My personal highlight: Feeling Princess for a day in a magical surrounding – discovering how premium coffee is perfectly combined in haut cuisine at Dolder Grand

Sometimes little dreams get closer faster than you think. It’s not everyone’s budget to have dinner or lunch at the famous “The Restaurant” located in the The Dolder Grand in Zurich. But as we know, absolute superb class has its price!

Thanks to the very special gourmet series of Nespresso called “Nespresso Gourmet Weeks” in cooperation with 25 Haut Cuisine Chefs preparing delicacies all over Switzerland. You can enjoy extraordinary food for lunch (70 CHF excl. drinks) or dinner (120 CHF excl. drinks). Coffee is included of course. The Gourmet Week has is its fifth anniversary this year. They are going on from Oct. 29 until November 19, 2017. Get more information here.

A challenge accepted by all Chefs, a promise of originality, precision and exquisite presentation true to each individual establishment.

Food is art: What Heiko Nieder Chef at “The Restaurant” at The Dolder Grand presented to us

We start with a series of various little appetizers. Its presentation is just wonderful. Many tiny little perfectly arranged bites that prepare your stomach to the next course. We get seasonal veggies as pumpkin in a mini wrap  with an explosion of different flavors. I absolutely loved the salty cone with truffle mozzarella.

• The first course is a Seafood-Bouillon with Grand Cru Indriya from India, Banana and Rucola.
  Indriya is a coffee with a spicy and aromatic aroma. Taste some pepper and nutmeg notes and a touch of ginger and curcuma out of it.
• We continue with the second course, a Veal with Grand Cru Livanto, a classical coffee blend. This veal is super tender and probably slow cooked for a while. It comes with a nice bed of carrots and home made bread with lemon and mustard butter. The aroma of the blend Livanto reminds me some caramelized notes.
• A grand sweet finale: A coconut-namelaka with Grand Cru Cosi. A bed of exotic fruits, herbs and flowers make this dessert delicate, refreshing and so much enjoyable.
  The aroma of the blend Cosi is a light roast and has some fruity notes.

We could not end our lunch without getting served a dream of chocolate and biscuits all hand made paired with a delicious espresso.

Thank you nespresso and The Dolder grand for this unforgettable experience!

Which coffee type are you? Coffee at the bar, coffee to go or coffee at home?

On the occasion of the launch of the limited edition barista and the brand new machine created by Nespresso I was invited to taste their coffee and get the feeling of how to prepare a latte as a barista with the new machine Creatista Plus.

If you get to try such high-class products the chance that your coffee preparation fails is quite small.
This experience made me think about my coffee habits since I take into consideration buying a coffee machine at home for quite a while. Today I use a small bialetti moka to brew my coffee.

What about discovering our coffee habits?

1. Did you ever try to do a really great coffee with microfoam at home?
2. Do you have the right equipment to make a proper milk foam?
3. Maybe you are just a bit lazy to be concerned about it and prefer to go for an espresso or flat white at your favourite bar on your way to work?
4. Or you don’t have the budget to buy an expensive machine?

I questioned these topics for myself and would like to share with you my thoughts in this article. Further, I want to give you suggestions on available options to find the best coffee choice or equippment for your habbit.

One of my previous articles was all about specialty coffee and where to find it here in Zurich. I share content about grinding coffee beans at home. This plays an important role when making coffee at home. For those who did not get the chance to read it, get it here.
Coffee beans are the base of all that comes after. I love the taste of a flavoured, strong coffee. l want to know where my coffee comes from and how it is roasted and processed.

What speciality coffee is…

Coffee that scores 80 points or above on a 100-point scale is graded „specialty.“ Specialty coffee grows in a special and ideal climate. They are distinctive because of their full cup taste and little to no defects. The unique flavours and tastes are a result of the special characteristics and composition of the soils in which they are produced.

Are you the type that loves to brew your coffee at home or take it at the bar?

If it comes to my coffee habits I know, that I am a mix of both. I am a coffee at home brewer and coffee shop drinker. Waking up in the morning and smelling the coffee notes from the moka machine is how I grew up. The sound of the coffee bubbling is something I cannot think out of my dayly routine. That is why, I personally think, that I could not replace having my coffee at home in the morning.
What I tried out, too, is the nespresso milk foam maker called Aeroccino, (which costs ca. 89 CHF). This product is a perfect alternative to buying a complete machine and making a latte or cappuccino at home.

At weekends I love to stop by at a bar where I know they have specialty coffee. I let my barista prepare the delicious thin microfoam with latte art on my coffee.

Barista corto, barista chiaro, barista scuro – Creatista Plus by Nespresso

Nespresso just previously launched new Limited Edition coffee blends called barista corto, barista chiaro and barista scuro. These blends were specially crafted by Nespresso experts.

The Barista corto creates a Ristretto Nero with an extra-intense taste, thick syrupy texture and marble dark crema.
The origin: Monsooned Arabica from India, washed Robusta from Guatemala amongst other origins.

The Barista scuro is meant for a dark Espresso Macchiato. It keeps its strong, flavourful, full-bodied coffee character when combined with a gentle touch of milk foam.
The origin: Washed Arabicas from Costa Rica and the Cundinamarca region of Colombia amongst other origins.

The Barista chiaro is ideal for an indulgent Cappuccino Dolce or a flat white. It has a smooth, creamy taste and round, exceptionally delicate biscuit notes.
The origin: Unwashed Arabica beans from the Cerrado region of Brazil and washed Arabica from Kenya among other origins.

With these coffee sorts comes a new machine called creatista plus that is designed to help you out at home and give you the barista feeling. The machine is simple in use and the microfoam is really as enjoyable as at the coffee bar. The price of the machine starts from 579 CHF.

This mixes up my habits now! Should I make my flat white at home or go out and drink it at the bar?

Ideally, I would have both options available, but what about the coffee smell that my moka machine giftes me?

You see, I cannot really find a solution to my coffee dilemma.

Anyway, there are options, and that is always good in life, so let’s keep it open.
Depending on the type of coffee habit you have, you will find the right choice for you!

*not sponsered article