Coffee pods · 4 min readL'OR Espresso Lungo Profondo review
A lungo capsule for the longer button, in recyclable aluminium, at 25p a cup. L'OR state the compatibility themselves, which is rarer than it should be.
The reason to pick this over a cheaper compatible capsule is that it is built for a longer cup. Most third-party capsules are espresso capsules, and pulling one long gives you a weak espresso rather than a lungo. L'OR dose and roast Lungo Profondo for the bigger button, rate it 8 on their own 13-point scale, and pack it in aluminium. They also say plainly which machines it fits, which several of its competitors do not. At 25p a cup it is 5p under the pod median and 6p over the cheapest capsule that fits the same machine.
A lungo capsule built for the long button rather than an espresso stretched thin, in recyclable aluminium at 25p a cup.
- Tastes
- Medium-dark, spiced, roasted almond and cocoa
- Strength
- Medium
- Best for
- Longer black coffee
- Valuecup price vs the format median
- 4/5
- Easy to likefrom the roast profile
- 4/5
- Good for beginnersblend, roast and pack size
- 4/5
Buy it ifYou press the lungo button and want a capsule actually designed for it.
Skip it ifYou own a Vertuo. L'OR name Nespresso Original and L'OR Barista, and Vertuo is neither.
Live prices, sizes and retailers for this coffee sit on its product page. This review is the analysis alongside it. See prices →
L'OR say Nespresso Original and L'OR Barista
That is the brand's own wording on their UK product page, and it is worth quoting because most compatible capsules leave the compatibility claim to whoever is selling them. L'OR Barista is L'OR's own machine, which takes both single and double capsules; the Nespresso half of the claim covers Original machines only.
It does not fit a Nespresso Vertuo. Vertuo capsules are a different size and carry a barcode the machine reads to set the brew, and no Original-shaped capsule will work in one. It does not fit a Dolce Gusto or a Tassimo either. If your machine is not an Original or an L'OR Barista, this is not your capsule.
| Detail | What L'OR state |
|---|---|
| System | Nespresso Original and L'OR Barista |
| Made by Nespresso? | No; L'OR are a third party |
| Capsule | Recyclable aluminium |
| Intensity | 8 of 13, on L'OR's own scale |
| Roast | Medium (3 of 5), taken to the edge of dark |
| Sourcing | 100% Common Grounds certified coffee |
| Pack | 40 capsules |
| Cost | £0.25 per cup |
Lungo is a different capsule, not a longer press
This is the part people get wrong, and it is the reason to buy this rather than something cheaper. An espresso capsule holds a dose sized for roughly 40ml of water. Push 110ml through it and the extraction runs past the point where anything good is left, so you get a thin, papery cup that tastes over-brewed and under-strength at the same time. A lungo capsule is dosed and ground for the larger volume.
L'OR do not publish a millilitre figure for Lungo Profondo on their UK page, so we are not going to invent one. What they do publish is the intent: this is the lungo capsule in the range, and it is the one to use on the long button.
- Espresso capsule, espresso button: about 40ml, and the dose is built for it.
- Lungo capsule, lungo button: about 110ml, with more coffee ground coarser to survive the volume.
- Espresso capsule, lungo button: over-extracted and thin, which is the mistake this product exists to fix.
- Lungo capsule, espresso button: under-extracted and sour, and a waste of a more expensive capsule.
If you only ever press the espresso button, buy an espresso capsule. A lungo capsule pulled short is under-extracted in the other direction, and it will read as sour and thin rather than strong.
Intensity 8 of 13, and what the coffee is like
L'OR describe Lungo Profondo as bold enough to wake you up and balanced enough for daily drinking, with a spicy aroma and notes of roasted almond and dark chocolate over a bronze crema. Our own catalogue records the roast as medium, which fits a coffee taken toward dark rather than all the way there.
The 8 is out of 13 on L'OR's scale, which puts it in the upper middle of their own range. It does not translate to Lavazza's 12 of 13 or to Dolce Gusto's 11-point numbers, and nobody should try. The comparable fact is the roast, and on roast this is the mildest of the dark-leaning capsules on this page.
Aluminium, and a recycling route that exists
L'OR pack these in aluminium, which is the better oxygen barrier and the better material for keeping a capsule tasting the way it was packed. Aluminium is also the material Podback was built to take: the UK pod recycling scheme founded by Nespresso, NESCAFE Dolce Gusto and Tassimo, which L'OR also participate in.
That matters more than it sounds. Most of the aluminium capsules on this page are recyclable in principle and orphaned in practice, because they belong to brands outside the scheme. A capsule with an actual collection route behind it is doing something the cheaper ones are not.
The price, in real money
At 25p a cup this sits 5p under the pod median of about 30p a cup. Two cups a day is about £182 a year, against £139 for the cheapest capsule that fits the same machine. So the gap you are choosing to pay is roughly £44 a year, and what it buys is a capsule dosed for the cup you actually drink plus a recycling scheme.
| Capsule | Per cup | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| by Amazon Colombian | £0.19 | £139 |
| Carte Noire Espresso Intense | £0.24 | £175 |
| L'OR Espresso Lungo Profondo | £0.25 | £182 |
| Pod median | £0.30 | £219 |
Who should skip it
Short espresso drinkers, on dosing rather than on quality. Vertuo owners, on compatibility. And anyone buying strictly on price, because 6p a cup is £44 a year and the cheaper capsule on this page is a perfectly reasonable coffee.
Buyer reporting on this specific capsule is thinner than for the supermarket names, so there is no strong consensus to hand you beyond the obvious: people who wanted a lungo and bought a lungo tend to be satisfied, and the complaints that do appear are about price rather than about the coffee. Judge it against other capsules that fit your machine, which is the only comparison that means anything in this format.
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