Casual but committed coffee drinkers, I have good news for you! Singaporean homegrown specialty coffee brand and company Jewel Coffee has just launched a Nespresso-compatible capsule GEMMA capsule machine subscription plan starting from just S$29.90 a month (S$0.72 per capsule) and if you prepay for the annual plans it can go as low as S$0.41 per capsule! A 41c cup of very decent "ang mo style" coffee at home compared to what you pay for outside that can be 15x as much. Best part is, the subscription plans come with a Gemma Capsule Coffee Machine for just S$1 (retails for S$168). That's an insane deal! Of course you're wondering what's the catch so I'll just put it up front - if you're on the monthly plan you need to stick to it for 12 months or there's a termination fee (for the machine cost, I'm guessing). BUT if you are on the annual prepaid, there's no catch - the machine (with 1 year warranty) is yours to own forever. Anyway, read on to get my code to enjoy 8% storewide discount on jewelcoffee.com !
I was sent the bulky but surprisingly light box set which includes a GEMMA Capsule Coffee Machine, and 30 boxes of bio-degradable capsules in all 8 types of their beans, which works out to be 300 of 'em. That means it'll take me just 10 months to finish if I do 1 capsule a day, but you know what? There's more than one coffee drinker in my house so actually I foresee it going much, much faster. I also got 2 each of Otis Oat Milk in Barista, Everyday and their new Chocolate flavour which I will review in a separate post.
Here's the price plans comparison for various subscriptions if you're thinking of doing some budgeting (and saving money from drinking coffee outside!). I think mine will be similar to a 3-month subscription of the Platinum plan with 10 boxes a month. On the monthly subscription the delivery will also be monthly, while it will be every quarter for the annual plan (as with the invoice processing). As you can see the annual fee has a 20% savings since they don't have to deliver every month. The only downside of the Gold and Platinum plans is that you don't get to mix and match the type of beans. Btw a single box retails for S$7.90. Actually I think the annual plans are also a great gift for someone (birthday, Valentine's, anniversaries, Father/Mother's Day) because it includes the machine for an additional dollar, so the recipient can just plug and play and enjoy 12 months worth of coffee!
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| Source: Jewel Coffee. Price per capsule excludes $1 machine cost included in every plan |
P.S.: For the super non-committal, they also introduced a Starter Prepaid Annual Subscription plan with 2 boxes a month delivered every 12 months at S$250.80 that also comes with the machine, but I think 20 caps a month is barely enough to just cover week days and the diff. btw that and the 4 boxes a month is only $30, which isn't worth it.
Here's the Gemma machine in action. I must say the set up was incredibly easy and the configuration and countertop footprint is almost exactly the same as my Nespresso Essenza Mini, which is slim and sleek. The only idiotic part was I did not push down on the water tank hard enough the first time so I was a bit panicky when I pressed the button and nothing came up except a louder coffee making noise (it got much quieter once I figured out the water tank, in fact, maybe even quieter than the Nespresso!)
I wanted to compare the GEMMA capsule coffee machine with the good ol' Nespresso machine, which I had been using for about 1 year +. I got Nespresso capsules at about S$0.65 each on Carousell, which is already a cheaper price than retail but the Jewel ones are hard to beat at every price except the monthly Silver plan's.
Now that we get the incredibly affordable prices out of the way, I wanted to talk about a taste test I did! I made espressos with the Brazil Jewel Coffee capsules on the Gemma coffee machine and the L'or Forza Espresso capsules on the Nespresso machine. I thought it was a fair comparison since both were rated 9 in terms of intensity. Conclusion? While they both taste incredibly similar, the single-origin Brazil was more full-bodied and nuttier compared to the L'Or which is a blend of different origin beans and on the thinner but more fragrant side. Both are fine but I definitely preferred the slightly more characteristic Brazilian version.
By the way I'm still slowly going through each brew to find out which is my preferred, which I think is a challenge unless I do a 8-shot tasting in one sitting. So far I think Lightning Bolt (a blend of beans from the South of Minas Gerais, Brazil, and beans from the Chanchamayo Valley, Peru) has my vote for being more intense than just the Brazil but equally full-bodied yet not acidic and not too sweet. Fun fact, the beans are globally sourced but they are locally roasted and made here in sunny Singapore! I also enjoy trying to taste the flavours listed on the box though if I'm very honest, it's at best hinted at with my not-so-sensitive taste buds.
So the next best thing I can do to help you out is share what Jewel Coffee shared with me in terms of flavour notes and origin story here! This should be good enough to make a choice for the 7s or 10s that you might like (and you can change beans every 3 months on the annual or monthly)
Anyway I really did enjoy tasting all of them and thank you Jewel Coffee for sending this and creating the subscription plan for Singaporeans to finally enjoy good quality coffee without breaking the bank!
As bonus you can use my code ALEXIS8 to enjoy a single-use per customer 8% discount storewide online at www.jewelcoffee.com, excluding promotional items, subscriptions, and gift vouchers until 30 September 2022. Of course though the incredible GEMMA Capsule Machine Subscription Plan isn't included but it really is one of the most awesome ways to get (or gift!) coffee in 2022 in Singapore so check it out now!
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