Tesco Finest Australian Skybury

This is a rare coffee as only 2,500 sacks are made each year. But rare doesn't equal good tasting or interesting. Australia is not a country suited to coffee growing - it doesn't have the high altitude or the rainfall that the best coffee enjoys. Great coffee tends to grow in hot, shady rainforests at heights above 2,000 feet. As Australia is not a good coffee growing region, it doesn't produce good coffee - the Skybury farm in Far North Queensland produces Australia's best, which - along with its rarity - gives it something of a reputation.

As this is an expensive coffee I followed the instructions on the packet. Unfortunately this made a coffee not just weaker than to my taste, but very watery - I doubt anyone would have appreciated it. Oddly, while the instructions are precise on how much coffee to add (one rounded desert spoon per person) it was less clear on how much water to add (no information at all). Does this one person drink a cup or a mug? Big mug or small mug? I assumed a small mug, and that was clearly wrong. That was a waste of coffee as it wasn't enjoyable - watery and powdery. I used my normal measurements this morning and made a good strong cup. This is an average quality coffee. It has mild chocolate, some lime and violets, caramel, and a powdery instant coffee bitterness in the finish. There's roast notes at the base, and some flowery vanilla and clove at the top. Work hard at the flavours and they'll come - but the main impression is of a standard coffee with a little too much powdery bitterness. There's nothing of interest here, and certainly nothing to justify the expense. It's drinkable, but then so are many other coffees at a fraction of the cost.

Tesco tea and coffee

Tesco Finest Honduras Coffee

Lovely! This is a smooth and deep coffee. Flavours are roasted almonds and chocolate - very deep and lazy. This isn't a grab you round the throat flavour hit, it's a fall into a pile of feather duvets flavour experience. Full bodied and well balanced, though with a little bit of powdery bitterness in the finish.  A satisfying and pleasing coffee, though lacking intriguing or unusual flavours, and perhaps a bit too soft on the acidity (though I prefer that than being too hard). Initially nutty, then jammy fruit with a slight acidity, before moving to the mildly bitter finish. Chocolate notes throughout.

The coffee comes from the Capucas cooperative in Honduras. The cooperative is largely composed of farmers from the same family and traces its roots to 1885 when Atanacio Rodolfo Romero, great grandfather of the Rodriguez-Romero family, bought land in Capucas. Initially growing tobacco, the family changed to coffee in 1960. The cooperative, Cooperativa Cafetalera Capucas Limitada (COCAFCAL), was founded in 1999.

Honduras coffee has improved in quality and reputation in recent years, and is now regarded as among the world's best. The country uses Bourbon, Catuari, Caturra, Typica and Pacas varieties of Arabica.

Score: 7

Tesco tea and coffee

Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Colombian Quinchia Community Fairtrade Ground Coffee

Chocolate and deep red berries dominate the flavour in this smooth and pleasant coffee. It finishes with a twist from a lime acidity to a roasty bitterness than stops just short of powdery and harsh. It's an acceptable coffee that doesn't display its character dramatically, so can serve as an easy everyday coffee for most drinkers. That finish, though, has the potential to put some people off.

Colombian coffee is regarded by many as among the best, if not the best, in the world. Since 2011 the coffee growing area has been a World Heritage Site.  Quinchia is a town in the Risaralda area, which is part of the main coffee growing area. The coffee is grown, harvested and sun dried on a small scale using methods used for over 100 years.  Sainsbury's say the coffee has treacle toffee and toasted almond flavours.

Provided for Sainsbury's by Finlays, the UK's largest coffee roasting company. 


Score: 7/10

Other reviews
* The Guardian 4/10

Sainsbury's own label tea and coffee

Colombian coffee

Taylors Lazy Sunday

Made with beans from Central America and Africa - a source description as vague as the coffee itself. Blends tend to lack character; most blends I've encountered are not going for character, they are simply going for strength. Aim for a certain strength with some sort of coffee flavour, and the customers are happy .I believe most customers are not looking for interesting contrasts and unique flavours in their coffee - they just want something that tastes like coffee (the coffee flavour you get in a coffee cream) and has the strength that they enjoy. This one is for those who like a mild flavoured coffee - no peaks, no toughs, little beyond the mid range coffee flavour. As such it works. but it's not a coffee that's going to attract those who like single estate coffees.

Simply bland, and while better all round than a basic economy blend, it's not by much.
Date: Nov 2013   Rating: 4

I picked this up on special offer at my local Co-op. It's a mild, modest coffee, but it's  not without some flavour. This is not an assertive coffee - it doesn't c all attention to itself, and it would be easy to drink it and not notice the flavours, but if you do pay attention, you'll note pleasant creamy chocolate edged with a tang of lemon to give it some balance and interest.This is not an outstanding coffee - it's main feature is it's lack of character and impact; but it is drinkable, and it is softly pleasant.
Date: August 2015   Rating: 5

Taylors of Harrogate

Twinings Fresh & Fruity Cranberry, Raspberry & Elderflower

Light and delicately flavoured with red fruits. A pleasing sharp note lifts the taste. Has a wonderful aroma. Warm and fresh and beautiful sweet and fruity.

