Sometimes an image becomes so associated with a place it falls into cliche. The silhouette of Vachellia tortilis — an umbrella thorn tree — blown 10 degrees off centre by an invisible zephyr recalls sub-Saharan Africa like no other landscape.
It’s this familiar image, in an earthy terracotta shade, that adorns sleeves of the latest permanent addition to Nespresso’s grand crus: Bukeela.
Subtitled ‘ka Ethiopia’ — ka means ‘from’ — this new Lungo with an intensity rating of 3 joins Indriya (India), Rosabaya (Colombia) and Dulsão (Brazil) in Nespresso’s Pure Origin range. These four flavours are distinguished by their sustainable sourcing from coffee heartlands.
“Bukeela is the first Lungo in the Pure Origin range,” said Nespresso Oceania marketing and communication manager Nicole Parker. “This Grand Cru is made from Arabica beans and is a unique blend that reveals a distinctive aroma of jasmine, white lily, bergamot and orange blossom with wild notes of musk and wood.”
We drink a lot of coffee here at AR headquarters and were pleased to trial Bukeela on the office Pixie. This is a very delicate experience; the flavours do not linger on the palette but they do resonate with an earthiness and subtlety that is often missing from capsule coffee flavours, especially those from Nespresso’s cut-price rivals.
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This is the sort of luxury lifestyle experience that capsule coffee consumers can only truly enjoy from Nespresso. The Electrolux partnership with Lavazza has some nice coffees, thought not nearly enough flavours, and the house brand offerings are only slightly better than a joke, but Nespresso is the full package: great coffee, user-friendly machines, wonderful packaging and beautiful accessories. I use the official recycling bin as my pod holder and people in the office can’t even tell that my dispensary was creating for dispersing; it’s that well-crafted.
I enjoy my coffee Lungo — even when drinking my favourite grand cru, Rosabaya, which is actually an espresso; I am gauche that way — so it is deliciously rewarding to finally have a Pure Origin that is specifically catered to those that enjoy coffee long and soft rather than short and intense.
Where I do conform to standards is taking my coffee black — adding milk is a peculiarly Australian habit — but for those that do enjoy white coffee or macchiatos, Parker assures me that “savoured with milk, Bukeela will surprise your tastebuds with its lightness”.
Parker further recommends enjoying Bukeela with a side of popcorn. I enjoyed mine with some Nurofen Plus because I have terrible neck and shoulder pains at the moment. It didn’t really add or detract from the experience.
