    "id": 1073723,
    "title": "Starbucks Blonde Espresso Roast by NESPRESSO Coffee, Blonde Roast, Box of 10, 53g",
    "slug": "starbucks-blonde-espresso-roast-by-nespresso-coffee-blonde-roast-box-of-10-53g",
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    "url": "https://teas.co.uk/product/starbucks-blonde-espresso-roast-by-nespresso-coffee-blonde-roast-box-of-10-53g/",
    "modified": "2026-09-25T23:29:13+01:00",
    "excerpt": "Starbucks Blonde Espresso Roast by NESPRESSO Coffee, Blonde Roast, Box of 10, 53g is the lightest capsule in the Starbucks range, and it exists to answer a complaint. Picked into the Teas.co.uk selection as the capsule to hand anyone who has decided they dislike espresso.Machine check: these are Nespresso Original capsules. They are not Vertuo capsules and will not work in a Vertuo, which takes only its own barcoded capsule.Ingredients and dietary suitability: roasted ground coffee only. Check the current UK pack before purchase; formulations, certification marks and allergen advice can change.Taken out of the roaster earlier, so there is no smoke and barely any bitterness, and far more of the beans' own sweetness and bright fruit survives. Light is not the same as weak: roast depth is not a caffeine rating. Best black or with a splash rather than in a full mug of milk. The shelf price moves about between retailers, so the price in your basket is the price.Curator notes: the tasting profile is our own editorial assessment against the current pack format and the brand's published description. We usually dispatch this line within 1 to 2 working days.",
    "content_text": "Starbucks Blonde Espresso Roast by NESPRESSO Coffee, Blonde Roast, Box of 10, 53g is the lightest capsule in the Starbucks range, and it exists to answer a complaint rather than to chase a trend. A great many people say they do not like espresso when what they actually dislike is roast bitterness, which is a different thing and a fixable one.\n\nA blonde roast is taken out of the roaster earlier. Less of the bean's sugar is caramelised, so there is less cocoa and no smoke, and far more of the origin's own sweetness and acidity survives into the cup. The result is bright, clean and easy to drink black. What it is not is weak. A light roast is a lighter-tasting coffee, not a smaller dose of one, and roast depth is not a caffeine rating however the shelf implies otherwise.\n\nThe Taste Profile\n\nRoast Depth: \u25cf\u25cf\u25cb\u25cb\u25cb (2/5) Light, and the lightest thing Starbucks puts in a capsule. Roast character steps back so that the beans' own sweetness and acidity can be tasted.\nBody: \u25cf\u25cf\u25cb\u25cb\u25cb (2/5) Light and clean. It will not stand up to a full mug of milk, and it is not trying to.\nBitterness: \u25cf\u25cb\u25cb\u25cb\u25cb (1/5) Very low. Most of what people dislike about espresso is roast bitterness, and there is barely any here.\nAcidity: A bright citrus-and-orchard-fruit edge that a darker roast would have burned away.\n\nTeas.co.uk Curator Rating: 4.6 / 5 - Our expert verdict from the curators at Teas.co.uk\n\nThe Story Behind Starbucks by Nespresso\nStarbucks by Nespresso is the Starbucks range made for the Nespresso Original system rather than a third-party capsule that happens to fit it, which is why the box carries both names. The practical difference for a customer is that there is no compatibility question to weigh: the capsule is made for the machine, and the roast names on the front are the same ones used on the high street, so you can pick by the drink you already order rather than by a number on a scale.\nAbout compatibility: these are Nespresso Original capsules. They are not Vertuo capsules and will not work in a Vertuo machine, which reads a barcode on the rim of its own capsule and takes nothing else. The two systems share a brand name and almost nothing else, and it catches people out regularly, so check which machine you own before ordering.\nThe price in your basket at checkout is the price you pay, and it is the only figure we will stand behind.