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Sainsbury’s After Dinner Coffee

This one says “rich”, “intense” and “strong” on the packet. And it’s a strength 5. And they are right on all counts. This one will really wake you up in the morning – there is no getting away from the fact that THIS IS COFFEE. It’s pretty damn bitter too – I had to keep adding sugar bit by bit until I could take it. But when you get it right, it’s a fine old cup. There’s no aftertaste and we happily had two in the day without having a stroke. Treat it carefully though – if you’re not man enough, this one will floor you. (8/10)

Sainsburys, Strength 5

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Sainsbury’s Tanzanian Moshi Community Peaberry Coffee Beans

As soon as you open this packet, the smell of top notch coffee just pours out all over you, even though it’s a whole bean coffee and not even ground yet. Grinding it just amplifies the aroma – it’s like the aromatic version of the Siren’s song – once you smell this baby you would cross a barren desert for days just to track down the source. This one is easy to make too – you can throw in as much as you like, and it just gets better and better. You will never reach the point of a throat burner. And finally the taste – it’s heaven. Yes, slightly citrussy, but now we are coffee drinking pros, we like that. Do your self a favour and get some. (10/10)

Sainsburys, Strength 3, Tanzania

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Waitrose Monsooned Malabar Coffee

India is renowned for its tea, not its coffee, and that holds true here. We gave this the benefit of the doubt and had three goes at this, but every time it just got worse and worse. The first glug lulls you into a false sense of security before the after burn kicks in, leaving your entire thorax ripped out and lying in your lap. You just have to grin and bear it and hope the pain goes away. If you read the side of the packet, the writing was always on the wall for this one: they basically leave the bloody thing out in the rain – presumably going moldy – and then try and turn this neglect into a marketing gimmick. Give it up lads. 3/10.

India, Strength 4, Waitrose

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Percol Guatemala Arabica Coffee

Percol have gone and done it with this one. It’s a bog standard strength 3, the packaging is the usual Percol awfulness and yet it’s bloody marvelous. Every time, without fail, it’s come out punchy, smooth and satisfying. Even a child could make a good cup of this one – unlike that Waitrose one of a few days back where one grain too many or less rendered the whole mug repulsive. The fact that it looks so bland in the pack may be adds to this one’s appeal – Percol certainly aren’t singing from the rooftops about it. They should be! Wait for it.. 10/10!

Guatemala, Percol, Strength 3

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Natural Coffee Co Freedom Blend Coffee

This one was picked up from The Windsor Farm Shop on a recent London bike ride from Hampton Court to Windsor with the quintessentially English Merry Pedaller Bike Tours. A shop full of game pie and venison. Never seen this brand before – but given where I found it, it’s got to be poncy – even though it only cost a standard three pound something. To be honest it was nothing special for me – it was definitely strong and can easily be over done, which we did a couple of times. There’s a bit of a chocolate taste going on – which they don’t even mention on the packet, for once. 7/10

Natural Coffee Co, Strength 4

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Percol Honduras La Tigre Rainforest Coffee

This is another good Percol, despite yet another cold “garden seed” packet design. It tastes consistently good all the way down the cup too – there’s no build up of bitterness. But then again this lack of any kind of aftertaste makes it taste a little shallow tasting. When it’s gone, it’s gone. A respectable 7/10

Honduras, Percol, Strength 3

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Lavazza Espresso Coffee

Lavazza have done the business with this one. It’s strong but mellow and that espresso taste lingers in your mouth in a nice way. Not only that, it’s easy to make – every cup came out well, no matter how shaky the hand measuring out the spoons. Even the packet exudes quality and continental sophistication. The only downside is minor – the stupid vacuum pack is almost impossible to open without tools, and once it is open, you can’t re seal it and you will end up with coffee all over the shop. But hey, I’m not going to knock a point off for that. That’s part of its charm. This has to be scored top marks – but is it as good as the Hot Lava Lava? We’d have to do a side by side taste-off I think. (10/10)

Lavazza

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Percol Rainforest Organic Colombia Arabica Coffee

This is the best Percol we’ve had so far. There’s nothing really to make it stand out and talk about – no aromas or notes as they claim on the packet. But it just delivers on smooth, full flavour with a pleasant lingering coffee after taste. Every cup we made was consistantly good – you just can’t cock this one up. It’s just a shame it’s yet another “grass seed” piece of packaging from Percol – stick this in a glossy packet and suddenly you have a luxury, quality coffee here. Petty to mark it down one for that but, hey ho – it’s a 9 down to an 8/10.

Colombia, Percol, Strength 3

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Percol Fairtrade Italiano Arabica Coffee

This is a Percol Big Boy. It’s a strength 5 so we’re fumbling with the packet in excitement. In the end it’s come out good, but my God it was a lot of work to get there. By which, I mean the first three cups all failed for one reason or another – too weak, too strong, too much powder in the cup… We were at the point of giving up until Hank took a deep breath, donned his white lab coat, and made it under full laboratory conditions. Despite plunging it so slowly that the plunger’s progress was slower than a snail going down an up escalator, it’s still full of powder in the cup. So we ended up with a slightly metallic taste which, over a whole mug, is a bit much. So for all that faffing, only 7/10

Percol, Strength 5

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Taylors Take It Easy Coffee

We can’t knock this one just for being half strength can we? It does clearly say it’s half caffeine on the side of the packet. For a coffee that’s been through an industrial process, it’s still got a lot of flavour and you wouldn’t really know it had been mucked around with. It starts fine enough too – but as you get further down the cup, the lack of punch starts to grate. Eventually it becomes a bit sickly with the taste of the milk over powering the content. But that’s because we like our coffee strong – so this coffee is actually delivering what it says it would. For most people it’s probably a 7 or 8 score, but for this judge only a 6/10.

Strength 3, Taylors

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