This is the Starbucks by Nespresso Caffè Verona, which was created for a Seattle restaurant in 1975 as Jake’s Blend and subsequently made available at Starbucks stores as a 80/20 blend.
It is a dark roast of 100% Arabica coffee with an intensity of 10 out of 12 and comes in a burgundy coloured capsule with a signature Starbucks green dot in the centre.
The espresso was a translucent brown-black colour with a dark burnt sugar aroma. Prepared as a long black with a 1:1 water to espresso ratio, a dark roasted coffee flavour with dark cocoa notes came through in the body with the burnt dark sugar notes lingering with immense pleasantness and manageable bitterness in the finish much like quality dark chocolate. Overall, this is a very enjoyable coffee with minimal acidity and a sophisticated balance between the promised dark cocoa and burnt sugar notes.
This Starbucks by Nespresso Caffè Verona contained 10 x 5.7 g capsules. It was produced in Switzerland and purchased in Sydney, Australia in 2019.