\nPackaging: Follow the current UK pack and your local-authority guidance. Aluminium capsules are widely recyclable, but almost never through the ordinary kerbside bin with the coffee grounds still inside them, and the carton and the capsules usually take different routes.\n\nLight Is Not The Same As Weak\nThe confusion comes from the fact that a dark roast tastes heavier, and heaviness reads as strength. But the weight in a dark cup is roast product, not coffee content: caramelised and partly carbonised sugars giving cocoa, smoke and a bitterness that sits on the tongue. Take the roast out earlier and those compounds are simply not created, which is why a blonde cup tastes lighter even though nothing has been taken out of it.\nThe practical consequence is that a blonde roast is the more honest coffee of the two. There is no roast character to hide behind, so a dull capsule, a scaled machine or stale tank water all show up immediately. That is a fair trade if you want to taste what is actually in the cup, and a nuisance if you want something that forgives a neglected machine. It also means this is the capsule to hand somebody who has decided they dislike coffee, because the thing they dislike is probably absent from it.\n\nHow Does Starbucks Blonde Espresso Roast Compare to:\n\n The dark roasts in the same range: heavier, cocoa-led, and far better under a full mug of milk. This one disappears in a large latte and is much better black or with a splash.\n The single origin Colombia: a middling roast that keeps a citrus edge while carrying a little more body. It sits between this and the dark roasts, and is the easier all-day capsule of the two.\n A decaffeinated blonde capsule: the same light, bright shape for the evening. Worth pairing with this one if you want a single style of coffee morning and night.\n\nIdeal Brewing Conditions\nThe machine does the extraction, so the variables left to you are the button, the cup and the state of the machine. A blonde roast rewards care more than any other capsule in the range, because there is nothing covering the mistakes.\n\nThe Straight Espresso\n\nButton:Use the espresso setting, around 40ml. Stretch it long and the brightness turns thin and sour rather than becoming a pleasant long black.\nWarm the cup:Run a blank shot of hot water into the cup and tip it out first. A light roast loses its aromatic top note to a cold cup faster than a dark one loses anything.\nFresh water:Empty and refill the tank rather than topping it up. Stale water flattens brightness before it flattens body, and brightness is the whole product here.\nDescale first if in doubt:An under-extracted blonde roast reads sour, and people blame the coffee rather than the machine.\n\nThe Milk Build\n\nKeep it small:A cortado or a piccolo works; a full mug of milk simply swamps it. If you drink milky coffee by the mug, buy a darker capsule.\nTwo capsules:For anything above about 120ml of milk, use two shots pulled short rather than one stretched long.\nTemperature:Steam the milk to about 60\u00b0C. Hotter and the milk's own sweetness disappears, which was the part meant to meet the fruit.\nIced:Excellent over ice with cold water. The acidity that can read sharp when hot reads refreshing when cold.\n\nGetting A Consistent Cup\n\nDescale on schedule: scale lowers the water temperature at the group more than it restricts the flow, so a scaled machine under-extracts quietly rather than failing loudly.\nKeep the capsules sealed: leave them in the carton until the moment of use; the individual seal is the entire preservation system.\nEmpty the capsule bin: a full bin is the most common reason a capsule fails to seat and pierce cleanly.\nFiltered water: in a hard-water area a filter jug does more for the cup than changing capsules will.\nDo not re-run a used capsule: the second pass gives you the bitter tail of the first extraction and nothing else.\nCaffeine note: a regular caffeinated coffee. Light does not mean weak, and roast depth is not a caffeine rating.\nNothing to hide behind: a blonde roast shows a neglected machine faster than any other capsule in the range.