Caprissimo Coffee Bean Review
Louise Woffindin explores four of the tastiest flavours of the Caprissimo coffee bean range. Find out which should suit you best in her Caprissimo coffee bean review below…
Caprissimo is a brand of coffee that many coffee aficionados love. The brand was created by the company Coffee Friend, which sells its beans to both coffee shops as well as individuals seeking a delicious barista-style coffee at home. They sell four different types of beans. These are Caprissimo Fragrante, Caprissimo Belgique, Caprissimo Italiano, and Caprissimo Espresso.
The different types of beans include different combinations of arabica and robusta coffee beans and different roasting levels and today it’s my (not so difficult job) of assessing them in this Caprissimo coffee bean review.
Coffee Friend is an international omni-channel coffee and coffee machine retailer that operates in Europe. The company began in Lithuania in 2010 when two coffee-loving friends embarked on making their love of coffee a business. Since then, they’ve become a firm favourite of ours in the UK and they should definitely be on your radar when it comes to buying high quality coffee.
If you’re considering buying Caprissimo coffee beans and don’t know which type to get, we’ve done the hard work for you and reviewed all four! Read on to find out what we thought.
Caprissimo Fragrante
With an aroma of milk chocolate, peanut butter and walnuts, the Caprissimo Fragrante provides a sweet, buttery flavour followed by a slightly bitter walnut aftertaste. This is a coffee bean for people who seek a traditional coffee taste.
The beans
The Fragrante beans are a blend of Brazilian beans comprising 20% robusta beans and 80% arabica beans and are a medium-dark roast.
When ground, the mouth-watering peanut butter aroma is more pronounced.
Coffee aroma and taste
When used for a pour over, the aroma was pronounced as soon as the water hit the ground coffee. On tasting, the sweet peanut butter aroma reminded us of Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups – especially when accompanied by the milk chocolate notes in the taste. The walnut aftertaste is subtle on the palate and very pleasant.
As an espresso, the milk chocolate flavour was more pronounced, as was the walnut aftertaste. The Fragrante, whose name means fragrant in Italian, certainly lives up to its name as an espresso coffee. The taste was indeed very fragrant and strong, which we loved.
Verdict
The Caprissimo Fragrante beans certainly make a delicious everyday coffee. They’re ideal for anyone who loves black coffee (pour over, espresso or machine) but they also work well in milk-based coffee drinks, including flat white, cappuccino and latte.
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Caprissimo Belgique
The Caprissimo Belgique has a gentle woody aroma. There are hints of fruit, specifically blackberries, and a rich and strong molasses taste. The Caprissimo Belgique is great for anyone who likes an intense aroma to their coffee. There’s also a long-lasting and pleasant, sweet caramel aftertaste too.
The beans
The Belgique beans are a blend from Honduras and Brazil. They’re made up of 20% robusta beans and 80% arabica beans and are a medium-dark roast.
When ground, the beans gave off a chocolate and molasses aroma. We certainly couldn’t wait to make coffee out of them!
Coffee aroma and taste
There wasn’t a strong aroma when made as a pour over. However, the first sip of coffee provided a beautifully strong woody flavour that was also pleasantly bitter. The flavour was almost whisky-like.
The berry sweetness really came out when we used the beans in a French press, though the woodiness and bitterness were also present, creating a delicious balance of flavours.
As an espresso, there were even more detectable flavours. You could really taste a molasses and caramel flavour in the espresso and the woody flavour present in the pour over and French press faded somewhat. There was also a lingering acidity to the aftertaste that was accompanied by floral, honey sweetness.
Verdict
The Belgique beans were truly delicious. We preferred the espresso out of all the types of coffee we tried and we thought that these beans would be an excellent accompaniment to Tia Maria!
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Caprissimo Italiano
The Caprissimo Italiano beans are an excellent choice for an easy-drinking, everyday coffee. There are hints of biscuit, mild wood smoke and dark chocolate, which makes this medium roast an excellent purchase!
