Tesco Finest Chocolate Tea

Black tea with 5% cocoa and a little bit of vanilla. I've tried it a few times now, and while I don't actively dislike it, I haven't fully warmed to it yet. I prefer it with milk, as that softens it a little. I think the main problem for me is the vanilla. I like vanilla - I love it in yoghurt and ice cream; but I'm not so keen on it when used as a flavouring in herbal teas. The vanilla tends to dominate so that is more of what I encounter than the cocoa. The chocolate is more of a tannic bitterness and a faint caramel note than full chocolate flavour, but it does make itself noticed in the finish.

4/10

Tesco tea and coffee

Pukka Peppermint & Licorice tea

This has more licorice than the Lidl Peppermint & Liquorice, 40% compared with 35%, so is a little sweeter and a little heavier. I prefer the cleaner, fresher, zippier taste of the Lidl - it feels more balanced to me. But it's a minor point, and it's each to their own. Cost is around £2.40 for 20 bags (30 gms). The bags are individually wrapped in packets, but inside is a standard tea bag. The Lidl has the better quality pyramid bags.

The tea  has the earthy warmth and sweetness of the licorice, and the lively zest of the peppermint. They go well together. This is a nice tea, and I  like the box - it's attractively printed inside and out.  If I hadn't had the Lidl version first, I would be excited to find it, but I'm quite happy with my Lidl tea.

Pukka teas are from the Pukka Herbs company, founded in 2001 in Bristol.  They have an extensive range of attractive organic teas. They are FairTrade and trade ethically and responsibly. I like the company, I like the flavour combinations, and the packaging, I love the whole idea. But they tend to be a little pricey.

Date: Sept 2015   Score: 6

***

Mint tea

Pukka teas

Lidl Deluxe Peppermint & Liquorice tea

Intriguing balance of licorice and peppermint.  Refreshing and zippy with mint, and sweet ad earthy with the licorice. Nice one. 

Date: Oct 2020   Score: 8 

I love this. A perfect combination - the freshness and zest of the peppermint, with the dark, malty, earthy sweetness of the liquorice. Lots of companies are doing this combination right now, and I'll be interested to try the others, but from my experience of comparing peppermint teas, I suspect there won't be any significant difference, and I'll end up with the cheapest.


Date: Sept 2015  Score: 8

***

Mint tea

Lidl Tea & Coffee

Ikea Bryggkaffe Mellanrost (Filter coffee Medium Roast)

On a rare visit to Ikea (getting wooden railway parts for my 6 year old daughter) I see they do coffee and beer (which I also collect and review), so I grab some. It's reasonably priced at £1.90  for 0.25 kg, but that doesn't make it good value. It's a blend of coffee beans from around the world - mostly Brazil, but also Vietnam and Uganda, countries known more for the amount of coffee they export rather than the quality. This is not a quality coffee. It's not actually nasty, but it's not a coffee for folks that like coffee. Made normally it is bland and inoffensive, lacking in character and flavour. It's barely there. Made a little stronger, or left a little longer to brew and it becomes bitter and sludgy with little redeeming factors. There's no depth or range of flavours here to compensate. To be fair I'll play around with it for a while, but I suspect I'll end up blending this with other coffees.

One funky aspect of Ikea using Utz Certified coffee beans is that it's traceable (sort of). Put in the expiry date and you'll be presented with a long list of producers - I assume these are the producers used in the batch that was blended. Most of the coffee I like can be traced to one farm, so it's interesting to have a coffee that is traced to around 50 different farms around the world! 


Rating: 2

Coffee roasts

Aldi Alcafe Italian Blend

£1.69 from Aldi. Roast 5. A blend of Arabica and Robusta beans. This is cheap coffee, but is surprisingly not offensive. It is drinkable, and very robust and forgiving, so very easy to make. There's no character or finesse, but it's not blunt. I think the use of Robusta rounds it out so it doesn't become aggressive. There's little in the way of attractive flavours, but there are roasted notes and you know you're drinking coffee. Those who drink Costa and Starbucks type coffee will find this quite acceptable. Those who enjoy single estate beans of character will find this lacking in interest and flavour. I thought I was a single estate bean of character sort of person, but I think in reality I fall somewhere between the two camps. I didn't object to this, and for the price I would buy it again.

Rating: 4

Coffee roasts

Aldi tea and coffee

CafeDirect Colombia

This has a lively fruity acidity combined with a light and pleasant roastiness. It is fairly forgiving and doesn't need precise measurements or precise timing to make an acceptable morning brew.  Light and refreshing and quite perky, this is a decent everyday coffee, though lacks depth and interesting for anything more than just something to have with breakfast.


Score: 5

Cafedirect

Colombian coffee

Percol Plantation Wharf Dark Rich coffee

Well, it's cheap (79p for 150g from Home Bargains, but it's not that great. It lacks backbone, character, flavour, and most of the things we drink coffee for. The Laid Back coffee in the same Plantation Wharf series is quite drinkable, but this is indistinct and sludgy, and lacking in weight and body. It seems to fail in all respects, apart from price. However, it's not foul - it can be drunk, so it gets points for that.

Rating: 2

79p at Home Bargains

Percol

Coffee roasts