Nescafe NES

I’m not a total coffee snob (I think Peets beans are fine), but I do use a coffee grinder and a french press to prepare my daily caffeine intake. We just took 2 week vacation in Europe, and we took advantage of the easily available high-quality espresso. The first place we stayed, in Switzerland, had a Nespresso machine, so we bought some pods for it at the nearby grocery store (despite my vague California guilt about the wastefulness of said pods). The coffee it made was quite good.

The second place we stayed, in Paris, was supposed to have a Nespresso machine, but it was nowhere in evidence (the host claimed it should have been there, so we wonder if a previous guest might have swiped it). Since we didn’t want to have to hit a cafe every morning for our caffeine hit, my wife grabbed some Nescafe NES instant coffee in hopes it would be ok. I generally have a few low opinion of instant coffee (based on prior experience), but I have to confess it was surprisingly good. We actually brought it back to the States with us to finish it up. Not that I’m going to buy more when it’s gone, but if you need coffee and don’t have a better alternative available, it’s a perfectly acceptable solution.