The beans
To make the medium roast, you’ll find the bag contains a mix of dark and light roast beans, which creates a fantastic balance. The beans are straight from a roasting house in Italy, hence the name, but the blend uses beans that come from a range of countries and continents: Ethiopia, India, Mexico, and Brazil. They’re also 100% arabica beans.
The bean aroma is predominantly dark chocolate with some floral tones and caramel notes. We found it to be a very balanced aroma. When ground, the coffee’s aroma was much more molasses-like but there was also a vanilla sweetness that we hadn’t noticed before grinding.
Coffee aroma and taste
There was a pungent bloom when the water hit the coffee. However, the flavour was a little underwhelming when made as a pour over coffee. When used as an espresso or in a French press, the brew was much more flavoursome, while still being an easy drinker and mildly astringent.
The French press also brought out a pleasant sweetness of red berries and a woody feel. Texture-wise, the coffee was incredibly smooth. When brewed in this way, it is a perfect coffee for new coffee drinkers or those who prefer a milder brew.
As an espresso, this worked well. It was strong, chocolatey and had some sweet biscuit tones.
Verdict
We liked the Italiano blend when made as a French press or an espresso, though it didn’t quite work for the pour over, in our opinion. It is, however, an excellent coffee blend that is a real easy drinker, making it perfect for people who are new to coffee.
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Caprissimo Espresso
The Caprissimo Espresso blend is a mixture of Indian and Brazilian coffee beans that is suited to intense coffee fans. There is a hint of wild berries, walnut and hazelnut, all accompanied by a pleasant bitterness.
The beans
The beans have some intense aromas. On opening the bag, you can immediately pick out dark chocolate and black cherry with some woody and nutty notes. The blend is a medium roast that is made up of 40% robusta beans and 60% arabica beans. The beans don’t look as oily as you might expect them to be as an Espresso blend. We thought the roast was a little lighter for an espresso, as it is the oiliness of a darker roast that creates that wonderful crema.
Coffee aroma and taste
Though the beans are an espresso blend, we felt it only fair to try them out as a pour over and French press like we did the other three in this review.
As a pour over, there was a light, floral aroma but it was minimal. The taste, however, was strong. We could really pick out the dark cherry. This was accompanied by a pleasant and mild bitterness.
When used in a French press, the dark cherry flavour faded into the background and we could taste a spicier and nuttier flavour. The cherry came through as an accompanying tartness too, which was very pleasant.
We liked the bitter aftertaste of the French press brew, but it might be a little too much for new coffee drinkers. So, if you’re trying to convince a friend to get into coffee, this might not be the one to do the job! For real coffee aficionados, though, it certainly packs a punch.
Finally, as an espresso, we got a smooth yet bitter brew that had woody notes and a dark chocolate flavour. We did find that we had to experiment to get the right espresso, however, but once we found something that worked, it is easily replicable. We’d advise grinding the beans extremely finely!
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Verdict
These beans didn’t work well as a pour over (as expected really from an espresso blend) but they were great in a French press. Once you’ve nailed the best technique to use with these beans, you can certainly get a delicious espresso! It’s the sort of espresso you need after a heavy lunch to keep you going through the afternoon!
Conclusion
After trying all four of Caprissimo’s blends: the Fragrante, the Belgique, the Italiano, and the Espresso, our favourite was the Fragrante. This is because it was the best overall coffee when brewed in the three different ways (pour over, French press, and espresso). However, we would definitely buy all of the variations of beans again and use them for different brews. It’s just as well that Coffee Friend has great deals on!
After the Fragrante, our next favourite was the Italiano. Though we thought the pour over coffee was a little disappointing and lacklustre, as a French press or espresso brew, we loved the well-rounded and flavourful richness produced. What’s more, the combination of red berry and biscuit flavours was truly delicious. If you like an easy-drinking coffee, the Italiano is certainly the one to choose. It’s also the best one to use when you’re trying to convince your tea-loving friends that coffee is the way forward!
Overall, the Caprissimo coffee beans in all four varieties are certainly worth trying. It’s also worth experimenting with different brews – especially for the espresso beans, which it took a few attempts for us to get the perfect brew.