A Better Brew

We’re familiar with the Nespresso machine but can there be a better coffeemaker? Hint: yes.

- Wayne Cheong

As an engineer for Nestlé, Éric Favre was tasked to domesticate Italian espresso culture; to bring high-quality coffee into the household. Favre and his team would invent the Nespresso coffee machine but the real genius would be his coffee capsules. The innocuous pods can keep the coffee grounds fresher for longer and its design allows for the machine to pierce one end and pump hot water at high pressure—this emulation of high-end coffee bar machines provides more flavour and crema for the home user.

And the best part of this is the continued reliance on the capsules from Nestlé. It’s a closed ecosystem, where the company has its own machine that uses its own capsules to make coffee. Classic vendor lock-in play. That didn’t stop competitor brands from creating their own Nespresso-compatible capsules but Nespresso sued them, citing an infringement on its patent.