“The Picasso of Patisserie” comes back to Nespresso

When I lived in Japan, working as country manager for Nespresso, I was a bit star struck to meet the famous French pastry chef, Pierre Hermé. As with any self-respecting Frenchman, gourmet cuisine and particularly patisserie hold a special place in my vocabulary. I love delicious things as much as I love beautiful things and Pierre Hermé’s creations tick both those boxes; you can taste the indulgence just by looking at his pastries and chocolates. This fourth generation patissier moved to Paris aged 14 and has since enjoyed many accolades including World’s Best Pastry Chef 2016. But it was in Japan he chose to open his first boutique in 1998, only followed up by Paris in 2001.

“Deliciousness”, as it’s defined in Japanese, doesn’t always have to mean umami (or savoury). Clearly, there is an appreciation for pastries as extravagant and indulgent as Hermé’s. It was therefore a natural match during the holidays of 2022 for Pierre Hermé to collaborate with us in creating 3 limited edition coffees for the season: Infiniment Espresso, Infiniment Gourmand and Infiniment Fruité.

Hermé often uses unconventional ingredients in his recipes, expanding culinary horizons. We in turn were inspired by his macarons to create the three special coffees: a single origin espresso from the Colombian department of Tolima – a region we don’t normally work in, but that is growing some outstanding coffees. A roasted hazelnut flavoured long cup in mug size which blends beautifully into milk beverages. And last, a raspberry flavoured espresso treat - not what you would expect to harmonise well with coffee but guess what? It did! Giving our in-house mixologist, Sacha Wittorski , the opportunity to create some outrageously decadent drinks endorsed by Hermé when he tasted them here in Switzerland.

Masters of harmony in their own right, our coffee experts revel in the opportunity to create new aromatic combinations and unique coffee flavours. With the world of coffee as our flavour palette, Nespresso loves to play with the unexpected. The holidays are when everyone wants to take a well-deserved break, indulge and treat oneself to little touches of luxury. This seasonal range was such a success that we were quite literally harassed by consumers for offering them as a limited edition only. To quote some of our customers:

“Can’t stop drinking the new flavours, hope they will be part of the permanent collection”.

And, a little less nice: “This is just rude. It’s sold out!”

So, as we combat the post-holiday blues, when the weather is glum and the festive days are behind us, we are relaunching these delicious three coffees in both our current systems, Original Line and Vertuo. I, for one, am going to warm up my return to the office by savouring all these rich and unexpected flavours. Transported to the sensory playgrounds of both Japan and Paris, my affinity for Pierre Hermé’s delicious, gorgeous creations continues with Nespresso’s equally gorgeous coffees.