Monday, June 20, 2011

Birthday rambling

Today is her birthday, been exactly 8 months since she left.

Thank you god for giving me strength to go through all these, thank you for letting me find comfort and strength in you.

I do still wish she were here and we could celebrate birthday together, I still wish I could buy her present and blow her 53th candle.

Isnt it ironic that it is when she is gone that I remember her birthday, and it is with the same freakin ignorance mind that I  missed and forgot her birthday in the last two years.

But thanks be to God for now the best birthday party ever, for the surprise dinner from the king.

Happy birthday mom, I know you have a blast.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Nespresso C-100 Review

Due to my daily demand of caffeine intake, I decided to buy an espresso machine that could satisfy my craving for coffee while could also save my wallet from the costly back and forth trip to Starbucks. After some heavy considerations, my choice landed to Nespresso C100, a home based automatic espresso machine that uses prepackaged ground coffee pressed in a capsule / pod. Here is what I think about it.

Pros:
One of the winning factor this product has is its ease of use. As simple as ABC, first you turn on the machine (wait for approx 30 secs until it heated up), insert the capsule, and press the button to start brewing. No frill, no spill of ground coffee, no splashing or dripping of water, no five minutes waiting anymore. Perfect for you who always on the rush yet can't leave the house without coffee.

Trust me, in terms of flavor, they taste great. My favorite is Ristretto (intensity 10). When it starts to brew, the crema starts to come out right away. I am in no way a coffee connoisseur, so if you ask me about how good the crema is, I would say that as long as you have crema, it is a step up, it's an espresso shot.

They also have great aroma. I dare to say that it is comparable to Starbucks, I love love love the taste of my Nespresso. Put two or three pods of Ristretto, use Aerocinno to produce your steam milk, pump in one pump of Monin Vanilla syrup and drizzle light caramel on top. Perfect.

Bottom line: for everyday consumption of coffee, nothing beat the easy practical quick result of Nespresso.

My Espresso Station
Cons:
Nothing really. I know there are lots of raving out there about the price. But really, think about it, Starbucks cost you $5 for a triple grande caramel macchiato. Compared that with $1.8 for Nespresso. Alright, count in the milk and syrup, it will end up $2.50 max. So, even a four year old know that $2.5 is cheaper than $5.

More grumpy users also complain about having to order the pods online, exclusively at Nespresso website. I understand how this can be inflexible, but as long as you plan them well, you can always order in bulk, pay the fixed rate shipping of $6, and have your Nespresso supplies for months. Unless they discontinue their production or run out of their pods, this is no sweat for me.

I have petty disgruntlement about the shot though. Maybe this is my feeling, but I feel the intensity of the caffeine is pretty weak and stale. Three shots of caffeine at Starbucks will surely keep me wide awake, pumping my heart beyond its capacity, but three shots of Nespresso do not seem to do the trick. I do still yawn with teary eyes, maybe it's me being too jacked up, maybe it's the espresso, but what I know for sure is I would not dare to go for the fourth shot. Please have mercy on me.