Illy | Classic Roast

The name conjures up the ubiquitous street signs and classy espresso sipped by well-dressed Italians. The Nespresso pod is kinda along those lines, but perhaps not quite as noteworthy as the reputation would have suggested.

What do they say?

Not much, actually. The rather taciturn labelling tells us that these pods are simply mild and balanced. It could be that the good folks at Illy are happy to let their coffee do the talking for them.

The no-nonsense version, please?

Well, given that the marketing is hardly hyperbolic, it'd be remiss of me to suggest that there was much nonsense in the first place. However, if you are interested in what these beautiful little red and silver pods taste like, do read on.

First up, the coffee both looks and smells terrific. The crema atop the espresso shot is thick and indulgent-looking. The aroma is nuttier than expected, but not unpleasantly so.

What surprised me was the fruitiness of the initial taste. My abiding memory of Italian cafés is that the coffee is fairly punchy with chocolate notes. This pod is much more reminiscent of the espressos you are likely to receive in one of McSwan-Neck's trendy hangouts. Maybe this shouldn't have come as such a shock given that this is a 100% Arabica blend. Personally speaking, I'm not averse to a good whack of robusta beans in my cup. Nevertheless, the taste was a pleasant and fresh surprise.

Interestingly, the aftertaste lost almost all of this fruitiness and was booth smooth and memorable - as claimed on the box.

I guess, then, that whether or not you should splash the cash on these premium-priced pods depends on what you consider to be good espresso. For me, these are a bit too much berry-tasting to really want to buy them again. At the same time, I can appreciate that, for many people, that the hint of fruit is a welcome sensation on the palate.

Should I buy it?

Mmm. The toughest one so far. I'm going with the second option purely as my personal preference is for slammed-down-on-the-bar-in-a-backstreet-cafe-in-Naples. More progressive coffee aficionados may wish to push this up into absolutely territory.

• Absolutely!

• Yeah, why not?

• Worth a punt, but don't put yourself out.

• Only if the alternative is dishwater. In fact, try the dishwater first, anyway.

What did Bruno McSwan-Neck, Editor-at-Large of The Coffee Courier say about it?

Sometimes I just cannot help myself. I am human, after all. This is an exquisite blend, beautifully presented and leaving memories that linger in the way only a Keane album or HBO series can. The very fact that the owner of this blog can even suggest that this is not at the top of his arbitrary and offensive scale should be enough to convince any James Hoffman-educated coffee appreciator to dismiss his opinions on anything everything related to the glorious bean.

Although I would, of course, always recommend visiting independent coffee houses as a priority, there is no getting away from the fact that this is gold-standard pod coffee.