\nBest with: a croissant, fresh fruit, or on its own first thing.\n\nIngredients And Suitability\nWhat is in it:roasted ground coffee in a sealed aluminium capsule, and nothing else. No added flavourings, no sweeteners, no preservatives.\nIngredients and dietary suitability: Check the current UK pack before purchase; formulations, certification marks and allergen advice can change.\n\nCaffeine:contains caffeine. Not one for late in the evening if you are sensitive, and worth moderating during pregnancy in line with current NHS guidance.\nChild Safety:Keep hot drinks, capsules and the machine out of reach of children.",
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        "caffeine": "Caffeinated",
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                "title": "Product Questions",
                "content": "Will these fit my machine?These are Nespresso Original capsules, made for the system rather than compatible with it. They are not Vertuo capsules and will not work in a Vertuo machine, which reads a barcode on the rim of its own capsule and takes nothing else. The two systems share a brand name and almost nothing else.What does blonde roast mean?That the beans came out of the roaster earlier. Less of their sugar is caramelised, so there is no smoke and very little cocoa, and far more of the origin's own sweetness and acidity survives into the cup. It is the lightest thing Starbucks puts in a capsule.Is a light roast a weaker coffee?A dark roast tastes heavier because of roast product, not coffee content: caramelised sugars, smoke and bitterness. Take the roast out earlier and those compounds are never created. Roast depth is not a caffeine rating.What does it taste like?Bright and clean, with a citrus and orchard-fruit edge and a sweetness that comes from the beans rather than the roast. Bitterness is very low. The body is light, which is why it is better black or with a splash than under a full mug of milk.I do not really like espresso. Would this change that?It might. Most of what people dislike about espresso is roast bitterness, and there is barely any here. That is exactly the complaint a blonde roast exists to answer, and it is the capsule to hand somebody who has decided coffee is not for them.Does it work with milk?In small amounts. A cortado or piccolo works; a full mug of milk swamps it. Above about 120ml of milk, use two shots pulled short rather than one stretched long, or buy a darker capsule for milk drinks and keep this one for black coffee.My cup tastes sour. What went wrong?Almost always under-extraction rather than the coffee. A scaled machine runs cooler at the group and under-extracts steadily, and an under-extracted light roast reads sour rather than weak. Descale, refill with fresh water and empty the capsule bin before you blame the capsule.Is it good over ice?Yes, and it is one of the better capsules in the range for it. The acidity that can read sharp in a hot cup reads refreshing in a cold one. Pull it short over ice and cold water rather than milk.Are the aluminium capsules recyclable?Aluminium is widely recyclable, but almost never through the ordinary kerbside bin with the coffee grounds still inside. Follow the current UK pack and your local-authority guidance: the carton and the capsules usually take different routes, and kerbside rules vary more on capsules than on almost any other packaging.Why aluminium rather than plastic?Aluminium is an absolute barrier to oxygen and light, which is why a sealed capsule can sit in a cupboard for months and still taste close to the day it was filled. It also holds its shape under nine bars of pressure, so water passes through the coffee bed evenly instead of finding a path around the edge.How should I store them?In the carton, somewhere cool and dark, and sealed until the moment of use. The individual seal is the entire preservation system, so a decorative open capsule rack looks good and does the coffee no favours. Go by the best before date printed on the pack."
