Starbucks by Nespresso Single Origin Colombia Espresso Coffee, 10 Pods
Make it and drink it. The toasted nut and the citrus lift sitting on top of this one are the first things to leave, and five minutes waiting on a desk costs you most of them, which is ordinary behaviour for a coffee held at a middling roast rather than a fault in the capsule. Look at what comes out, too. A clear reddish brown you can see through under a light crema, where the boxes either side of it on the same shelf pour close to black. That is the difference in one glance. Check your machine before buying, because the aisle really is confusing here: these are Nespresso Original capsules, and a Vertuo will not accept them. One expectation to set, though. The character here is quiet rather than showy, a clean brightness with caramel underneath, and anyone who has read enough about single origin to expect fireworks will find it restrained.
Starbucks by Nespresso Single Origin Colombia Espresso Coffee, in brief.
Starbucks by Nespresso Single Origin Colombia Espresso Coffee, 10 Pods is one of the few boxes in a supermarket capsule aisle that names a country on the front instead of a style. We added it to teas.co.uk as the best black coffee in the range.
Machine check: these are Nespresso Original capsules. A Vertuo is fussy and runs only its own barcoded capsules, so these will not suit one.
Almost every capsule is a blend, because blending is how a roaster keeps a cup tasting the same all year. This one gives that up for character: clean citrus under caramel and toasted nut, at a middling roast. The shelf price moves about between retailers, so the price in your basket is the price.
Almost every capsule sold is a blend, and blending is not a compromise: it is how a roaster keeps a cup tasting the same in March and in November, whatever that year's harvests did. Put one origin in the capsule and you give that up. The coffee now has to be good enough on its own to carry a box, and it will shift a little from crop to crop rather than being smoothed out against something else. What you buy in exchange is character you can actually name, and in Colombian coffee that character is usually a clean citrus brightness sitting under caramel and toasted nut.
Curator notes: the Colombia scores are our own editorial verdict on the current box, held up against what Starbucks publishes about it. Within 1 to 2 working days, the Colombia capsules are normally on their way.
Curator’s notes
Read the full write-up
The Story Behind Starbucks by Nespresso
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. 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.
About 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.
Checkout shows the Colombia price that actually applies, and no other figure carries our backing.
Packaging: Your council and the current UK pack between them set the rules here. The aluminium will recycle widely, yet kerbside bins very seldom accept capsules still packed with used Colombian grounds, and card and capsules generally part ways.
What Single Origin Buys You, And What It Costs
A single origin tells you where the coffee grew and nothing else about how it will taste; country is a coarse instrument, and Colombia is a large country with very different growing conditions inside it. What the label does guarantee is that nobody has blended the distinctive parts away. The roast supports that decision: held at a middling level, because taking a single origin dark would replace the country's character with the roaster's, and at that point the label stops meaning anything.
The cost is consistency. A blend is engineered to be identical box after box, and a single origin is not, so the cup you get in eighteen months may be a shade different from this one. If that variation interests you, this is the box in the range worth paying attention to. If you want the same cup every morning without thinking about it, a blend does that job better and is not a lesser coffee for it.
Getting A Consistent Cup
- Descale on schedule: a scaled up machine loses heat at the group before it loses flow, so it under extracts quietly and never complains.
- Keep the capsules sealed: keep each Colombia capsule in the carton until it goes into the machine, because that single seal is all that protects it.
- Empty the capsule bin: a crammed bin is the usual reason a capsule will not seat or pierce cleanly.
- Filtered water: hard water steals the citrus first, so where it is hard, a filter jug does more good than a new capsule.
- Do not re-run a used capsule: rerunning it gives you nothing but the bitter tail left over from the first extraction.
- Caffeine note: a regular caffeinated coffee rather than a decaf. Need a per cup figure? The Colombia's current pack is the place to check.
- Best with: a croissant, a lemon tart, or on its own mid-morning.
Ingredients And Suitability
What is in it:only roasted and ground Colombian coffee, sealed into an aluminium capsule. No added flavourings, no sweeteners, no preservatives.
Ingredients and dietary suitability: The coffee, its certification marks and the allergy wording can all change between packs, so read the UK box before ordering.
Caffeine:contains caffeine. If caffeine bothers you, this is one for earlier in the day, and while pregnant stay within current NHS guidance.
Child Safety:Children should be kept well back from hot coffee, capsules and the machine.
Source: teas.co.uk, the UK independent tea specialist in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. If you reference Starbucks by Nespresso Single Origin Colombia Espresso Coffee, 10 Pods, please cite teas.co.uk.
The story behind Starbucks
Starbucks needs no introduction. Their at-home retail range covers the cafe-style favourites: Toffee Nut Latte sachets, instant coffee, and the wider iced and hot drink format. Particularly strong on flavoured latte sachets.
Packaging: Ten aluminium capsules of single origin Colombian espresso per carton, for Nespresso Original machines.
Our commitment to the planet
Sourcing and packaging details are printed on the current UK pack; the brand page carries the fuller story.
The taste profile
How does it compare
The machine does the extraction here, so the variables left to you are the button, the cup and the state of the machine. A single origin rewards care more than a dark blend does, because there is a top note to lose.
