Sainsburys Taste the Difference Sumatra Mandheling Fairtrade Coffee

Indonesia is the fourth largest producer of coffee in the world, with a reputation for low acidity and strong flavour which inclines them to blending or use in high roasts such as espresso where coffee character and individuality is not as important as strength. However, some parts of  Indonesia are known for producing beans of character, and Sumatra, particularly the north region where Mandheling branded coffees come from, produces beans which have both depth of flavour and enough acidity to produce character and intriguing lime notes. The  Mandheling name comes from the Mandailing people who live in the area and grow the coffee.

This Sainsburys Mandheling coffee is rich, smooth and easy drinking with just enough acidity to lift it above the ordinary and to justify its single origin unblended status. The aroma is inviting - gentle yet compelling, with notes of violets and fresh cut grass to balance the deep coffee tones. This is coffee which can be drunk at any time, and can be offered to anyone. It is not challenging, yet is very satisfying, creamy and flavoursome with no harshness or bitterness. It has enough of interest to intrigue those who enjoy good coffee and have the palate to detect it, while keeping everyone else happy with a decent and unobtrusive cup of coffee. It's not a profound coffee, and will not excite the senses nor provoke discussion, but is good enough in all departments.


Score: 8/10

Indonesian coffee

Sainsbury's own label
tea and coffee

Good African Rwenzori Mountain coffee

I like this. Full bodied and rich. Good flavour with a gentle and interesting flowery citric nip. This is a versatile everyday coffee with enough character to be enjoyable, but not so much as to be distracting. I prefer this to the company's Rukoki Gold.


Score: 6

Good Africa
Rukoki Gold

Morrisons Fennel & Nettle herbal infusion bags

The mild flavour of licorice from the fennel plays around with the earthy minty notes of the nettle producing an attractive, though not highly impressive, drink.

Date: Aug 2013   Score: 4

Fennel calms the digestive system, and aids in removing intestinal gas. 

 

Nettle has been used as a tea and a medication for many years. It has a number of soothing and healing properties. It makes a lovely drink by itself.

Update
I've returned to this, and have been enjoying it even more. Pleasant licorice flavour, underscored by the refreshing earthy tones of the nettle. Nice one.

Date: May 2014   Score:  5 


Update
With licorice and mint teas being popular at the moment, it's rather nice to return to this somewhat more subtle and earthy version of that flavour combination.

Date: July 2016   Score; 6

Mint tea

Lidl Knightsbridge / Lord Nelson Peppermint Tea Bags

A slightly earthy peppermint tea. It's OK, and there's some refreshing peppermint, though I'd like it a bit brighter and stronger.

Date: July 2019    Score: 4

 

Lord Nelson was Lidl's brand name for their range of green and herbal teas.  This is a gently flavoured mint tea. The peppermint is slightly sweet, and quite refreshing. There are no off-notes, and the overall result is soft, pleasant, and gently minty.

The Lord Nelson tea range was replaced in the UK by the Knightsbridge range in 2013. The brand name has changed, but the peppermint leaves are the same. Indeed, they are roughly the same as all other supermarket label peppermint teas I have tried, and pretty much the same as brand name pure peppermint teas I have tried. The main difference appears to be in the packaging. They all provide some form of peppermint flavour.


Date: Aug 2013   Score: 6

***

Mint tea

Peppermint tea taste test

Lidl Tea & Coffee

Good African Rukoki Gold

Available from Tesco at around £2.50, this is a light to medium bodied coffee with a playful citric acidity. There are fruity notes entwined with light, warm, damp, roasted coffee. There's a pleasant earthiness grounding the flavours, but mostly this is a coffee that reaches for the middle to higher notes in a subtle and not always successful manner. It's a drinkable coffee, and pleasingly light and interesting - perhaps something you'd have mid day rather than in the morning or after dinner, when you might want something a bit more obvious and heavy in the flavour department. It's not really my sort of coffee, though it does hold off on being objectionably acidic. It's a coffee I respect for being decent, and I love the story of the Good Africa Coffee company, but it's not one that I am likely to buy again. Indeed, when looking for information on the brand and the coffee region, I find there's little information beyond the company's "Trade not Aid" story, and how Ugandan entrepreneur Andrew Rugasira set the company up in 2003 to help his fellow Ugandans, and how the brand has become globally successful. I almost exclusively buy fair trade coffees, and there are plenty of them these days (fair trade coffee is more successful than fair trade bananas) so I am looking for a little more than a coffee being fair trade when I buy it. I want to support fair trade, but I also want a flavoursome coffee. The story with Good Africa Coffee appears to be more about the fair trade than the coffee flavour.

Over 80% of coffee grown in Uganda is Robusta, grown on the lowlands. Good tasting Arabica coffee can only be grown at high altitude in Uganda, such as Mount Elgon in the east and Mount Rwenzori and Mount Muhabura in the south west, and the harvests are vulnerable to climate change.  The coffee is grown in Rukoki in the Rwenzori Mountains of Uganda - a region that has been dependent on coffee growing for a long time. The mountains are also known informally as the Mountains of the Moon. Initial searches for coffee in the Rwenzori Mountains will return stories about the Good African Coffee company, but there are other coffee traders who buy and sell coffee grown on the Rwenzori Mountains, such as Taste of Africa,  Falcon, Green Mountain,

Score: 4

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http://www.goodafrican.com/index.php/our-story.html

"This medium dark roast coffee is exciting, strong, yet smooth with hints of fruity overtones.

Rukoki is a region high up on the slopes of the Rwenzori Mountains in Western Uganda where the moist, cool climate enables farmers to produce distinctive Arabica coffees."

"This coffee is well known to have rich heavy body, light acidity and well balanced dark chocolate flavors. It is a great ideal coffee for a hard day's work"

Amazon

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/08/magazine/can-coffee-kick-start-an-economy.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2013/feb/17/andrew-rugasira-interview-good-african-coffee?CMP=twt_gu
http://www.aviewfromthecave.com/2013/02/good-african-coffee-and-false-choice-of.html
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/19/business/good-african-coffee-andrew-rugasira

January 19, 2013 - Coffee entrepreneur Andrew Rugasira on empowering women farmers in Uganda

April 18, 2012 - Don't Help me, Trust me Your African Coffee Producer

April 6, 2012 - Can Coffee Kick-Start an Economy?

November 11, 2011 - Selling Ugandan coffee on US shelves: A story of persistence and constant lessons

November 9, 2011 - Selling Ugandan coffee on US shelves: A story of persistence and constant lessons

October 29, 2011 - Good African Coffee: From Kasese hills to American malls

October 29, 2011 - Andrew Rugasira Rebuilding Uganda One Farmer At A Time

October 22, 2011 - Andrew Rugasira:Rebuilding Uganda One Farmer At A Time

March 23, 2011 - Andrew Rugasira announcing the launch of the Good African Online Store.

December 13, 2010 - When it comes to dealing with austerity, Africa wrote the textbook