The Unlawyer

I must thank my sister for giving such a generous gift: a Nespresso Professional ES-50 coffee machine. Mrs. Unlawyer and I have long wanted such an appliance after I first blogged about it more than a year ago but was deterred by the cost.

Manufactured by FMCG giant Nestlé, the Nespresso Professional line of coffee machines and capsules is ordinarily marketed to offices who may want to supply their executives and important customers with better quality coffee. A similar machine is also produced by the same company for the home, although I really don’t see much of a difference between the two except in the matter of design – and price, I might add.

Anyway, some of the important features of the Nespresso ES-50 include:

• Static high pressure pump specially designed for the Nespresso system
• Thermostatic control for water temperature
• Manual water volume monitoring
• Automatic ejection of capsules
• Used capsule container capacity: 26 capsules
• Exterior parts in anodized aluminium
• Removable water tank: 1.9 liter
• Steam nozzle and hot water function
• Power: 1260 W
• Dimensions: 20.7 x 36.5 x 30.6 cm (LxDxH)
• Weight: 5.7 kg
• Manufacturer’s warranty: one year

The Nespresso ES-50 is the most basic of the ES line of coffee machines, and has a capacity sufficient for the needs of one to five persons. It’s perfect for occasional coffee drinkers like Mrs. Unlawyer and I, and for our guests.

Both the Nespresso coffee machines meant for home and office use operate on the same proprietary principle of utilizing single-serve “capsules” containing ground coffee in order to brew a cup of espresso. The similarity, however, ends there as the capsules for Professional machines, pictured above, have a different shape from that used for the home version. They are not interchangeable.

The light green capsules in the box are espresso leggero, the dark green espresso forte, the black ristretto, the red decaffeinato, the light brown caffe leggero, and the dark brown caffe forte.

Preparing a cup of espresso using the Nespresso ES-10 is as simple as turning the machine on to start heating the water. Then, a capsule is inserted into the pressure vessel which, once clamped shut, will pierce the same. Once the proper water temperature is reached, all that needs to be done is to push a lever, which forces pressurized hot water to flow through the holes made on the capsule. The coffee so brewed drips downward to the waiting cup.

As this is a fully manual machine, the ES-10 operator needs to judge the right time when to shut off the flow of water to the capsule. I typically let the machine brew my coffee for about a minute tops before I turn it off. At any rate, I estimate that it takes about two minutes or so from the time I turn on the ES-10 to produce a cup of espresso.

The ES-10 also a built-in steam nozzle that can be used to froth milk with for a cup of cappuccino.

Mrs. Unlawyer likes her cappuccino with some Gratta Ciock grated chocolate.

I might also add that quite a few Philippine hotels and restaurants serve Nespresso coffee.

One of the advantages of using a Nespresso Professional coffee machine in the Philippines is the ready supply of capsules. To my knowledge capsules meant for the home version are harder to come by and are considerably more expensive.

[Disclosure: my sister's brother-in-law owns a stake in the company that distributes Nespresso Professional coffee machines and supplies in the Philippines - Ed.]

If you want to know more about Nespresso Professional coffee machines in the Philippines, you can reach the Philippine FoodService Group Corporation at (02) 671-6661.