Introduction

This is a review of the Nespresso Galapagos Exclusive Edition coffee for the Original Line (OL) machine. Actually, I’m not sure if it should be referred to as Galapagos Exclusive Edition, Special Reserve Galapagos Limited Edition, or Galapagos Limited Edition; since there are all of these naming references. For example if you look at this online US site link, where it mentions both Galapagos Limited Edition and Special Reserve Galapagos. Plus the box is marked Galapagos Exclusive Edition. Seems like marketing was coming up with various names.

The coffee used is single origin from the island of Galapagos, which is an ideal climate for growing coffee – volcanic soil and cool and humid environment. Nespresso describes this coffee as having sweet and biscuit notes. The coffee uses a split roasting technique to produce the best flavor / aroma profile for this type of coffee. Nespresso does not mark the intensity of the coffee on the box, but I have seen previous links that have indicated that this should be an intensity 7 coffee.

The sleeve used is what I call a front load sleeve where the perforations are on the side of the box, and it can be tucked back in place after you take a capsule out. The sleeve has a very nice dark algae green or tortoise shell color to it, probably the pattern is intended to look like a tortoise shell. The price of these is very expensive in the US at $20.00 USD a sleeve. In Canada they are $12.50 CDN per sleeve; so you could get two sleeves for the price of one in the US!

UPDATE 2022: This year’s Galapagos sleeve now shows “Special Reserve”, also the price in the US is still $20.00 a sleeve and in Canada it is $14.00 a sleeve. Actually I think the name Special Reserve is a much better name, since Exclusive implies you need to be part of a club.

Aroma

The Nespresso Galapagos Exclusive Edition coffee has both a sweet / sugary and nut like aroma to it and it is nice to smell; the only downside, is the aroma is not very strong. The Galapagos has a thin and light colored crema that is foamy (or bubbly) in the mouth. The crema dissipates quickly.

UPDATE 2022: The Nespresso Special Reserve Galapagos coffee still has those sweet notes and nut like aromas to it, but I sense it is a lot stronger, since when it brews I can really sense those aromas. It still is a very nice aroma! The crema is still bubbly, but doesn’t dissipate that quickly.

Taste

The Nespresso Galapagos Exclusive Edition coffee is very mild tasting when you first sip it, then afterward you get very intense notes. The bitterness also comes afterwards, but it has very light bitterness. The initial taste is sweet, and does remind me of a sweet biscuit. The bitterness is tolerable, but it persists in the mouth and it does seem to have that coca like taste to it. I’m really not liking the bitterness to this coffee, and it’s the character of the bitterness that is not very pleasant. Also, the bitterness persists long after you’ve finished drinking the coffee, which is somewhat annoying.

UPDATE 2022: I am getting very similar tastes from the 2022 Special Reserve Galapagos coffee described above, and the bitterness does still persist long after drinking the coffee. If you like this type of bitterness, it may just be the coffee for you. After evaluating a second year, I can really tell that this is indeed a special coffee, not like any other coffee at all. It’s definitely worth it to try once to see if you like it.

I also tried the Galapagos with milk, and even with adding milk, the coffee has a really strong flavor and the flavor holds up and is not drowned out. So you may want to try this one with milk if you like milk in your coffee. With milk there are stil the strong notes and is reminding me of the Scuro capsule.

Result

The Nespresso Galapagos Exclusive Edition coffee is definitely a unique coffee, but at $20.00 USD a sleeve, this is a coffee that I mostly likely will only have this single sleeve and that’s it. I’m really not liking the bitterness, and I suggest that you just order one sleeve of this one to first try it out and see if you find the bitterness likeable or not for you.

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