Short review of a coffee shop: Javana, Bruges

I was in Bruges last weekend, going to the saturday market with my mom. She used to go there long ago, when she still had a place by the sea, so she knew her way around the town of Bruges.
It is famous for it's really nice buildings, tourists travel the world to visit Bruges, I can understand this, it is a gorgeous city. Once my fiancee moves back to Belgium, we will be visiting it on one of our first weekends and on that day, I will surely also visit Javana!

It's located in the shopping street, close to the historical big market place.

From the outside, it looks a little small, the display window is nice, I step inside.
First impression, what a cool and cozy little shop this is. Much bigger than Blanche Dael in Maastricht, another one of my fav shops, it is much deeper here in Bruges. They have a nice classic display of the coffee beans behind the counter. I already knew they sold Blue Mountain and yes, they had some that day as well :)
I bought some Java Boungi Kalossi, whatever  that meant :p I am drinking it at work, it is a little gem, powerfull, spice, earthy! Needs a little more sugar than most coffees :)

But back to the store, they had a great selection of Teas as well as mugs, cups, chocolates, ...
This is a nice shop, if I ever have my own shop, I want it to be as cozy as this one.
Every time I will visit Bruges, Javana is on my visitlist, it's worth the trip!

Bad experience at a roaster's open day!

This is going to be a serious rant, because I really hate them now.

The roaster's are ROM, a "family originated roaster", but that is where the good stuff ends.

First, July 2011, I tried to schedule a guided tour of the company, I was advised they do not do this, so I was asked to just show up at the open-door days. Having to wait nearly 3 months, I reluctantly said yes, I will wait, I made my appointment by phone.

The day itself, finally, I drove there together with my mom. She doesn't like coffee, but she was interested in the entire process, you don't visit a roaster every day. It was supposed to be a fun day.

Upon entering, we were asked who we were. A little strange and I thought it was rather impolite too, later that day, it was clear why, but no explanation at the time, we replied we were just interested in coffee and wanted a look around.

After waiting nearly 10 minutes, we were taken to the back, the roasting machine was there, it was computer guided, the way I expected it to be. The handler of the machine was not really friendly, he was dissing commercial roasters like Douwe Egberts and calling them "not good", he was obviously meaning other things...

He also said some mistakes, apparently I knew more about coffee then he did, like the airhole in packages, he said it was to keep the aroma in, but he apparently didnt know they are mostly to keep the CO2 from staying inside (this ages the coffee more smoothly)

In the entire conversation with the guy, I only found out 1 thing i didnt already know, this is about the expiration dates and the policy they had, After roasting, the date will list 1 year starting at the roast date, this rule is enforced by the food agency here.

He claimed coffee remained good for 3 years, he had no reply to my claim that coffee loses its true flavour within 6 weeks, even after properly sealed, which they do.

Then off to waiting some more, before we could go upstairs, where we would be able to try the coffee coctails, which i looked forward to, I like tasting many flavours.

Disappointment, they were making "frappé", a stupid coffee/milk/ice mix, wow, that was supposed to be an awesome coctail... They put in some syrup, to spice it up.

The guy serving them, a real douchebag, ignored us and went straight ahead to the lady behind us, she asked for the amaretto flavour, which he claimed was without alcohol... I am allergic to alcohol and I can vouch for this, my doctor forbade this syrup for me, so I know it was going to be bad.

Once he was finished making them, he offered them to the lady, who told the idiot we were first, so he offered it to me. Obviously I said NO, I didn't feel like dieing because of some idiot.

He said he would give us a new one, so I asked him to rince the mixing mug, because yes, that can still hurt my body...

He then turned his head and helped the people after us.

So that meant no coffee for me, we had been there almost 45 minutes and still hadnt been able to try a single coffee... What a utter disappointment this was becoming...

Back downstairs, I did decide to buy some coffee and "Jules Destrooper" cookies, because my fiancee loves those. After having to wait 10 minutes, we finally got someone's attention and were finally helped, we were given the price of 27 euro for a giant box, which we agreed to, I would give my fiancee anything, so I wanted to pay this price too.

When the lady finally returned with our box, approx 10 mins later, she gave us a completely different price, namely 31 euro... WTF, right? turns out the first lady didnt include taxes, despite me asking if she also sold all the products to individuals (without a shop/bar, aka non-professional)

I put back the bag of 9 month old coffee I took and left.