A very decent fruit tea.

Score: 7

***

Fresh & Fruity
Cranberry, Raspberry, & Elderflower
Friday, 20 September 2013

Twinings

Twinings Revive & Revitalise Lemon & Ginger

Delicately flavoured with a pleasant fresh taste warmed by the gentle heat of the ginger. This is a pleasant drink. There are an interesting range of ingredients: ginger root, lemongrass, blackberry leaves, lemon peel, sweet fennel, as well as natural flavourings. Nice.

Score: 5

***

Twinings

Tesco Everyday Value Roast & Ground Coffee

I like to keep a pack of coffee to fall back on for when I accidentally run out of coffee. These will tend to be cheap coffees that I am not tempted to drink except in the dire emergency of running out of decent coffee. Also, if I don't run out of coffee and the stand by coffee gets old, I can throw it away with no qualms, and replace it with a fresher cheap coffee. As my current standby is reaching the best before date, it's time to throw it away - but before I do, I thought I'd have a drink to see what it is like. After all, there is the possibility it might be a pleasant and drinkable coffee.

There is a Rainforest Alliance Certified stamp on the coffee. But at the same time there is a small statement that up to 70% of the coffee may come from exploited coffee farms. Hmmmm. Somewhat misleading that. I would prefer that all the coffee in a certified packet came from sources where the people are not exploited, and are paid fairly for their work. I don't find it necessary to make poor people suffer needlessly in order for me to have a cup of coffee.

The pack names Tesco's coffee consultant, Fred Verboom. I like that. It's not a measure of quality; however, it is a measure of openness. I like it when a shop or supplier tells me where a product has come from, and who is responsible for it. However, while it tells me that Verboom was consulted about the coffee, it doesn't tell me where the coffee is from, other than "more than one country". I'm not even sure it is all arabica beans.

Anyway. The quality of this coffee is very poor. It has little in the way of attractive flavours, let alone distinct and interesting character. It tastes stale and bitter with a burnt toffee note. Even though it boasts: "Improved blend", it is not a coffee you really want to drink twice. Yes, it will do in an emergency when you have no other coffee available, but it's not something you will want to reach for if you have a choice.

Score: 2

Tesco tea and coffee

Twinings Ceylon

Twinings Ceylon tea

Twinings

Twinings were formed as a tea merchants in 1706 in the same shop in the Strand, Britain's first tea room, that they still own today. They are believed to be London's longest-standing rate-payer and holders of the world's oldest continually-used company logo. Until 2005 they only sold specialty tea, but after that date they introduced an "Everyday Tea" range.

The Twinings Strand Heritage Shop at 216 Strand, London WC2R 1AP, was purchased by Thomas Twining in 1706. It was then known as Tom's Coffee House. It now houses a shop selling Twinings tea and a heritage museum.

***********

Classic teas

Ceylon
Score: 4

The Everyday Tea
Score: 4

Assam tea
Score: 3

******

Flavoured teas

Lapsang Souchong
Score: 8

Chai tea
Score: 5

Lavender Earl Grey
Score: 5

Twinings Liquorice Allsorts Earl Grey
Score: 3

Rose Garden
Score: 2

**********

Green and herb teas

Buttermint
Score: 7

Jasmine Green Tea
Score: 5

Calming Camomile
Score:  3

Salted Caramel Green Tea
Score: 2

Pure Peppermint
Score: 2

**********

Fruit teas

Fresh & Fruity 
Cranberry, Raspberry, & Elderflower
Score: 7

Fresh & Fruity
Echinacea & Raspberry
Score: 6

Revive & Revitalise 
Lemon & Ginger
Score: 5

Fresh & Fruity
Blackcurrant, Ginseng & Vanilla
Score: 4

Apple Crunch

Score: 4

Twinings Chai tea

A few years ago we had a long weekend in the New Forest, and on the Sunday night went out to an Indian restaurant. Neither of us fancied alcohol, so we asked for a tea. There wasn't tea on the menu, but the waiter obliged by making us a black tea with cinnamon sticks and some other spices. We loved it, and asked for the recipe. We bought some cinnamon sticks, and made it ourselves a couple of times when we got home, but then stopped doing it - as you do. So we were well pleased when Twinings brought out Chai. OK, it's not as good as making it fresh, but it's a handy substitute, and it does have a pleasant cinnamon flavour.

