CoffeeB Ristretto Coffee Balls — 9 Balls

CoffeeB

The capsule, removed.

CoffeeB began with an awkward question: if the coffee inside a capsule is what matters, why is the capsule there at all? The answer, arrived at through Swiss engineering, was to take it away entirely.

What's left is the Coffee Ball — pressed coffee held together by a thin protective layer of alginate, a natural seaweed extract. No aluminium. No plastic. No sorting, no collection scheme, no recycling bag. When the cup is finished, the ball goes onto the garden or into the compost, and that is the end of it.

The system comes from the same Swiss roasting house behind Café Royal, and the range reflects it: nine blends spanning a full-bodied Espresso Supremo, an Italian-styled Ristretto, gentler lungos, a decaffeinato and two flavoured options. The beans are fair-trade sourced and roasted in Switzerland.

The Coffee Ball requires the CoffeeB machine — the brewing system was designed around it, not adapted to it. That is the price of removing the capsule, and for anyone who has spent years accumulating a drawer of used aluminium, it is a reasonable one.