Yes, their show room only had NINE MONTH OLD coffee for sale, disgusting really, considering it was only valid for another 3 months by law... Not something you would put on display for a open door day...

Afterwards, I emailed them about my bad experiences and they said it was all my fault, I was being dificult, they barely admitted the douchebags mistake in not wanting to clean his shit...

In short, Rom will be on my "NEVER AGAIN" list for life.

Mandheling

I have been very busy at work, so I havent had a lot of time to properly enjoy my coffees, been making my travel book from my last trip to China. I visited many very cool places, like Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Macau, I guess this is the advantage of having a great family of my future wife, I love her like crazy :)

So let's get to the coffee of the day, Mandheling. I had heard a lot of positive comments about this one on various fora, so I had to try it out. My roaster is fascino (again) for this one, they always do a great job, worth an order, I swear :)

Like usual, some background information on this coffee.This coffee has the nickname "Mena Gold", but didnt find any information about that.

Mandheling is Indonesian in origin, processed the 'Giling Basah' way, which is wet-hulled, this is supposed to bring a full body and more intense flavours.

Wet-Hulling means the outside layer of the cherry is removed after the harvest and they are then dried in the remaining pulp, which is later removed when the right moisture level is reached. This is around 30 to 35 percent, adding to the dificulty in preparing the coffee for roasting. The cherries are processed two or three times prior to selling them, eliminating the imperfect ones, at least for export, the imperfect ones are usually sold on the local markets, the best quality is sold for export purposes (the general way coffee is sold btw)

In the end this results in a complex coffee with a full body, beautyfull fruit- and berrytones and a mildly spicy aftertaste.

First impression time!

When I opened the package, it smelled great, a little acidy even, must have been the berries, but mostly not strong. Not the usual "power" you get from some coffees, most espressos carry some sort of punch in the smell, well this one is the opposite. I am a lover of milder coffees, this is looking good!

Second impression!

It smells incredibly soft, I never got any sense of high caffeine in this one. I can smell some of the berries in it even, I am expecting a very mild coffee now.

Third impression, tasting the coffee!

Wow, very mild. A little too much even for my likings. It needs sugar. I am having a bad feel in my mouth when I used the tagatasse, like it was stale, but I know it isnt.

A new experience this one, with real sugar, it is good, though I tend to use more than normal.

I am split between liking it or disliking it.

I will go for liking it, because the sugar version really makes it very likeable, any other version kinda ruins it. Maybe I could try it with my beloved cinnamon syrup, will try it tomorrow.

All in all, a good coffee, I can surely understand the hype and positiveness it is getting from other drinkers, even if it doesnt allow for a sweetener.

Rating: 7/10

Full Characteristics:

Region: North of Sumatra, Seribu Dolok North-West of Lake Toba

Grade: Mandheling MenaGold, Grade 1 special, hand-picked

Altitude: 1100- 1500m

Variety: Catimor, Cattura, Tim-Tim, Typica

Screen: 17/18

Processing: Giling Basah (wet hulled)

Harvesting: October – June

the 3 cons of ordering online!

to be honest, I see more cons than pros, when it comes to ordering online!

First big con = roast date

Only a few online shops actually mention the roast date or sell prepackaged coffee from big brands. I had a few occasions where the shop owners told me not to worry, their coffee would be good for at least 18 more months....

Bullshit!

I am a true asshole when it comes down to this, because I actually reply them they are wrong, telling them the coffee will lose its pure power and scent, the aromas are gone within weeks after burning, my own personal limit is currently 6 weeks, this allows me to appreciate coffee when it is still fresh.

Second big con = variety

I just love to vary my coffee slurping, a new flavour every few days, I love it. Some bad, some good, some awful :)

When you buy online, the ones with the biggest variety almost never roast their own beans, they will sell the usual suspects like bazzara, lavazza, Blaser, Kona, .... But I want my variety.

I also like a "1shop stop", 1 place where I can just order everything, ranging from my syrups to my sugar sachets, from the descaling kit to a tamper.

