Tesco Finest Galapagos Islands coffee

Robustly flavoured, but mild tasting, with gentle acidity and moderate bitterness. Good body and pleasant roast flavours.This is a very attractive and drinkable coffee.

Grown on San Cristobal island one of the largest of the 87 islands in the Galapagos archipelago off the coast of Ecuador at an altitude of 400 to 900 feet (equivalent to 1350-2700 feet on the mainland due to the micro climate). The Bourbon variety beans were planted in 1875 by Don Manuel J Cobos. In 1904 the workers revolted against Cobos and killed him. The plantation was abandoned for over 120 years until the plantation was re-established in 1990. The micro-climate is so perfect that they continued their slow growth when the plantation was discovered

San Cristobal is in the archipelago and is the only location which benefits from abundant fresh spring water. Small rivers are fed by the El Junco volcanic crater lake down the rocky slopes on the southern side of the island. For centuries the islands were the refuge of pirates until the Ecuadorian Government took possession in 1832. Don Manuel Cobos imported the coffee seeds from Ethiopia with which he intended to supply to France. He planted 100 hectares on the Hacienda El Cafetal, the volcanic soil and atmospheric conditions contributing to the high quality of coffee produced.

Only 2000 to 3000 100lb (45kg) bags are produced each year, the main crop being September to December with a mid crop between late May and early July.

* Galapagos-islands-tourguide.com
* Galapagoscoffee.com
* Seaislandcoffee.com
* Treefrogcoffees.com


5/10

Tesco tea and coffee

Tesco tea and coffee

Tesco is the major British supermarket chain. It is now multinational, and is the second or third or fourth largest retailer in the world, depending on who is counting. It was founded as an unnamed market stall in Hackney in 1919 by Jack Cohen - the Tesco name came in 1924, when Cohen sold teas from a supplier with the initials TES, and he added the Co from his own name. The first Tesco store was opened in 1929 in Edgware.

Coffee

Tesco Finest Sumatra Mandheling Coffee Beans

Score: 8

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. Score: 7

Tesco Finest Guatemalan coffee

This is a rich, meaty coffee, with good roast notes combined with balancing acidity. It makes a decent cup of coffee, quite robust. Perhaps lacking in character and subtlety for me. It's not doing much, other than producing fairly strong coffee flavours. There's nothing extra going on. This is a solid everyday cup, but nothing special. I'd be quite happy to buy this again, and it's my favourite of the three Guatemalan coffees I have tried, but it's not one for when you want something different, or something interesting. Score: 6

Tesco Finest Costa Rican Coffee

Costa Rican coffee has a good reputation for solid tasty coffee beans - though is not too distinct from Colombian or better grades of Brazilian. It has a a creamy mouthfeel, lively but soft acidity, and good chocolate notes, quite smooth and milky. It is a pleasant coffee rather than an exciting one.

Score: 6

Tesco Finest Australian Skybury

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 Finest Galapagos Islands coffee

Score: 5

Tesco Finest Colombian Supremo coffee beans

Soft, mild, pleasant. Bland and lacking in character. Score: 5

Tesco Original Fresh Coffee Beans 3

Score: 5

Tesco Colombian Coffee

A little crude, but roasty, and with some character. Score: 5

Everyday Value Roast & Ground Coffee

Score: 2

Creamy instant coffee

Tesco Cafe Style Mocha

Score: 4

Green or herb tea

Tesco Peppermint Infusion

These are a good everyday peppermint tea - the flavour is strong and bright with an assertive peppermint when fresh, though can become a little cardboardy and/or less well defined after the foil has been broken - so best used as soon as possible, and wrap them up well. Excellent value and a good choice for those who like to drink peppermint tea often.

Tesco Finest Peppermint and Liquorice

 Score: 8

Tesco Camomile 

Score:  7

Flavoured tea

Tesco Finest Chocolate Tea

Black tea with 5% cocoa and a little bit of vanilla. Odd. Best drunk with milk.

