What are Lavazza Tablì Espresso Lungo Tabs?
The mildest coffee in the Tablì range, pressed into a disc with nothing wrapped around it.
A lungo is a long espresso: the same coffee with more water pushed through it, which makes a bigger, gentler cup than a short shot. Lavazza sells this tab for exactly that button on the machine, rates it at intensity 6 on its own 13-point scale, and describes it as smooth and delicate with floral aromatic notes. A box holds 48 and costs $52.80.
This review covers what Lavazza publishes and what the numbers say next to the rest of the range. The flavour description is Lavazza's own, not ours.
Where it sits in the range
Intensity on a pod box is a house scale rather than a measurement, so it is worth reading only against the same company's other coffees. On Lavazza's 13-point scale this tab is the bottom of the Tablì range: 6, against 7 for the Tablì Decaf tab, 8 for the Tablì Espresso tab, 10 for the Super Crema tab and 11 for the Double tab.
That ordering is the useful part. If the Espresso tab tastes too strong or too bitter to you, this is the one to move to, and it is the only tab in the range below it apart from the decaf. If you drink your coffee strong, it is the wrong end of the scale to start at.
What it makes
A lungo, from the machine's long button. That is more water through the same amount of coffee, so the cup is larger and lighter than an espresso and it is a different drink from a coffee that has simply had hot water added to it afterwards, which is an americano.
The machine decides the rest. There is nothing to grind, dose or tamp, so the tab's own strength rating is the only lever you have over the cup. How the long shot differs from the short one, and why the extra water changes more than the volume, is in what espresso is.
Which machine it fits
One. The Lavazza Tablì Espresso Machine takes tabs, and tabs fit nothing else. No third party makes a compatible tab and no reusable tab exists, so a box of these is only worth buying if that machine is already on the counter or about to be. The system as a whole is on the Lavazza Tablì page.
Ten cents more than the Espresso tab
This is the part of the range that takes some explaining. The Lungo and the Double are both $52.80 for 48, or $1.10 a tab, where the Espresso, Super Crema and Decaf tabs are $48.00 for 48, or $1.00. So the mildest coffee in the range is also among the dearest per cup.
For the Double that premium buys two shots from one tab. For the Lungo it buys a longer, weaker drink from one tab, and Lavazza does not publish a dose weight for either, so there is no way to tell from the published facts whether a Lungo tab holds more coffee than an Espresso tab or simply meets more water. Ten cents a cup is $4.80 across a box, which is small in absolute terms and awkward to justify on paper.
What it costs against the capsules it competes with
At $1.10 this sits at the top of the Nespresso Original range, which runs 90 cents to a dollar on this site, and well above K-Cup pods. Nespresso sells lungo capsules of its own, in sleeves of ten, from several roasters, with a mail-back recycling scheme that has run for years.
What the tab offers instead is the absence of the capsule. The coffee arrives as pressed coffee, so there is no aluminium to post back, no plastic cup to peel and nothing to separate before the bin. Whether that is worth ten to twenty cents a cup is a preference, and it is the whole decision in this category.
What Lavazza does not publish
Less is published about a tab than about a bag of beans, which is normal for single-serve coffee and worth knowing before a 48-count box. For this blend Lavazza gives the intensity and the tasting note and stops. There is no origin, no roast level, no species and no dose weight, so the coffee cannot be compared with a Nespresso capsule's 5 to 6 grams or judged the way a bag with a roast date can be.
The freshness question that hangs over the whole format applies here too: a tab has no sealed wrapper of its own, and what protects it is the paper tray sealed with plastic film that the tabs come in. Lavazza does not publish how long a tab keeps once that tray is opened. A box is six or seven weeks for a household drinking one a day, and the last tab will have spent those weeks in whatever the box does or does not do.
Is it worth it?
It is worth it if mild is what you want. This is the gentlest coffee Lavazza makes for the machine, and a milder blend is the one thing you cannot produce by pressing a different button, because the tab is the only variable you control.
It is not worth it as your only box. At $1.10 for the range's lightest cup it is the most expensive way to drink Tablì per gram of coffee you can account for, and a household that drinks doubles or strong espresso will finish the box out of duty rather than pleasure.
Who should buy it (and who should not)
Buy it if
- You own a Tablì machine and find the Espresso tab too strong.
- You drink long black coffee rather than short shots.
- You want a capsule-free single serve and will pay a little over capsule prices for it.
Skip it if
- You do not own the machine; nothing else brews a tab.
- You drink your coffee strong, or take it with milk that needs standing up to.
- You want the cheapest cup in the range, which this is not.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between the Tablì Lungo and Espresso tabs?
The Lungo is milder, at intensity 6 of 13 against the Espresso tab's 8, and it is made for the machine's long button rather than a short shot. It also costs $1.10 a tab against $1.00.
How much does a Tablì Lungo tab cost per cup?
$1.10. A box of 48 is $52.80.
How strong is the Tablì Espresso Lungo?
Lavazza rates it 6 on its own 13-point scale, the mildest tab in the Tablì range.
Do Tablì Lungo tabs need recycling?
Not the tab itself: it is pressed coffee, so a spent tab is wet grounds, which Lavazza says can be thrown away or composted. The packaging does. The paper trays and box go out under your local recycling rules, and each tray is sealed with plastic film.
Can I use Tablì Lungo tabs in a Nespresso machine?
No. Lavazza states the tabs work exclusively with Tablì machines.
