Lidl Bellarom Colombian Coffee

Best value for money Colombian coffee

£3.59 for 454g from Lidl. Excellent value for money. The beans do not come from any specific part of Colombia, other than "a high altitude". But Colombian beans are good, and high altitude is good, so high altitude Colombian is a good enough indicator of robust and tasty coffee without needing to go further, and at this price, really, why should we quibble. The coffee is easy to make - it's fairly forgiving, which is ideal for everyday coffee. It's got a robust but not overpowering bitterness, and a pleasant roastiness that gives interest and flavour without being too acrid. Not much acidity despite the high altitude claim, but enough to balance the robust bitterness and add further character. But we are not talking about a coffee with lots of character and interest, and a range of fruit and nut flavours, this is simply a good, everyday coffee. Limited, but very drinkable and quite appealing. At the price, this is the best value for money Colombian coffee you can get. It may not be the best, and it may be slightly edged in taste by the Aldi cheap Colombian, but not by much, and as this is slightly cheaper, this has to be the better value.

The Bellarom brand is what Lidl have been using for their own label coffee and chocolate products, though recently the Deluxe brand has been introduced to run alongside Bellarom. Bellarom seems to be for the lower priced products, and the Deluxe for higher priced products.


Score: 6

Colombian coffee

Lidl Tea & Coffee

Tesco Finest Peppermint and Liquorice

£2.89 for 15 bags (30g) from Tesco. Attractively packaged in a colourful box. The bags are pyramid nets with a string and tag. I like the fine net pyramid bags, but I don't like the string and tag - but that's not an issue as it can be cut off easily. Contents are 64% Oregon peppermint, 35% liquorice, and 1% blue mallow flowers. It's a lovely cup of tea - good sharp peppermint, and beautiful sweet liquorice. I'd prefer if the liquorice were a little earthier, but even so, this is a fine drink.

Score: 8

***

Tesco tea and coffee

Mint tea

McDonald's White Coffee

I go to Heathrow to pick up my wife, and I'm a little early. These days you have to pay £4 every 30 minutes to wait, so I go to the McDonald's on the A4 to wait, and buy a coffee to pay for my parking. I order a coffee, and am met with the "what sort of coffee" response that seems to happen these days. As this is a McDonald's I assume (correctly) that I'm not being asked "Brazilian or Kenyan". So I clarify - just a coffee - and, because I have a doubt it will taste nice, I say "white coffee" - and to make sure, sure, sure, I say, not a latte or espresso with milk - I just want a standard coffee. Some hope. What I get is shit. It tastes like an espresso with water and a splash of milk. It doesn't taste fresh. It tastes watery and bitter, like ashes and burnt black toast. There's no resemblance of a coffee at all. No coffee aroma or coffee flavour.  The UK website confirms it's a watered down espresso (sometimes these things are called Americano). The American website says they brew fresh every 30 minutes, but the UK one doesn't say that.

Is it really so hard for these quick food places to put three scoops of coffee into a plunger, wait three minutes, then plunge? I don't mind waiting. I do mind being given a watered down espresso when I clarified what I wanted was a coffee.


Date: Nov 2015    Score: 1