The result

What's this coffee TEN like?

For the reasons described above, TEN is an extremely rich coffee. Rich in structure and body. Rich in aromas. Rich in the length of taste (more than two hours if you drink it without sugar). Balanced and harmonious. Very sweet. Just like the coffee in the best Italian bars (which often choose it for that reason). 

But is it always fresh?

TEN comes in individual single-portion pads, each with its protective oxygen and moisture-resistant packet in a protected atmosphere of nitrogen (N2). Hence, when you open an envelope, the pad is as fresh as the day it was packed.  If you consider that the average time from grinding of the beans to packaging in pads and sealing the packets is only a few minutes, you can imagine how fresh it is: absolutely fresh!

And what blend is it?

Basically, it's the new Amici blend consisting of nine origins from Central America, Brazil, Ethiopia and India, carefully selected by my son Ernesto, myself and our specialists for the supply of raw coffee, while also trying to ensure that the greatest possible portion is certified Rainforest Alliance. 

The new Amici blend comes in three roasts: light, for coffees suitable for longer extractions such as Café Crème; normal or medium for espresso; and dark for ristretto.

Obviously, the degree of roasting also affects the taste and aroma of the coffee: lighter roasts have a barely perceptible bitter note and slight acidity with an aromatic spectrum closer to floral and fruity; coffees for espresso have a more balanced bitter/acid ratio and are slightly less floral and fruity but taste more of chocolate and hazelnuts; and the darker roasts for ristretto tend to highlight greater bitterness (which is mitigated, however, by the body of the ristretto), sweetness and notes of dried fruit. Everyone can choose the roast they prefer.

What about longer coffees such as Café Crème?

Another reason to choose TEN. As it extracts better and contains 40% more coffee, longer coffees such as Café Crème turn out far better than before. They are rich and full-bodied, and are almost impossible to "overextract (1)". 

But are there also other flavours?

That is TEN's most innovative aspect! As TEN extracts better than any other system and the pods stay fresh until the moment they're used, we have found it interesting to offer our TEN customers a range of mono origin coffees to go with the Amici blend. There will be only a few at first, but in time, as we gradually find really exceptional lots of coffee, we will offer them to our customers. Just imagine that some of those Specialty Coffees can have scores as high as 100 points SCA (Specialty Coffee Association) and prices in the thousands of euros per kilogram: those are real specialties. And we will offer them to you.

In that way you can have different coffees always on hand and choose which one you want when you want it.

What about prices?

Prices vary depending on the type of coffee you choose. Coffees containing the Amici blend have a price slightly higher than 7-gram ESE pods, while specialties, depending on their quality and the cost of the raw materials, will range from slightly to substantially more expensive than the Amici blend.  

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(1) Overextraction is a phenomenon typical of coffee "pulled" too long, when too much water is passed through the coffee powder: the result is that it ultimately extracts the wood of the coffee, making it far less enjoyable. As TEN has 40% more powder, that phenomenon does not occur because you will have filled the cup before reaching the limit of overextraction. And you will see how fantastic the result is! And the TEN pods can be easily bought from the amici.ch website in whatever quantity you prefer.