One of my favourite shops, koffiebean.nl sells many syrups, sugars, ... But I seldom use them to order coffee, not because I dont trust them, but cuz I like the variety of other shops (for coffee) much more. Fascino-coffee, the latest place I ordered from, they have a great variety of products, freshly roasted beans and other things, after mailing them a few times, they actually accepted some of my suggestions and will incorporate those soon AND most importantly swift delivery times, which brings me to the third con, time...

Third and probably biggest con = time

I am not talking about roasts here, but the actual time it takes to deliver the stuff at home. Not all online shops use DHL or Fedex, but snail mail... Imagine waiting for 3 weeks before your "freshly roasted" coffee arrives. Not being home is another such problem.

I had quite a few encounters before with TNT (they suck) where they claimed I wasnt home, but hey, I am lucky enough to have my coffee delivered at work, where there is always someone there to accept the package.

I hate waiting for something i look forward to... dont you?

I also dislike high shipping prices, some shops in the past asked 15 euros to ship 500 grams to my country, the coffee itself was a mere 8 euro... gotta love it :)

From my previous experiences, many shops failed, so far only 2 really did the trick for me.

Koffiebean.nl though this one is mostly for non coffee items, you know, the syrups and stuff

Fascino-coffee.net is the other, a very big variety of coffee beans, they actually listen to suggestions, which is an obvious bonus and the speed, i ordered just once, but once they have syrups and the brita filters, I think they will be my only suppliers for a long time :)

And Another coffee in a can, the Singapore "Pokka"

Right after the Iceccino, I tried the Pokka, Singaporean coffee in a can.

I had already tasted this one before so I knew I was getting a good can. They sell these in brussels too, close to my previous job there.

I bought two cans of this brand in maastricht, together with the iceccino.

First the smell,

A little sweet on the nose, it had a creamy smell to it as well, i like what i am smelling.

The taste was great, pure and simple. Sweet, creamy, pure. Those are the 3 keywords.

I love it, I will be buying it again a few times in the future, most canned coffee is not so good, but this one actually tastes like u want more, making it my third favourite in the world.

First is the delicious Mr. Brown, second surprisingly enough is the Starbucks one, while i am no big fan of their coffees, their espresshot is awesome!

Pokka is a singaporean company, so if you want it, your best chance of finding this one is a Asian supermarket!

Rating : 9/10

Purchased : Oriental Maastricht

Another coffee in a can, the one called Iceccino

Iceccino is from Amsterdam, I bought these 2 cans when I was in Maastricht for the World championships. I was excited to try a new "coffee in a can".

There are almost no such products where i live, so i am always excited to find any new ones. In China, they have more in the local 7-11 than I think we have in our country........ 4 more months and i can finally have a Mr. Brown again, God I love those :p

On to the tasting and smelling

First, opening the can, real easy, just a regular can opening, nothing special

I put my nose on the top and sniffed! But hey, did i really buy a cold coffee or was this cold chocolate...

After inspecting the ingredients, I saw the added chocolate powder, so this was indeed a mix between coffee and chocolate, the smell is leaning more towards the chocolate though. This might be a disappointment after all, most Mokka blends tend to disagree with my taste buds

Second test, the tasting.

Cold chocolate all the way! Kind of a bummer though, I had expected some sort of iced cappuccino, not a chocolate type drink. The taste itself was very decent, if I was rating it as a chocolate drink, it would probably get a 7, maybe higher, but as a coffee, I am giving it a flat out zero.

I honestly think there is less than 5% of coffee in these cans, it was rather sweet too. A dealbreaker when u are expecting coffee.

Will I be getting it again? Most likely yes, it is a good drink, but next time, I will drink it as a cold chocolate instead of a coffee ;)

This was pretty much another failed experiment. I had higher hopes.

Rating: 0/10 because it tastes more like chocolate milk

purchased at a dutch supermarket

How to properly compare coffees

Before we begin, this is the best way in my opinion, because it allows you to be completely neutral in cupping, the art of tasting coffee. Some other methods exist, like using the aeropress, ... but i tend to disagree with those. As far as I am concerned, this is the better way.
Let's get started with the basics, rule number 1, you need a friend to help out with this!
Ok, in a more practical way, first off you need all the coffees you wish to compare, then you need a friend to help you make them.
but not just make them, they need to be prepared in a specific way to really be able to grasp the true character of the coffee.