            },
            {
                "title": "Ingredients & Nutrition",
                "content": "ComponentProportionWhat it bringsRoasted ground coffeethe entire contentsThe whole product. Nothing is added: no flavouring, no sweetener, no preservative. At this roast level most of what you taste is the beans rather than the roaster.Roast levelTaken out of the roaster earlier, so less sugar is caramelised. No smoke, very little cocoa, and much more of the origin's own sweetness and acidity left in the cup.Grind and doseset for an espressoChosen for an extraction of roughly 40ml. Stretched long, the brightness turns thin and sour rather than becoming a pleasant long black.Aluminium capsule10 per cartonAn absolute barrier to oxygen and light, which matters more on a light roast because origin aromatics are the first thing to be lost.Pack contents10 capsules, 53g netTen short shots, about 5.3 grams of coffee in each.Pack: Starbucks Blonde Espresso Roast by NESPRESSO Coffee, Blonde Roast, Box of 10, 53g; caffeinated coffee capsules for Nespresso Original machines. Go by the best before date printed on the pack.Characterising components shown; the coffee is the entire contents and the capsule is the packaging. The 53g figure is the net weight of the coffee across the ten capsules, about 5.3 grams each, rather than the weight of a single capsule. The capsule count is taken from the pack name, which states a box of 10.Sourcing & blend. Starbucks by Nespresso is the Starbucks range made for the Nespresso Original system rather than a third-party capsule that happens to fit it, which is why the box carries both names. A blonde roast is the lightest of the three roast names Starbucks uses, and it exists to answer a specific complaint: that espresso tastes burnt. Taking the beans out earlier removes the compounds responsible for that, and leaves the coffee with nowhere to hide. The bean composition and origin breakdown are printed on the current UK pack and are not restated here.What's in Starbucks Blonde Espresso Roast, and what isn't:In: roasted ground coffee in a sealed aluminium capsule, and nothing else.No artificial colours, flavourings, sweeteners or preservatives: the sweetness in the cup comes from the beans rather than an addition.Not weak: a lighter-tasting coffee, not a smaller dose of one. Roast depth is not a caffeine rating.Not a Vertuo capsule: Nespresso Original only. A Vertuo machine reads a barcode on the rim and will not take these.Not decaffeinated: there is a decaffeinated blonde capsule in the range if you want the same shape for the evening."
            },
            {
                "title": "Flavour Science",
                "content": "The flavour of Starbucks Blonde Espresso Roast is built in three layers, and a light roast is the clearest place to watch them, because the roast has not been allowed to cover any of them up.The outer layer is aromatic, and it is the most fragile part of this particular capsule. In a light roast most of the aroma is origin aromatics rather than roast product, and origin aromatics are volatile, light molecules that leave first and fastest. The capsule format is doing real work here: the grinding and the sealing happen in the same moment at the factory, with the oxygen pulled out before the lid goes on, so compounds that would ordinarily be gone within minutes of grinding are still present when the machine pierces the capsule. What lifts with the steam is citrus and orchard fruit over a light toasted sweetness, and it is at its strongest in the first thirty seconds and thin by five minutes.The flavour spike arrives mid palate and is bright rather than dense. Stopping the roast early leaves most of the beans' acids intact, and those acids are what carry fruit character; a darker roast consumes them, which is why a dark cup tastes of cocoa and smoke instead. Body is light, because body largely comes from compounds developed later in the roast, so there is less to carry the flavour and it reads clean rather than syrupy. This is the layer that suffers first if the machine is not right: under-extract a light roast and the acids arrive without the sugars that balance them, and the cup reads sour.The base structure is the finish, and here the blonde roast has an advantage that is easy to miss. There is almost no bitterness to leave behind, because the compounds that cause it are created late in a roast and this one ended early. The cup closes clean and short, without the coating that a dark roast leaves, and that is what makes it comfortable to drink black through a morning rather than once. It is also why it works over ice: cold exaggerates bitterness, and there is barely any here to exaggerate.Getting it right in the cup. Use the espresso button at about 40ml, because stretching this capsule long turns the brightness thin and sour instead of producing a pleasant long black. Warm the cup with a blank shot of hot water and tip it out first, since a light roast loses its aromatic top note to a cold cup faster than a dark one loses anything at all. Empty and refill the tank rather than topping it up, because stale water flattens brightness before it flattens body and brightness is the whole product here. For milk, keep the drink small: a cortado works, a full mug swamps it, and above about 120ml of milk two shots pulled short beat one stretched long.How water and temperature change it. The same capsule gives a measurably different cup depending on the state of the machine and the water in it, and a blonde roast shows every one of those differences because there is no roast character to hide behind. Scale is the main culprit: it lowers the water temperature at the group more than it restricts the flow, so the machine under-extracts steadily, and an under-extracted light roast reads sour rather than weak, which people almost always blame on the coffee. Hard water is the second: calcium and magnesium bind to some of the acids that carry the fruit, so in a hard-water area this capsule can taste oddly flat and muted, and a filter jug does more for it than changing capsules will. Running the shot long dilutes the sugars faster than the acids, tipping the balance sour. None of this is a fault in the coffee; it is the same capsule responding honestly to the machine you put it in."