Score: 4

Supermarket tea and coffee

Twinings Liquorice Allsorts Earl Grey

Part of Twinings exploration of new twists on the success of Early Grey. The packaging is attractive, and the tea comes in silky pyramids with individual tags. Tends to be astringent and tannic, so either best with a splash of milk, or brewed for less than a minute. There is a distinct burnt toffee flavour married with oily dark tea and a zip of violets and citric. Finishes with a sweet note that is reminiscent of Liquorice Allsorts. Rather more interesting than pleasurable - I'm not entirely sure how successful this is, but I do like it. It's just that I'm not sure I like it enough to buy again. 15 tea bags for £4.49 makes it rather expensive - £9.98 per 100g.

Score: 3


Steepster

Twinings

Aldi Specially Selected Java Coffee

New packet design. I don't know if they are using the same supplier, but this tastes smoother to me. There's no character to it (roasted to strength 5, and there wouldn't be character left in any coffee bean I suspect), but it's OK for an everyday coffee. It's easy to make - quite forgiveable of temperature, brewing time, and amount fluctuations.  I use a standard three scoops, and water just off the boil, and plunge when I'm ready. It's clean, with a hint of spice. But there's little roast or chocolate or any of those flavours that I normally get with a strong roast. There's no acidity eitehr, which makes it easy drinking, but it just slips down, really, without being noticed. That's it's main claim I suppose - it is bland coffee.  But sometimes that's all we want.

Date: Feb 2017  Score: 3

This has a picture of a leaping leopard - the Javan leopard I assume - along with the phrase "cat that got the cream". My first wife used to use that phrase, but it certainly wasn't in association with coffee (or with cats, or with cream). Anyway, this is a rough coffee that is best served with cream or milk to make it palatable.

Poor stuff really. I can now see why Java coffee is usually blended, and why it's used more for its robustness than for its character or flavour.

Date: Aug 2016    Score: 2

A pronounced but not aggressive bitterness.  Good mouthful of apricot fruit and gentle acidity initially, which cleanses the mouth. Overall quite smooth, though finishing with a little grungy and powdery bitterness that lingers in the back of the mouth. Overall quite acceptable for a strong coffee with a  roast strength of 5, though doesn't really call attention to itself in any positive way.

This is an Aldi own brand coffee, selected by the Aldi coffee buyer, Sandra Byrne, part of a range of single origin coffees sold at £1.99 for 200g.

Date: Aug 2014    Score: 3

***

Indonesian coffee

Aldi tea and coffee

Three Sixty Ethiopia Yirgacheffe

Interesting looking packaging which gives the look and feel of an independent local coffee roaster rather than the global company, UCC, which it is. UCC was founded in Japan in 1933, and is noted for making the world's first canned coffee, "UCC Coffee with Milk", in 1969. It is made clear on the company website that the Three Sixty brand is more about the marketing than the coffee, and is aimed at the customer who is curious about provenance. The coordinates on the packet locate to the town of Yirgacheffe rather than the plantation where the beans were grown, so it is clear that this is a gimmick. Type in Yirgacheffe and you get the same result - indeed, you get a more informative response, as the results come from a wider range of sources which provide more information about Yirgacheffe coffee.

The packet was bought from Waitrose for £4.99, so is more expensive than most other supermarket available coffees, but cheaper than online dealers, especially with regard to Yirgacheffe which tends to carry a premium.

I've not been happy with it. I keep trying it in different strengths, and leaving it to brew for different lengths of time, but I find it too strong and bitter for my palate, with few contrasts. It tends to sit heavy in the mouth with an insistent dark, almost stale, bitterness like instant coffee .There's some acidity, but it's not floral or fruity, just acidic. I have yet to find anything pleasant about this coffee, and now that I find it's not made by an independent as I first thought, but by a global coffee company, which also owns Lyons coffee, I am giving up on finding the subtly and character than I thought I was missing, as it appears it's not been there in the first place.


3/10

Ethiopian coffee