First step!
Let your friend pour a little ground coffee, I'd say around 8 grams, into a plain cup. Repeat that for all the coffees you got on the table. Write down the scores, which smelled the best, what the impressions are, ... His sole mission in this round of tasting is basically prevent you from knowing which coffee is in which cup. If you don't know, you don't automatically start favouring one or the other !

Second step!
pour hot water into the cup, all the way to the top, this will form a crust on top of the cup, this is how it is supposed to be. But the trick is to wait at least half a minute, this allows the hot water to really suck in the flavours of the coffee, resulting in more clear results for your test. The subtle nuances found in some coffees will come out much more easily this way.
if you want the test to be as accurate as possible, measure down the temperature and the amount of water. The amount of water is the more important one here! You should do your best and make sure the same amount is added to each cup, as not to influence a taste.
More water can make coffees less flavourful, sometimes it will improve things, this is under the condition of minimal changes. Water amounts are like bean grinders, they can influence the experience!

Third step!
Take a big spoon. Get your nose ready and break the crust on top of the cup of coffee. Start smelling! After you finish one cup, make sure to clean your spoon, the trick here is to avoid "cross contamination" of flavours.
Remember to write down your new findings, this just makes it easier to compare afterwards.

Fourth step!
After the smelling test, remove the crust and the tasting begins! The first part is easy, just use a clean spoon to remove the crust, the tasting itself is the final part.
Slurping is the keyword here. As loudly as possible even. Sounds crazy, but there is a reason behind this silly behaviour!
When you slurp, you take air into your mouth, this allows for the scent to move around in your mouth, increasing the sensations you will experience!

Once you compare notes on all coffees, your helping friend can tell you which is which! You can be surprised by the outcome or not at all. Last time I tried this way, I ended up labelling the Brazilian Yellow Bourbon as my favourite of 5 coffees, to my surprise, I generally am no big fan of the Brazilian beans myself :)

Mrs Rose

Lately, I have been a little unlucky in my choices, most didnt really please me, either too strong or too bitter. I was hoping this nicely packed coffee would be different. The last one I had, the Galapagos from Blaser Cafe, it was not good, not bad either, but just not so good, I decided not to review it, because I was reluctant to describe the horrible feeling when it turns cold. It made my tongue shrivel :p

But enough about that one, on to Mrs. Rose, this coffee is very special, nicely packed in a very nice tin. It has a green plastic cap, I think a red one would be more befitting, but that is just me :)
The roasters are actually Mokamo, famous italian roasters, been known for a very long time and they are from the Triveneto region. Mrs Rose is their best melange, their big name, their specialty.
The coffee itself is a melange from 6 seperately roasted arabica beans, South-America, Guatamala, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ethiopia and Kenya (AA).
What else is interesting to know, they are pretty unique for the low moisture percentage found in the beans, at 1,12 percent, this is very low and we should conclude this is premium quality. Furthermore, the coffee has a very low caffeine level, a mere 1,35%, aside from decaf, this is the lowest level I have ever seen.

In other words, this is going to be premium coffee!

Or so I thought...

First impression, smelling the beans.
A new sensation came to mind, aside from the obvious coffee smell, I was confused, my nose was picking up both a sweet and a sour sensation... (no, i wasnt eating chinese prior to it, nor did someone cook anything special in the kitchen when i tried)

Second impression, smelling the coffee itself.
Same impression, once more, 2 completely opposite impressions? Really?

Third impression, drinking :)
Ok, so this is where it got tricky, I dislike this coffee very much after trying. When i tried my first cup, I had a preheated cup, great crema and it smelled fascinating. But alas, as soon as i tried it, i got a little disgusted by it. The very low caffeine level clearly showed up on my tongue, as well as both the acidic sourness and a little sweetness. BUT!!! They really don't do it for me.
Sorry Mrs.Rose, I think your coffee was really bad.
I tried covering up the taste, even adding a spoon of syrup didnt help, vanilla sugar didnt help. Nothing helped.
Another effect I hated, the aftertaste really lingered way tooooooo long, but I am sure if you love this brand, this coffee will be awesome for you.
Frankly speaking, while I am happy to try out new melanges and single origins and all, some just don't cut it. The best I got out of this coffee is actually a very nice tin that is now holding sugar sticks at work.


