What are Lavazza Tablì Espresso Tabs?
A single espresso shot of pressed coffee, with nothing wrapped around it.
The tab is the format's whole argument. There is no aluminium capsule, no plastic cup and no foil lid: the coffee is compressed into a disc that goes into the machine bare. Lavazza rates this blend at intensity 8 on its own 13-point scale, calls it 100% Arabica, and describes a bright floral aroma with a subtle fruity finish. A box holds 48 and costs $48.00.
This review covers what Lavazza publishes about the blend and what the numbers say next to the rest of the catalogue. The flavour description is Lavazza's own, not ours.
What is in the tab
Less is published here than for a bag of beans, which is normal for single-serve coffee and worth knowing before you buy. Lavazza states the species, 100% Arabica, and the intensity, 8 of 13. It does not publish the origin, the roast level or the weight of coffee in a tab, so there is no way to compare the dose with a Nespresso capsule's 5 to 6 grams or a K-Cup's larger charge.
Intensity is a house scale, not a measurement, and it means what Lavazza wants it to mean: 8 sits above the Tablì Decaf tab at 7 and below the Tablì Super Crema tab at 10. It is useful for choosing between Tablì blends and useless for comparing across brands.
What it makes
One shot. Lavazza sells this tab as a single espresso, where the Lungo tab is built for the machine's long button and the Double brews two shots from one tab. That matters when you are stocking a cupboard: a household that drinks doubles gets 48 drinks from a Double box and 24 from this one, which changes the real cost per drink even though both are sold by the tab.
The shot itself is what the machine decides. There is no dose to weigh, no grind to set and no tamp, which is the bargain every single-serve system offers, and it is why the tab's own strength rating is the only lever you have. What a shot of espresso actually is, and why its size is not a matter of taste, 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 buying into this blend is buying into that machine for as long as you own it. The system as a whole, machines and tabs together, is on the Lavazza Tablì page.
A dollar a shot, and what that buys elsewhere
At $48.00 for 48, this is a dollar a cup. On this site that is the top of the Nespresso Original range, which runs 90 cents to a dollar, and well above the cheapest K-Cup pods at 64 cents. It is below Vertuo, which reaches $1.62.
So the tab is priced like a mainstream capsule rather than at a premium, which is the reasonable place for it to sit. What differs is the box size: 48 at a time, $48.00 up front, against a Nespresso sleeve of ten for about a tenth of that. If you are unsure, the Variety Collection is the smaller way in, at 12 of each blend.
The question nobody has answered yet: freshness
A capsule is a sealed container. Nespresso's aluminium and a K-Cup's foil lid are doing a second job besides holding grounds: they keep air away from the coffee until the moment it is pierced, which is why a capsule bought today tastes much the same months later.
A tab has no wrapper. Lavazza states the coffee is brewed without individual packaging, so whatever protects it has to be the box the 48 arrive in, and Lavazza publishes nothing about how long a tab keeps once that box is opened or how it should be stored. For a household drinking one a day, a box is about six weeks, and the last tab will have spent those six weeks in whatever the box does or does not do.
That is not a fault, it is an unknown, and it is the one most worth asking a retailer about before committing to a box. What air, light and heat do to ground coffee in the meantime is covered in how to store coffee.
Tablì Espresso against a capsule at the same price
At a dollar, this tab is priced against the dearer end of Nespresso Original, where the same money buys a capsule from any of several roasters, in sleeves of ten, from a system with third-party competition and a mail-back recycling scheme that has run for years.
What the tab offers instead is the absence of the capsule: no aluminium, no scheme to join, no bag to fill and post, no lid to peel. Which of those matters more is a preference rather than a specification, and it is the whole decision in this category.
Is it worth it?
As coffee, it is priced where the mainstream capsules are and described the way most house blends are described. As a purchase, it is worth it if the format appeals: a dollar a shot with no capsule to deal with afterwards, which nothing else on this site offers.
It is not worth it as a way to explore coffee. Forty-eight shots of one blend from one company, with no origin or roast published, is the opposite of that, and a bag of beans and a grinder would tell you far more for the money.
Who should buy it (and who should not)
Buy it if
- You own a Tablì machine and want its middle-strength everyday blend.
- You want a capsule-free single serve at capsule prices.
- You drink espresso straight and want something floral rather than roasty.
Skip it if
- You do not own the machine; nothing else brews a tab.
- You want to know the origin, the roast and the dose before you buy.
- You would rather buy ten capsules than 48.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much coffee is in a Tablì tab?
Lavazza does not publish a dose weight for these tabs.
Are Lavazza Tablì Espresso Tabs 100% Arabica?
Yes. Lavazza describes the blend as a delicate 100% Arabica espresso.
What does a Tablì Espresso tab cost per cup?
$1.00. A box of 48 is $48.00.
Do Tablì tabs need recycling?
There is nothing to recycle. The tab is pressed coffee with no packaging, so the spent tab is wet grounds.
Can I use Tablì tabs in a Nespresso machine?
No. Lavazza states the tabs work exclusively with Tablì machines.