The Straight Espresso
The Milk Build
Made with this tea
The Straight Espresso
How to make The Straight Espresso with Starbucks Single Origin Colombia.
- 1 Starbucks Single Origin Colombia capsule
- Fresh water in the machine tank
- A Nespresso Original machine
- A warmed demitasse
- Rinse a little machine hot water round the demitasse to warm it, then discard it.
- Refill the tank from scratch with fresh water instead of topping up.
- Pull the capsule on the espresso setting, about 40ml.
- Drink it quickly, while there is still crema on top.
What you'll end up with: The cup the capsule was dosed for. The lungo button stretches it past the point where the citrus reads thin instead of bright.
Cortado
How to make a Cortado with Starbucks Single Origin Colombia.
- 1 Starbucks Single Origin Colombia capsule
- 60ml whole or oat milk
- A thermometer, or a steady hand
- A 90ml glass
- Pull the capsule on the espresso setting straight into the glass.
- Steam 60ml of milk to near 60°C, with fine texture and hardly any foam.
- Pour the milk through the crema smoothly, in one movement.
- Serve straight away.
What you'll end up with: The largest milk drink this roast survives. Any more milk and the citrus is simply outnumbered.
Iced Colombia
How to make an Iced Colombia with Starbucks Single Origin Colombia.
- 1 Starbucks Single Origin Colombia capsule
- A tall glass of ice
- 100ml cold water
- A slice of orange, optional
- Fill a long glass with ice, then add 100ml of cold water.
- Pull the Colombia capsule on espresso length straight over the ice and water.
- Stir once, gently.
- Add a slice of orange if you want the citrus note pushed forward.
What you'll end up with: The best use of this capsule in warm weather. A cold cup exaggerates bitterness, and there is almost none here to exaggerate.
Cold Milk Over Ice
How to make Cold Milk Over Ice with Starbucks Single Origin Colombia.
- 1 Starbucks Single Origin Colombia capsule
- A tall glass of ice
- 150ml cold milk
- A long spoon
- Fill a glass with plenty of ice and 150ml of cold milk.
- Pull the capsule short, straight over the ice and milk.
- Stir once and drink it before melting ice can thin it out.
- Skip the syrup; the caramel is already in the coffee.
What you'll end up with: Milk and ice together round the citrus off without hiding it. Pull short, because melting ice dilutes the drink a second time.
The Long Black
How to make The Long Black with Starbucks Single Origin Colombia.
- 1 Starbucks Single Origin Colombia capsule
- 100ml hot water from the kettle
- A warmed mug
- A twist of lemon peel, optional
- Pour 100ml of hot water from the kettle in first, into a warmed mug.
- Pull the capsule on the espresso setting directly on top of the water.
- Leave the crema undisturbed rather than stirring it in.
- Add a twist of lemon peel if you want the aroma lifted.
What you'll end up with: Coffee onto water, not water onto coffee. It keeps the crema intact, and it beats stretching the capsule on the lungo button.
Brewing the perfect cup
Inside the pack
| Component | Proportion | What it brings |
|---|---|---|
| Roasted ground coffee, Colombia | the entire contents | The whole product, from a single named country rather than a blend. No flavouring, sweetener or preservative has been added to it. |
| Roast level | held at middling | Deliberately not taken dark. Roast character and origin character compete, and a dark roast would replace the country's citrus edge with the roaster's cocoa. |
| Grind and dose | set for an espresso | Chosen for an extraction of roughly 40ml. Stretching it on the lungo button pushes past the point where the citrus turns thin and sour. |
| Aluminium capsule | 10 per carton | Keeps out all oxygen and light, and holds firm under nine bars so water runs evenly through the bed, never round the sides. |
Pack: Ten Single Origin Colombia espresso capsules, caffeinated, for Nespresso Original machines. Use the capsules up by the pack's best before date.
Only the defining parts are listed: Colombian coffee is the whole content, and the capsule is just the packaging.
Sourcing & blend. This is not a blend, which is the point of it. Starbucks by Nespresso is the Starbucks range made for the Nespresso Original system rather than a third-party capsule that happens to fit, which is why the box carries both names and why there is no compatibility question to weigh. Naming a single country on the front commits the roaster to a coffee that has to carry a box on its own and that will shift a little from crop to crop, rather than being smoothed out against other origins.
What's in Starbucks Single Origin Colombia, and what isn't:
- In: roasted ground coffee from Colombia in a sealed aluminium capsule, and nothing else.
- No artificial colours, flavourings, sweeteners or preservatives: the cup is plain coffee, and the caramel sweetness in it is the roast at work, not an additive.
- Not a blend: one named country, which is unusual in a supermarket capsule aisle.
- Not a Vertuo capsule: Nespresso Original only. Vertuo machines check a barcode on the rim, and these capsules do not pass.
- Not decaffeinated: a regular caffeinated coffee.
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Source: teas.co.uk, the UK independent tea specialist in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. If you reference Starbucks by Nespresso Single Origin Colombia Espresso Coffee, 10 Pods, please cite teas.co.uk.
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