Rating: 2/10
Purchased online

Java Katakan!

A very special coffee to enjoy this sunday evening, my very first 100% Robusta coffee.

Grown on the state-owned plantation PTPN XII, this fine Java robusta is one of few robusta coffees out there, usually they blend Robusta and Arabica together. Robusta tends to be more bitter and strong, so the finer arabica beans are blended in to come to a nice palet of tastes for the enjoyment of coffee drinkers worldwide. I was told this was very powerful and earthy coffee, with wooden influences.

Roasted, I have only found 100% pure robusta on 2 seperate occasions, one time in 2 kilo portions, the other was this Java Katakan. Obviously I would not buy 2 kilos for what might be something i wont enjoy. Robusta is the "cheaper" bean, but this coffee did set me back 7 euro for 250 grams, that is around 20 cents per cup, slightly more expensive than various others, but I didnt really mind, I was curious to try it ever since it arrived!

My expectations... A very strong coffee, slightly bitter and some acidity. This Katakan was roasted at level 4, i think, so my experiences led me to expect a lot of punch in a cup.

First impression, smelling the beans.

This coffee delivered, strong like expected, a little spicy, i would say I am detecting wood too. Not sure if spicy is the right way to describe it, from what I read, i was supposed to be smelling sesame seeds and licorice.

Second impression, smelling the espresso.

A rather pure smell, it was obviously quite strong, pure caffeine, i think. I am a little reluctant to try now. I smelled four or five times, each time taking in the raw power of this coffee.

Time to drink!

Third impression, tasting the espresso.

Ok, this needs to be said, I am not a big fan of black coffee, especially the very strong ones like this. This was no exception, way too strong for me, even with a little milk in it, too strong.

Adding more milk however did do the trick. It's a little earthy still, but I am enjoying the body of this cup, though the excess amount of milk is probably making it too creamy right now.

Down the line, this coffee is way too strong for me, however as a Caffe Latte Macchiato, it is really good.

It makes me wonder if all robusta are this strong, it would be a good test for future purposes if and when I find more of them.

Maybe one day, I will have my own home roaster, robusta is easier to find as green beans and then I can try again.

Rating: 6,5/10

Purchased online

Brand: Blaser Cafe

Traceability: Indonesia Robusta washed Java R/WP PTPN XII

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Emmi: Caffe Latte Light, Brazil edition

Emmi, a swiss based cold coffee drink manufacturer. They have a few products, this is my first time drinking the "light" drink. They sell these in local supermarkets for around 1,50 euro. 230ml per serving, despite a "light" label, it has a high 39Kcal for each 100ml.

Should this be labelled as false advertisement? I took a can of Cherry coke and saw 45Kcal for each 100ml, I doubt 39 can really be called light.

Further inspection of the cup gives the following information, there is about 80% of milk and 17% of brazilian arabica beans, the remaining 3% were mostly sugar based additives and some E-thingies.

So it was made with half and half milk instead of whole, must have been the reason why they called it "Light", I keep using tags because I am being skeptical...

On to the tasting and smelling

First, opening the cup, real easy, nothing special to notice. The instructions required a shake prior to opening the lid. After a shake I opened up the cup, let my nose do its job.

First impression is not so good, it smells rather bland, tasteless... No, it is failing the smell test. Based on smell alone, I would not buy it again.

Second test, the tasting.

Meh... That was my first taste impression, meh... this is not good, it is more leaning towards bad even. A little sweet, but bland in many ways.

I am not enjoying this test at all :)

The taste also lingers in my mouth, nothing bitter or sweet or actually tasting like decent coffee. There is some sort of sour feeling in my mouth and yes, I did check the expiry date prior to tasting.

No, this coffee product tastes like stale coffee, with milk and a little sugar.

I am disturbed by the aftertaste, it is nothing likeable.

This was pretty much a failed experiment. I had higher hopes.

Rating: 1,4/10

purchased at a local supermarket

Ranting is an art or how I hate delivery services :)

Ok, so I order quite a bit online, including coffee and accesories like containers, syrups, ...