            },
            {
                "title": "Recipe Ideas",
                "content": "Five builds below cover the straight shot, a small milk drink, two cold ones and an Americano.\nWays to brew it, worked out here first\n\n \n The Straight Espresso\n \n How to make The Straight Espresso with Starbucks Blonde Espresso Roast.\n \n 2 min\n 1 cup\n Easy\n \n \n \n You'll need\n \n 1 Starbucks Blonde Espresso Roast capsule\n Fresh water in the machine tank\n A Nespresso Original machine\n A warmed demitasse\n \n \n \n Method\n \n Rinse a blank shot of hot water into the cup to warm it, and tip it out.\n Refill the tank with fresh water rather than topping it up.\n Pull the capsule on the espresso setting, about 40ml.\n Drink it promptly, while the fruit is still at the front.\n \n \n \n What you'll end up with: The cleanest espresso in the range. If it reads sour, suspect the machine before the capsule: an under-extracted light roast always does.\n\n \n Cortado\n \n How to make a Cortado with Starbucks Blonde Espresso Roast.\n \n 4 min\n 1 glass\n Medium\n \n \n \n You'll need\n \n 1 Starbucks Blonde Espresso Roast capsule\n 60ml whole or oat milk\n A thermometer, or a steady hand\n A 90ml glass\n \n \n \n Method\n \n Pull the capsule on the espresso setting straight into the glass.\n Steam 60ml of milk to about 60\u00b0C, keeping the texture fine rather than foamy.\n Pour the milk through the crema in one steady motion.\n Serve straight away.\n \n \n \n What you'll end up with: About the largest milk drink this roast survives. Past 60\u00b0C the milk loses the sweetness that was meant to meet the fruit.\n\n \n Iced Blonde Black\n \n How to make an Iced Blonde Black with Starbucks Blonde Espresso Roast.\n \n 3 min\n 1 glass\n Easy\n \n \n \n You'll need\n \n 1 Starbucks Blonde Espresso Roast capsule\n A tall glass of ice\n 120ml cold water\n A slice of orange, optional\n \n \n \n Method\n \n Fill a tall glass with ice and pour in 120ml of cold water.\n Pull the capsule on the espresso setting straight over the top.\n Stir once, gently.\n Add a slice of orange if you want the fruit pushed forward.\n \n \n \n What you'll end up with: Cold exaggerates bitterness, and there is barely any here to exaggerate.\n\n \n The Americano\n \n How to make an Americano with Starbucks Blonde Espresso Roast.\n \n 3 min\n 1 mug\n Easy\n \n \n \n You'll need\n \n 1 Starbucks Blonde Espresso Roast capsule\n 100ml hot water from the kettle\n A warmed mug\n A twist of lemon peel, optional\n \n \n \n Method\n \n Pour 100ml of hot water into the warmed mug first.\n Pull the capsule on the espresso setting directly on top of the water.\n Leave the crema undisturbed rather than stirring it in.\n Add a twist of lemon peel if you want the aroma lifted.\n \n \n \n What you'll end up with: Coffee onto water rather than water onto coffee, and far better than stretching the capsule on the lungo button, which turns it sour.\n\n \n Cold Milk Over Ice\n \n How to make Cold Milk Over Ice with Starbucks Blonde Espresso Roast.\n \n 3 min\n 1 glass\n Easy\n \n \n \n You'll need\n \n 2 Starbucks Blonde Espresso Roast capsules\n A tall glass of ice\n 150ml cold milk\n A long spoon\n \n \n \n Method\n \n Fill a tall glass with ice and pour in 150ml of cold milk.\n Pull two capsules short, straight over the ice and milk.\n Stir once and drink before the ice thins it.\n Skip the syrup; the sweetness is already in the beans.\n \n \n \n What you'll end up with: Two shots rather than one, because a light roast is outnumbered by 150ml of milk and a glass of melting ice on its own."
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