Victoria Spring 2011 - Single Serve espresso from Nespresso Pixie · Saturday May 14, 2011 by colin newell
Had the pleasure of getting a 1 week loan of the Nespresso Pixie from Weber Shandwick of Vancouver – thanks to the lovely Nicole G. for turning me loose on this new coffee maker.
The Nespresso Pixie is a fast heat-up single serve espresso pod brewer. And when I say “Fast Heating” – I am not kidding. I did not measure the time exactly, but after power up, the unit appeared ready to brew in under 2 minutes. Great if you are in a hurry in the morning.
I have done some other reviews of ESE “Easy Service Espresso” – which is different than the pod over here and here
The ESE machines I have used have been awesome – and a tad more eco friendly.
I might as well get this out there right now – The Nespresso system is downright ecologically unfriendly – using plastics and tinfoil in the pod product. Over the life of the unit this would amount to a boat load of waste products. Personally, I cannot support systems like this and would try and steer folks away from POD systems on this basis alone.
If not for that, what of the flavor?
I am not entirely sure how Pods are manufactured or whether or not they are flushed and sealed with nitrogen to keep the coffee even remotely fresh – I suspect not. Pretty sure that ESE’s are, at least, partially staled prior to packing and shipping. POD’s could not possibly be too fresh because the pods would burst open without a method of de-gassing. And the pods do not appear to have 1-way valves.
Flavor – at first spin, the flavor of the pods are not too jarring – depending entirely on “stopping” the shot prior to the full brew cycle. Bottom line here is: the dose of the pod is not nearly high enough for a decent single – that is, a 1+ fluid ounce shot of espresso… it’s close, but it is not quite enough.
As a result, every long pull pod serving is hopelessly over-extracted and watery… and, well… bitter.
Weber Shandwick was kind enough to send me around 10 Pods to sample – some of them were Decaf – which I blended in double shots during my evening photo shoot of the product. Overall impression over the course of brewing the different “espresso flavors” was one of, ahem *Meh. Hate to say that but I have to be cruelly honest about this. Even if the Nespresso system was not a complete Eco pig, it will still come down to trying to get too much flavor from too small a dose of coffee. Fix that and the pod manufacture materials and maybe Nescafe might be on to something.
If you are the kind of person that does not mind playing 50 cents per shot of coffee and are willing to double-pod your morning experience and short pull all your Pods, this might be the baby for you.
For me, not so much. Thumbs down on the Nespresso Pixie Pod system.
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Victoria Spring 2011 - What Spring · Saturday May 14, 2011 by colin newell
I am not alone in making this declaration:
Here in Victoria B.C. (YYJ for you twitter types), the weather has been utterly kicking my ass. And I am pretty sure that unless you live in a cave and you are used to sleeping with bats under dripping stalagmites, then you too are suffering the effects of the Victoria Winter of 2011 that will never fucking end.
The Sun has come out for about 7 days (not in a row or even in any sequence) over the last 4 months. We have not had 2 days of clear skies. We have had week after week or gray. Light gray. Dark gray. Green gray and several shades of blue gray.
Seasonally effected? I have had the luxury of cranking my lab light up to a cataract inducing 50,000 LUX or so… and even a touch more if I need it. And if you don’t know the significance of these numbers… Google it. Not quite Super Nova levels but pretty damn bright. I pity people that work in near windowless offices or spaces that have heavily filtered light. We go to Hawaii once a year for an infusion of Sunny goodness and it usually lasts a couple of months – well that sweet nugget of goodness ran out months ago – and it has been entirely miserable since January.
So, trying something different. Popping Omega-3 Fish oil and 1000 unit Vitamin D tabs twice a day – and thankfully I have a buddy who is a family doctor who said “OK” to this – because it does say on the bottle – “Medical supervision…” Thanks Doc.
So. How are the rest of you coping with the shitty Victoria weather?
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Victoria Spring 2011 - Canadian Gas Prices · Saturday May 14, 2011 by colin newell
I have spoken on this issue in the past – about gas price fixing in Canadian markets.
Which I am now preparing to reject. No, not preparing… It’s done.
Let me clarify: I do not believe that the markets are fixed in Canada.
For Gas. Or Coffee. Or Chocolate. Or anything for that matter.
And you’re wondering… “Who are you? Who took our Colin away?”
Here is the thing – 1st year University economics at work. We live in a free market system. That means that the markets set themselves. There are no wage and price controls at work in Canada or the U.S.
As a result, the market moves around to suit the vendors, the suppliers, the executives, shareholders etc. It is the system we have embraced.
And we vote for governments that support the open market agenda.
Actually, all the governments that are available to be elected are all for open markets – there are no socialist parties or active communist parties in Canada (or America). And the ones that are professing to be socialist are dreaming – or digging for votes.
We live in an open market society. Everything is up for grabs. Everything is for sale. And this includes petrol, oil, gas, coffee, water, pork bellies, all manner of food stuffs – anything that can be bought and solid for a profit.
Our governments negotiate and sign trade agreements with other countries that are not as developed as our own – that gives manufacturers the upper hand in maximizing profit for executives, owners, shareholders, etc. It is in the best interest of the free market system to get products made as cheaply as possible to get the most payback for the vested interests.
Gas is no different. The raw materials come out of the ground and are processed and distributed for profit. Yes, I know the raw materials are free – it comes out of the ground after all. But there needs to be an infrastructure for it to end up in your tank as high octane gasoline. That costs money.