I mostly have positive experiences aside from some broken Starbucks mugs from ebay, but I blame the seller for them breaking, rather than the post office. A small advice for all interested, when you send mugs by mail, use more than just bubble wrap. Make sure you protect the handle as well, preferably by tearing up an old cardboard box and using it to make a extra layer around the mug, this will help protect the mug a millionfold. Otherwise they are bound to arrive broken...

But let's get to the real rant, my issues with TNT. TNT, you guys suck monkeyballs and you do it very well!

Let's go back in time to last weekend, I order seven items from the koffiebeans.nl shop, mostly syrups, a cool coffee bean container, some sugars, ... I got the confirmation email within minutes, the status update for the shipping arrived the day after.

So the waiting game begins, the package will come from the netherlands so I estimated 2 days.

Wednesday, I checked the website, claimed I wasn't home for the delivery. Strange because I thought I had set it up for delivery at work, could have been wrong.

Thursday, 10 am, had a little time to spare, so once again went to check up on my package.

Second delivery attempt failed at 9 am... WTF...

I decided to call home first, verify wether or not someone was home. Normally there is always someone at my house every thursday, the ice cream delivery guy actually comes between 9 and 10 am. This week, he came at 9 am.

Wait a minute... No one was supposed to be present at 9 am because the delivery attempt failed........

Checked the koffiebeans.nl site, nope, the delivery address was right, I didnt make a mistake.

They were supposed to be delivered to me, not at home.

So I decided to call TNT, a very friendly lady picked up the phone. I asked her why my delivery was labelled as failed while I had it delivered to a company, not a private house.

According to her system, I wasn't home. In the end, I told her she needed to fire the driver, because he was lieing his ass off. I actually proved it too.

I was supposed to get a new delivery attempt with a new driver the day after, my delivery attempts were also reset, because it would be the third one. Miss the third one and your package is returned.

Later that day, at half past seven (7.30pm), my doorbell rang. Suddenly a TNT delivery guy appeared with my box. At my house, not the delivery address mentioned.

To make a long story short, I am very happy to have my box, even if it was delivered too late, not at the right place and the delivery guy himself was VERY impolite to say the least. My guess being he was the one I asked to be fired.

Sigh

I hate TNT.

One good thing came out of all this, after contacting the website, they guaranteed they would never use TNT for my orders again. This was great news!

Fun fact, nothing broke and I got to enjoy my stuff very much!

Shakeria: Latte Macchiato

So this is my first review of a "cold coffee" drink, it is a coffee shake, to be precise. Manufactured by Shakeria, a Swiss company.

According to their website, they use swiss milk for all their products, I guess this is a promotional stunt like any other.

I had tried the Bourbon Vanilla and the Swiss Chocolate before, those were great milkshakes. The local shop is selling them, much to my surprise, they started selling the Coffee shakes too.

I wonder if I can call them milkshakes or not, I will just call them shakes...

First off, this is no expensive drink at all, priced at 1,30 at my local shop, it's not so bad. Go into any regular coffee shop or Starbucks and you are paying at least double.

The others I tried before, I can'tsay it often enough, they were great!

Now on to the tasting, smelling and hopefully enjoying?

The package is easy to open, the straw is one of those neat pull-out straws, which allows it to be more than long enough, a problem I sometimes find in cheap packages.

Once opened, their system doesn't allow for a smell test. There is a small hole, you put the straw through it. I just unscrewed the cap, took of the foil and smelled the goods :)

My first impression was not so good, I smelled a real creamy kind of milk, yet almost no coffee. Might have smelled it wrong, but that was the first impression.

Then I tried drinking it, to my delight, not so bad as the smell. It was actually quite good, like the others I had before. My taste buds were tingling from the creaminess this drink had. For my likings, the drink was just in need of a little more sweetness, but that is me^^

The drink was cold and going down smoothly, like most shakes.

I did taste the coffee, but no bitterness, a lot of cream, pretty much it delivered as the others I had before.

For a cold drink, this is a great sensation, however I will make one slightly negative remark. I doubt you can have a few of these in a row... It felt a little heavy towards the end of the shake.

Rating: 8/10

Will buy again!

