PG Tips Pear & Caramel

I bought these a couple of months ago when they first appeared in the shops. Fruit and herb teas are becoming so popular that Britain's oldest and most conservative tea brand has got in on the act. I loved the pear and caramel flavour when I first had these, but over time I noticed the flavour fading. That seemed to happen quite quickly, and now, either I am now accustomed to the flavour or it has completed faded; I no longer taste pear and caramel, just mostly the base rosehip. I mean, it's OK, but just that, OK. I find rosehip to be an unexciting flavour especially as it tends to being a little tart. The delicate and inviting sweet warm flavour doesn't appear to be present any more. If the flavour fades so quickly that it goes within two months, then I won't be getting any more of these. I like them, but not enough to drink 25 in a couple of weeks.


Date: Nov 2017   Score: 4

Raw Bean Mellow Mexican Reserva Finca Aurora Single Origin

Saw this and had to get it - Mexican coffee is rare to find in a supermarket (I think it was Sainsburys), and a new supplier is always interesting to check out - and Raw Bean turns out to be fairly local to me, as it's in Winchester, just a short drive up the road from my home town of Southampton.  One of their Mexican roasts is listed as among the best single estate coffees in a report by The Independent.

Mexican coffee doesn't as a whole have a great reputation, but some locations are known to produce drinkable coffee, and some farms within those locations can add a little character, so independent coffee roasters on the look out for something a little different to offer, may have a Mexican or two on their list, such as Coffee Compass who also sell beans from Finca Aurora (which means something like Eagle Farm).

The finer details

The coffee is not complex, so is easy to make and quite forgiving. It is an easy going, mellow, everyday coffee. The roasters advise adding milk, and I can see why, as it is a soft, sweet, creamy coffee, but I don't find the milk is necessary, as the coffee stands well by itself, with no bitterness, just a lingering rustic roast. There's some pleasing caramel, though little fruit - just a hint of tangerine and raspberry.  This is not an exciting wow coffee, nor something deep and serious to study, this is a good, tasty, drinking coffee, that you can offer to friends as something a little bit different as it comes from Mexico. 


Score: 6

Modern Standard Ethiopia / Konga Cooperative

Picked these up in Sainsbury's for £4.50 for 227g, so a little pricey, but I liked the packaging, I am curious to try a new supplier in a supermarket, and I love Ethiopian coffee.

There's no information on the pack regarding the roast, but it looks like some form of medium roast. After a bit of trial and error I found that three and a half spoons of beans ground fine and left to brew for four and a half minutes gave a very satisfactory brew. Good coffee character with a fine balance between roast and acidity. I found the acidity to be subtle and fragrant with citric flower flavours, and the roast to be intriguing rather than aggressive, with hints of chocolate, roast, and coffee. This is pretty much how coffee should be. Intriguing and satisfying.

The Konga Cooperative is in the highly respected Yirgacheffe region of Ethiopia

I will be getting more of this.

Modern Standard were formed in 2015, and have a regular outlet in Sainsbury's. The company is run by Lynsey Harley who was interviewed on a London coffee blog in February 2016.


Score: 8

Ethiopian coffee

Caffe Aloia

Old fashioned Italian coffee brought back from Rome by my wife. The company was founded in Naples in 1934, and makes cheap blended coffee to suit old fashioned tastes. The coffee appears to be cheap Brazilian and Indian coffee bunches ripped whole from the tree as that's the cheapest method, rather than hand picking the mature berries. Some beans will be ripe, some over-ripe, and some not ready. All are mixed together creating a robust, harsh and bitter coffee. Not good. It's probably an acquired taste for those who had little other choice. I can't see them gaining many new loyal customers.

Score: 1

Nescafe Cafe Menu Latte Irish Cream

I love this. You'd swear there was Irish whiskey in it, but the box does say that "this product contains no alcohol".  Sweet, creamy, and with that warm whiskey flavour. There's hardly any mention of coffee, as that is so far in the background as to be forgotten.  Good fun, and very compelling. I'd buy this again. And again. And so on. Cheaper than the real thing, and it doesn't get you drunk!


Score: 7

Creamy instant coffees

The Co-operative Truly Irresistible Fairtrade Fine Bean Coffee

I noticed a while ago that there was a trend for instant coffee blended with ground coffee. I was curious so I bought this pack. But with so many proper ground coffees to drink I never found myself reaching for this pack, and it's a bit out of date now. Recently I've been drinking the milky instant coffees, so I thought I might just be ready for some instant - after all it is perked up with ground coffee. Well, it is out of date, so there isn't much of a ground coffee aroma. It tastes like instant coffee. It's not inedible. I've had some ground coffees that tasted far worse than this. It's just that there's no character, and no pleasure. It's a a hot, watery, coffee flavoured drink. I'm not put off trying one of these blends again when fresh, but this particular one is going to the bin now as there's nothing here to make me want to return to it. I'm not even sure if they sell this any more. I'll take a look next time I'm in the shops. Perhaps the fad for blends of instant and ground coffee have passed while this has slowly gone stale in the back of my cupboard!


No score. Just reviewed out of curiosity.

Mokate Gold Premium Macchiato

99p for a box of eight sachets from my local 99p shop. Macchiato is another term in the weird and wonderful world of Italian espresso coffee.  Macchiato means spotted or stained. The regular macchiato is an espresso with just a small amount of milk froth on top.. This is also known as a caffe (or coffee) macchiato or an espresso macchiato.  Popular in Italy, especially with tourists, is the latte macchiato, which is an Italian latte (simply hot milk) onto which is poured an espresso which sits on the milk in a layer, and then a top layer of milk, which sits on the coffee, and then a spot of espresso on top of the milk. It's all about the look. The finished result is simply a latte - a very milky espresso, but presented in pretty layers. it's a drink that women like.

This boxed instant coffee is meant to replicate the regular macchiato. Think of it as a more coffee tasting instant cappuccino. I kind of like it. It's not top quality, but it's drinkable.


Date: Oct 2016    Score: 3

Creamy instant coffees