And sure, oil companies like banks make obscene amounts of profit – so what. It is a free market system. Is this profit wrong? No. It is a free market system. We live in this system, support it and vote for governments that have a pro-business agenda.
We totally get what we pay for folks.
Coffee (a subject that I know a little bit about) is one of those highly traded commodities.
Imagine every coffee bean produced in a year – Got that picture? Good.
Well, that mountain of coffee changes hands anywhere from 50 to 100 times a year. And most of those folks that profit from coffee, big time, have never even seen a coffee bean or a coffee farmer. Is this wrong? Technically no – I mean, coffee brokers are not in the business of knowing how Juan Valdez is doing with his family in Nicaragua – or whether he and his family have education or health care. Brokers and traders are in the business of flipping product for profit.
Back to gas. Any government that says they are going to “look into high gas prices” are being utterly cynical. This has been happening in the U.S. lately. Obama has stated that high fuel prices need to be looked into. Additionally, one of the most stupid men in America, Donald Trump, uttered some shallow platitudes about taking Saudi by the short and curly and giving them what-for. Actually, considering that Trump is playing a joke on all of us with his Presidential run, he is actually being more honest than Obama.
When we consider that the fuel that goes into our cars comes from a finite supply, and that it is considerably more expensive in Europe – it is likely that the price in Canada and the U.S. is too low. I know, I hate paying $50 to fill my Honda Civic with this stuff – but I am not alone. And if I was in Holland it would be twice that much.
Summary: We live in a free market system where anything goes. Our new Conservative government in Canada plans on throwing Foreign ownership rules to the wind (which I strongly disagree with – but who am I.) Which means that more Canadian stuff is going to be on the vending block – which will increase the cost of living to average Canadian.
And as much as I would love to live in socialist utopia where I did not have to worry about food security, the integrity and safety of my water supply and the roof over my head… I am now ready to face the facts… that this is the society in which we live: A society where everything is for sale and speculation. It is what the majority of Canadian’s appear to want – so we get the results.
Victoria Spring 2011 - Tofino sunset or sunrise on great coffee · Wednesday April 27, 2011 by colin newell
My wife and I have been visiting Tofino and Ucluelet on Vancouver Island for well over 10 years since we were married.
And in a decade some things have changed and some other things have remained absolutely and irritatingly the same.
Food: For all intents and purposes, Tofino has come a nice distance in the last decade. There was a time, 20 years or so ago, that there was little to pick from apart from some questionable burger joints and some really questionable seafood places…
Which is an atrocity when you consider that Tofino and Ucluelet are sea food meccas. For goodness sakes, there are fishing fleets based in these two magical little towns.
In 2011, Tofino and Ucluelet cuisine has moved forward big time — for the cuisine that is. You can still get some horrifyingly appalling fish and chips, burgers and hot dogs… ironically at mom and pop joints… because… wait for it, there are no chains or franchise fast food operations in Tofino or Ucluelet… Because heavens knows that a Taco Bell or McDonald’s could not possibly get down to the junk level of some of the joints up here on the coast. OK. Enough picking on that front.
A notch or two up are the deli’s that I have encountered – the ones that charge $10 for a fancy grilled cheese sandwich, that when you order it to eat in, takes 25 minutes to make and is handed to you wrapped in plastic, tinfoil and or paper. No name, but the one deli we visited on this last weekend kept me in stitches after witnessing one order mess up after another… only to have my order screwed up – where we waited almost an hour to get a cheese sandwich made properly. No apology either. Not a word. No sorry for the wait. Nor a nod. Because this is Tofino.
Tofino – all attitude and no substance. None at all.
At the cuisine level it is another matter. When fresh fish or local meat and produce are being prepared in Tofino, they are generally as good as the big city. Pricing tends to be slightly higher than other major centers – but what the heck, Tofino is a tourist town and a bit of a food trap. That said, there is a lot of competition and competition in close quarters is good for you and me.
Coffee: – There are no qualms about it. The coffee culture in Tofino is nearly hopeless. This is starting to change – thank heavens. A notable and sometimes irritating deli, Breakers, has just picked up a Fernwood Coffee contract – they have good equipment and raw materials… so with a little training from the fabulous people at Fernwood, there is hope. Let’s all cross our fingers.
The interesting observation I get about Tofino coffee culture is that it is all attitude and no production. And I want to be contradicted on this – in 20+ visits over the last decade plus, the coffee groove has remained sad.
A colleague of mine quipped the other day, “Remember Colin, Tofino is surf culture, not coffee culture…”
Huh? Why can it not be both? Victoria is coffee culture, tea culture, food culture and tourist culture?
Could it be that Tofino is not capable of doing anything but hippie chill out and surf? Maybe. I hope not. A community like that cannot survive on one trick pony.
Summary: – I would be remiss in not acknowledging the great people that live and work in Tofino and Ucluelet. Yes, the food and tourism culture is there for our comfort and amusement – much like my little city of Victoria – but there are other sides to the culture of community. Victoria is no different.
But if you are going to do coffee and offer a chunk of espresso culture, try and deliver the goods – even if you are pretending.
For now, if you are visiting Tofino or Ucluelet, I beg of you: Bring your own coffee!
We stay at the Middle Beach Lodge and the drip coffee they serve in the Lodge is very good. I know, I drink too much of it.
If I was anywhere else, I would have brought a Press or the Aero and a hand grinder.
To do anything else would be risky.
Espresso in Tofino? Forget about it…
For now.
Colin Newell lives, eats and drinks Vancouver Island food culture – and can often be found between the pages of EAT Magazine or hovering over a cup of Joe at one of many fine Victoria cafes.
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