The name "Chai" simply means tea. This is not just tea, it's a spiced tea - one name for that is masala chai: masala meaning blended spices. 

Score: 5

***

Twinings

Asda Extra Special Indian Elephant Farm

Interesting and attractive name, which the coffee doesn't live up to. Roasted slightly dark in order to attain some flavour out of it. This doesn't taste "Extra Special", it tastes ordinary. That doesn't mean it tastes bad, but I wonder why Asda selected this for their Extra Special range.

While it is a darker roast than I usually like, so the flavour is largely derived from the roasting rather than the character of the bean, it still does have enough acidity to cut through and balance the darker, deeper notes. It’s clearly not a classic coffee, but it’s decent enough. There’s milky chocolate, crushed walnuts, and a hint of blackcurrant and date. A reasonable coffee with pleasant lingering notes. It makes a decent if unexciting brew.

Not special, but quite drinkable.

The coffee is from Karnataka in India. On the whole coffee from India does not have a big reputation. It is low in acidity and character. The best coffee beans come from Karnataka, and at their best can rival beans from around the Pacific rim, but are mostly simply regarded as pleasant everyday coffees - which is what this is.


Score: 4

Asda tea and coffee

Asda Extra Special Organic Nicaraguan Coffee

Nicaraguan coffee was once seen as among the best in the world, but after internal and external problems in the 1980s, coffee production and quality suffered. There was too much use of pesticide, and the soil suffered. But the country's farmers have pulled themselves together, and have been creating organic coffee farms high in the cloud forests of the north, where conditions are best for growing quality arabica. Today Nicaraguan coffee is re-establishing its reputation, and often features in the top three in the world during international tastings. While there is no defined Nicaraguan coffee style, the flavours varying somewhat depending on the region, there is a tendency for mild, balanced coffees, rather than highly acidic ones. This suits me - for I do like a balanced, drinkable coffee, and I'm personally not in favour of highly acidic coffees - same as I'm not in favour of highly roasted coffees. Always give me balance.

This is a highly drinkable and relaxing coffee. Chocolate and hazelnut flavours blend to create a very pleasant everyday coffee. There is little here that stands out, and there is a lack of character, so this is not a coffee to drink and consider, but it's a damn good drink.

Score: 6


See:   Percol Nicaragua coffee

Asda tea and coffee

Asda Extra Special Ethiopian Mocha Limu

I like a smooth, pleasant mouthful of flavoursome coffee which also has subtle notes for me to pick up as I drink. This has that. Great drinkability - it hits the mouth straight away with melting chocolate, with enough roast notes to balance the smooth sweetness. And then the notes of honey, almonds, rose-hips, violets, lemon cupcakes, come through. Each sip providing new notes to explore. Wonderful!

Tasting notes
* A little watery though with pleasant buttery notes, gentle, lingering and developing coffee flavours. Quite subtle and attractive. An easy drinkable and pleasant coffee. Not assertive, not over-balanced, just pleasant and gently flavoursome
* Initially weak, watery, and fruity, with a mildly acidic character, this gradually emerged as a buttery and reasonably pleasant drink. Lacked character, but was inoffensive and pleasantly drinkable. Became a contender as the butter notes emerged.
*Rounded and smooth with gentle chocolate notes and a creamy mouthfeel. very pleasant.
*Some soft apricot fruit balanced with dots of milk chocolate.

The coffee beans come from the Limu region of Ethiopia, one of the areas identified as producing beans of quality. The Mocha name was originally applied to beans shipped through the Yemen port of Mocha, which often included beans from Ethiopia; it can now also apply to certain beans. The coffee costs £2.50 for 227g (£1.10 per 100g).

This is currently my favourite Ethiopian coffee.

Score: 8/10

Other reviews
*The Guardian  (7/10)

Asda tea and coffee

Ethiopian coffee

Twinings Fresh & Fruity Cranberry, Raspberry, & Elderflower

Delicate and refreshing fruit tea by Twinings. The flavours meld together delightfully, and the colour is a sparkling cranberry red. The elderflower makes itself noticed in the aroma. On drinking there is a pleasant sweetness, informed by fruit flavours and a light acidity. This is a very fine blend of ingredients, which curiously doesn't involve cranberries. The main ingredient is hibiscus, which makes a popular herbal tea in the Middle East and West Indies - that would provide both the colour and the tartness and cranberry flavour; the next ingredient is dried apple, which would provide the balancing sweetness; then rose hips, which also make a pleasant tea by themselves. There is a pleasant base note of licorice, which lingers after the higher fruit notes have evaporated, and this is provided by a small amount of licorice root.

Twinings Fresh & Fruity
Cranberry, Raspberry & Elderflower
Friday, 15 November 2013

Twinings