Thursday, 23 June 2016

Monoprix Cafe Moulu Honduras






Brought back from France by Chrissie. Monoprix is the French equivalent of Marks & Sparks. This is a lovely coffee. Lots of flavour, but not aggressive or assertive or too bitter. There's a decent level of character here with subtle notes of violets and almonds. Easy to make and very forgiving, this is a great everyday coffee that can also be served to guests as something a little different, and very tasty.

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+



Thursday, 16 June 2016

Asda Extra Special Colombian Coffee






Tried this again. Still not my thing. There's an assertive bitterness that I don't geyt on with, and no compensating interesting or delightful flavours. This comes over, for me, as harsh and blunt, with little finesse.


Date: March 2017   Score; 2




Medium roast 3. Fairtrade. £2.49 for 227g from Asda. I haven't got on with this. Too thin and acidic for my taste. I am drinking it with milk to balance out the acidity.

Date:  June 2016   Score: 2

***
Asda tea and coffee

Colombian coffee

Monday, 16 May 2016

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

Wednesday, 4 May 2016

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




http://www.lidl.de/media/product/0/0/3/4/1/4/3/lord-nelson-pfefferminztee-regular.jpg

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



Saturday, 30 April 2016

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





Friday, 29 April 2016

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