Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Costa Rica Tarrazu Coffee

I've made this several times, in a few different ways, but all - apart from twice - the coffee has been a little too bitter for my taste. I wondered if I was leaving the coffee in the water too long, and once I plunged a little earlier than I normally would, but that resulted in a weak and grainy coffee. Once I did seem to get the timing right, and had a reasonable cup of coffee, with pleasant lime, chocolate and almond flavours, but not a coffee that I found particularly impressive. There's a backbone of acidity cutting through the sludgy, powdery bitterness which provides some contrast, but on the whole this has not been a coffee I have enjoyed.

3/10

Sainsbury's own label tea and coffee

Costa Rican coffee

Yogi Tea Licorice Egyptian Spice

This is lovely stuff. Picked up from my local corner shop. It's a herbal tea rather than a flavoured tea - there is no tea plant in the ingredients. The ingredients are licorice and various fruits and spices: ginger, orange, cloves,  cinnamon, etc. It's a delicate yet rich flavour, with attractive sweet spots of licorice.

The tea is made by Yogi Products, who make over 60 different varieties. The box is attracted decorated, and contains information about the history of licorice tea - apparently some licorice root was found in Tutankhamon's tomb. The company was formed in 1984 - it takes its roots from Yogi Bhajan, an Indian yoga teacher, who back in 1969 in California gave his clients a special spiced tea they started to call Yogi Tea.

Twinings Jasmine Green Tea

Jasmine tea is a scented tea, like Earl Grey or Lapsang souchong. It is made by infusing green tea with the scent of jasmine flowers during the night when jasmine releases its fragrance. Jasmine was introduced into China during the Han Dynasty (pre-200AD), and began to be used to flavour tea in the fifth century. Jasmine tea is now China's most famous and most popular scented tea.

This is a pleasant tea - fresh and lively, and very refreshing. We have a habit of drinking jasmine tea when having an Asian meal - maybe a Chinese take-away, or some form of stir-fry perhaps; we like to drink it the way it is served in Chinese restaurants: in small cups, poured often from a warm teapot. It's not often I actually drink it in large cups, just by itself. But when I do, I find it very compelling. I don't find this Twinnings blend to be as fragrant as those we buy in China Town in London, but it is very drinkable. I prefer to keep the bag in the water, though it is recommended to remove it after two or three minutes. Each to their own, but I do like a flavoured tea, and while I like the jasmine to scent my tea, I do also like and want the flavour of the tea itself. Without the support of the base tea, this can taste a bit like stewed grass cuttings.

Date: Jan 2014  Score: 5

***

Twinings

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.

Jan 2014
Tesco's Finest Costa Rican coffee  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.

Jan 2015
This is a pleasantly creamy coffee with soft toast notes and mild, but interesting acidity. An attractive drinking coffee suitable for all times of day. Possibly the South American coffee I enjoy the most.

6/10

Costa Rican coffee

Tesco tea and coffee

Mariage Freres Yang Tse Kiang tea

This blend and name is unique to Mariage Freres, the French gourmet tea company, founded in 1854 by brothers Henri and Edouard Mariage. The company promote it as a "famous blend appreciated [for] its relaxing effect by inhabitants of the Yang-Tse-Kiang valley". It is a soft and fruity tea, with a gentle but lingering tannic quality in the finish. I used two generous spoons in my cup, and kept waiting for more flavour to emerge, and none did, so I suspect that this is intended to be a subtle and delicate tea. Any more tea would make it too astringent rather than more pleasingly flavourful. The nose is damp, musty, with notes of nettles, ginger and ginseng.  It is a pleasant and interesting tea, with a subtle yet refreshing flavour, and some intriguing aromas.

Mariage Freres tea company

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