Like having a live-in barista at your beck and call, without having to live with the person’s moods and quirks. That live-in barista is a single-serve beverage system, better known as a “capsule” coffee machine that not only churns espressos, but brews teas as well.
It doesn’t end there. The machine comes with a “frother” that makes the foam for your cappuccino or steams milk for your coffee or tea lattés. I am told this machine can dispense 70 types of hot and cold drinks, if you include the powders, syrups and sauces, with more capsule blends being developed.
This too-good-to-be-true gizmo, the kind that really works, is the brainchild of The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, who, in the last decade, helped fuel the incredible rise in consumer demand for the coffeehouse experience. And this is exactly what CBTL wanted to do—“extend its famed and distinct café experience beyond its stores and into your own home.”
According to Walden Chu, president of CBTL Philippines: “Together with Caffitaly, we came up with ‘the future of coffee in one compact platform.’ You can faithfully recreate all the hot drinks offered by The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. There is no other way to enjoy the world’s top one percent of coffee and tea produce we source than through these capsules.”
With the tastes and flavors of CBTL, plus the espresso technology and design expertise of Caffitaly, this machine, I admit, is hard to beat.
I chuckled when someone quipped: “This is a coffee and tea machine on speed!”
I have used the machine myself, and it is so simple to use. The slot for the coffee/tea capsule is done in such a way that it is impossible for users to get it wrong.
After the capsule is inserted, push the lever down and choose from any of the three settings—espresso, long espresso or the brewed coffee or tea button. Voilà! Your beverage is ready!
However, if you want a cappuccino, before hitting the espresso button, start frothing your milk with the frother, which takes less than two minutes. Then, hit that coffee button for perfect cappuccino.
Impressed
If my computation serves me right, the latte is P40 cheaper than if I had gone to a CBTL store. On top of that, I didn’t have to change, spend for gas and drive, nor was I tempted to stop by any other store I might pass on my way to a CBTL outlet. Doing the math this way, I saved way more than P40!
The initial CBTL capsule offerings are: Espresso-Italian, Premium, Premium Decaf and Continental; Brewed-French, House Brew, Viennese, House Brew Decaf; Tea-English Breakfast, Tropical Passion, Moroccan Mint.
For your blended beverages, CBTL now sells French Deluxe Vanilla Powder and Special Dutch Chocolate Powder in sachets. These help guarantee a consistent drink.
No gizmo has excited me as much in long while. Every kitchen must have this contraption. It is a dream for those who love to entertain, and a new toy for every coffee or tea connoisseur who also happens to be a gadget aficionado.
Owning one is literally enjoying all the perks of being at a specialty coffee and teahouse, but within the comforts of our home, with just a flick of a finger.
Introductory price is P13,750. There are zero interest-12 months schemes! Call 437-CBTL for information.
Mocha or Vanilla Latte, 12 oz
One espresso capsule of your choice, milk, one sachet of Special Dutch chocolate powder (for mocha) or one sachet of French Deluxe Vanilla powder (for vanilla)
Pour milk into the CBTL Milk Frother to upper maximum level and heat using the spindle tip.
Extract a espresso capsule into a cup by pressing the “small cup” icon button.
Whisk in one sachet of chocolate or vanilla powder.
Add frothed milk to fill the cup to ¼ inch below rim, then top with foam.
To make tea latté, substitute coffee to tea capsule of choice.
Café au Lait, 12 oz
One coffee capsule, milk
Pour milk into frother to minimum level and heat using the spindle tip.
Extract coffee into a cup by pressing the “large cup” icon button.
Add frothed milk to fill the cup to ¼ inch below rim, then top with foam.
All recipes will be available at the CBTL website.
Apologies to my friend, architect Gene Go, whose titled I changed to lawyer last week.
For my new cooking class schedules, call 0917-5543700/ 0908-2372346/ 4008496/ 9289296.
E-mail the author at raspiras@inquirer.com.ph.