Percol Medium Roast London Blend

Bunch of new Percol coffees in the supermarket, so I grabbed them all. This is the first I've tried, and I like it. I'm not really one for blends, preferring the individual character of a single estate, or at least, a single region or country, but this blend is well thrown together such that it is drinkable, and yet has its own soft character - a roasty, chocolate biscuit with  jam flavour, that is quite appealing. This is not a coffee you'd offer friends to impress them, but is one that is easy to make, easy to drink, and serves as something pleasant, comforting, and undemanding for those times when life is too busy to even think about the nature of your coffee, you just want to drink it, rather than appreciate it.

Though I drink my coffee black, this has a milky creamy feel that is rather nice. Not a top end coffee by any means, but as an easy everyday drinker, this works for me.


Score: 6

***

Percol

Coffee roasts

Lavazza Selva Alta

Lavazza are known to me as an old fashioned coffee company who do characterless blends in vacuum packs, but here they are doing single estate coffee from Peru, and packed in a modern vapour release.

This is a pleasant and subtle coffee with flavours of honey and chocolate with hints of blackcurrant.

The only other coffee I've had from Peru that I can recall is CafeDirect Machu Picchu, which seems to have similar characteristics.



Score: 7

Instacafe Cappuccino Irish Cream Flavour

Tastes like a certain milky toffee my nan used to like. But mostly it tastes artificial, with an artificial whiskey taste which is quite curious.  Not as much fun as some of the better creamy instant coffees.


Score: 2

Creamy instant coffees

Taylors Degraves

Spotted a couple of new Taylors of Harrogate coffees in Tesco, so grabbed them both. I didn't know what Degraves mean, and on looking it up find that it's a street in Melbourne, Australia which, among other things, is known for its espresso bars.  There are various ways that espresso is marketed - with or without milk, and in different proportions. There is a version called flat white, which originated either in Australia or New Zealand, nobody is quite sure, though Taylors seem to feel it originated in Degraves Street.

Blurb on the packet

It's a muddy ill-defined sort of coffee. A bit of coffee flavour, and a bit of bitterness. It's not much cop on its own, and when milk is added it's not much better, but is at least drinkable.  This Degaves seems to me to be more about the marketing than the taste. It's poor quality coffee beans sold off as something cool and trendy. That the makers say to "enjoy with milk" is an indicator that this is not a blend for coffee geeks. Eeek!


Score: 2

Taylors of Harrogate

Douwe Egberts L'Or Intense Intensity 8

Drinkable as long as only two and half scoops are used, but not pleasurable. I am struggling a bit with these L'Or coffees.....

Score: 2

***

Coffee roasts

Douwe Egberts

Twinings Salted Caramel Green Tea

Salted caramel is all the rage at the moment, and here it is as the flavour of a green tea. Well, I kind of like salted caramel, but this didn't have much flavour of that. It tasted more of a sort of bland vanilla. Slightly dry and nothing much to encourage repeat drinking.


Date: July 2017    Score: 3

Twinings

Douwe Egberts L'Or Elegant Intensity 5

L'or is a brand launched earlier this year (2017) by Douwe Egberts as a "premium" brand.  I thought it was an old fashioned cheap or standard brand.  It tastes the same as the other rubbish by Douwe Egberts, but without the romance of the name. In fact it probably is the same stuff, but in new packaging.

The Elegant is dark roasted, but not harsh. Lots of roast flavours - quite rich, but no character. It's drinkable, but tastes just like every other dark roasted coffee. If you like dark roasted I think you can safely go for the cheapest brand you can find, because there is little actual difference between them.

This is a little smoother than the Classique Intensity 7, so I find it a little easier to drink. But, like the Classic (sorry, [assumes French accent] "Classique"), I am not going to finish the whole packet. Life is too short for rubbish like this.


Score: 3

***

Coffee roasts

Douwe Egberts