Co-operative Fairtrade Espresso Roast & Ground Coffee

Espresso is not a coffee blend or roast, but a brewing method. However, because the espresso method is a little crude, so doesn't allow subtle character to come through, the roast tends to be dark so what people taste is the roast notes, then a number of darker roasts get called Espresso. This is a Co-op branded dark roast. The beans are non specific, and come from various countries. There is no character here at all, just the flavour of dark roast. If that is what you want, then it works fine.

Score: 3

Coffee roasts

Percol Bold Nicaragua

 Pleasant rounded coffee. Easy drinking with some finishing bitterness edged with chocolate. Not a memorable coffee, but acceptable for everyday drinking. Easy to make.
 

Date: April 2016    Score: 5

This is a bold coffee. It's so bold as to be almost blunt. There is some balancing acidity, but it fairly plain, there's no fruit or citrus or joy in it, it's just a bit of sharpness, a bit of acid, in the coffee. And the coffee flavour is also blunt. Not crude, but certainly lacking in finesse. It doesn't hover, it just pushes forward with a big mouthful of coffee flavour that hints at chocolate, but doesn't quite deliver. In its favour it isn't bitter or over assertive. It is a drinkable cup, and it has body and flavour. It's just that there are no delights here. There's nothing to savour. There's no twists. It['s a straight ahead coffee. Bold or simple or both. It is what it is.

I just noticed that I had this coffee in April this year, under a slightly different name, and a different wrapper. 

Date: Oct 2016  Score: 4


See:

* Wikipedia on Nicaragua coffee
* History of Nicaragua coffee
* Coffee Review Nicaragua
* Asda Nicaraguan Coffee

Percol

Lidl Tea & Coffee

Lidl Deluxe Guatemala coffee
Score: 8

Lidl Deluxe Kenya Masai

Score:  8

Lidl Deluxe Colombian Risaralda 

Score:  7

Lidl Bellarom Colombian

Score: 6

Lidl Specially Selected Ethiopian 

Score: 5

Lidl Deluxe Uganda Erussi

Score 5

Lidl Deluxe Kenyan coffee

Score:  3

Lidl Deluxe Colombian Supremo

Score:  3

Lidl Melangerie Ethiopian Sidamo 

Score:  2

Tea

Lidl Deluxe Peppermint & Liquorice tea

Score:  8

Lidl Knightsbridge Lemon & Ginger

Score: 7

Lidl Lord Nelson Peppermint Tea Bags

Score: 6

Lidl Deluxe Green Rooibos, Peach & Cherry

Score: 3

Instant Coffee

Lidl Bellarom Instant Latte 

Score:  2

Supermarket tea and coffee

Lidl Deluxe Guatemala coffee

I love this, a robust and flavoursome coffee with enough twists and turns to keep the taste buds intrigued.  Nice roast notes combine with dark fruits and violets to produce a very satisfying brew. It's a roast four, and while not aggressive, is pushing toward assertive, so, for me, I prefer just under three scoops.

Score: 8

Lidl Tea & Coffee

Guatemala coffee

Mokhtar Tea Green Tea

I was given this box of green tea by a friend. I really liked the tea. Fresh, earthy, tasty, and delicious. It felt natural, alive, and was very tasty. Best green tea I've had.

The box is finished, sadly, and now I'm looking for more. But I can't find any. Not in any shops. And not online. I can find very information on the company, Mokhtar Tea. There's some registration of the trade mark, which appears to have lapsed, and that's it. It appears to have been a company that started up and went nowhere.

I found an email address, but it's no longer active, and bounced back.

If anyone does know more about the company, or knows where I can buy this tea, please let me know.


Date: April 2016  Score: 9

Nescafe Cafe Menu Seasonal Edition Coconut Latte Flavour

There's not much coffee or coconut in this, but lots of sugar and milk powder. It's not as much fun as I expected, and has an unpleasant instant coffee bitterness. I somehow like these creamy instant coffees, but this has a strange edge to it which is off-putting. Tastes of chemicals.



Date: April 2016  Score: 2


Latte is a little too watery/milky for my taste. This has an OK caramel flavour, but the coconut tastes artificial, and there's simply not enough coffee flavour.


Date: Oct 2016  Score: 3

Creamy instant coffees

Waitrose Cafe House Blend Ground Coffee

£2.99 for 227g, which makes it quite pricey for a supermarket brand non-specific coffee blend. Such coffee can be bought from Lidl and Aldi for half the price, and there's no difference in quality or taste. Other supermarkets charge from £1.90 (Tesco)  to £2.30 (Sainsburys) for this sort of thing. This is bog standard roast 4 blended coffee. no character, no acidity, just a vague coffee flavour. You drink this without noticing. Inoffensive. At £1.50 such coffee is worth buying for everyday drinking. At this price, you're just throwing your money away. Very poor value for money. Lots of profit for the supermarket.

Score: 3

Coffee roasts