Douwe Egberts: Dark Roasted Spicy India

The Second of the Douwe Egberts: World of Origins blends, this time the Indian one.
I will not be wasting a lot of time describing this one, it is a medium to dark roast, not like the name leads us to believe. I would call it a level 4 roast, the previous one, the Tre Forze, was slightly more dark. The name is giving us a clue on its origin, all Indian.Douwe Egberts is billing this coffee as a spicy, full-bodied coffee, hints of cardamon, vanilla, manga, pepper corns, ...
I have to say that such a description intrigues me, especially after trying other indian coffees like the "Monsoon Malabar", which was rather strongly flavoured.

Most indian beans are harvested at higher altitudes, this coffee is no exception. Like usual, big companies will never give out the actual blend recipee. I am especially curious when it comes to mysterious blends that are "single country origin".

But enough about that, let us move on to the delight called "Dark roasted spicy India".

First impression, the beans
Nothing really specific to mention here, it smells a little stronger than average coffee, nothing specific comes out.

Second impression, the espresso.
This is where it gets interesting, it smells absolutely neutral with a small hint of vanilla. I smelled it numerous times, I can't grasp any other aromas in it. My curiosity level just rose to a whole new level.

Third impression, tasting the espresso.
One word, awesome... I detect very little bitterness in this, indeed some vanilla and some kind of fruitiness, must be the mango, but I couldnt fully pinpoint that specific fruit in it. Great aftertaste, gentle, smooth, a little like the monsoon malabar, but more to my preference. The aftertaste lingers in the mouth for quite a while, but not once did I have the impression of a bad flavour. A little acidic maybe, my tongue is mostly responding on the middle, not the front, not the backend.
I am intrigued by this blend, a great melange indeed.

It's gotta be one of the better "cheap" coffees I ever tried, at 7 euro for half a kilo, it is rather cheap.
Another thing that deserves mentioning, the crazy amount of crema! I have those cool Bodum mugs and they aren't really small, but they had about 5 millimeters of crema in a preheated cup. Not many coffees produce such a nice and clean crema in such a big mug.


Rating: 8,9 / 10
Purchased in a dutch supermarket
Origin: India
Brand: Douwe Egberts

Tre Forze! Espresso

a Very special melange of coffee, where do I even begin with the explanation?
I got this espresso online, came in a very nice cardboard tube, like a bottle of alcohol.
The picture should show how nice this is.

This coffee has a very rich history, a very nice history actually. They actually roast the beans on top of olive tree branches, though they do not cut down trees for this process, they use branches and 'garbage' from the trees to do this. This wood is then stored in order to dry, this takes up around a year. According to Tre Forze, the lava from mount Etna in Sicily makes the olive trees get their specific scent and flavour.

The melange contents are a company secret, but they did confirm their melange has about five percent of Robusta in it, allowing the coffee to have a stronger espresso feel to it. The roasters did confirm the countries where they buy their beans, but not the types.

Another interesting tidbit, they roast all different beans seperately, this obviously allows all beans to bring out their full potential and not having their flavours/aromas lost by the more dominant beans in the mix. I really admire them for this, it is not the cheapest solution they chose in order to bring us this coffee.

Last tidbit that needs to be known, they have very strict quality controls for Tre Forze, the beans themselves are transported to Sicily. The raw coffee grown on family-run farms in the best cultivation areas in Peru, Costa Rica, Togo, Kamerun and Brasil, make it possible that the highest quality beans that money can buy can be used. They undergo up to 5 quality checks, to ensure the highest quality beans are being used.

Originally this coffee was only sold in Sicily, never intended to be exported, but over the years, the company changed their policy and started exporting it too. I am sure many espresso lovers rejoyced over this change in policy, because it is a very special blend, to say the least!

On to the good stuff, trying this coffee.

First impression, the beans.
Before opening the package, I was curious wether or not I would actually be able to smell the "olive" in them. I am not going to lie, I smelled something specific, but I was more leaning towards dades or so.
I don't really like olives, nor do I like dades, but hey, this is about coffee, not regular food

Second impression, the coffee itself, in a cup, waiting to be enjoyed.
Same impression as from the beans, the coffee itself was dark-roasted, between a level 4 and 5, so a more strong aroma was to be expected. Again I smelled that dade-like aroma... Once again, coud have been a olive scent too, was getting curious again about the taste :)

Third impression, drinking it, usually my favourite :)
Tasting is a joy, usually. This espresso however, it is strange.
I was experiencing less of the olives, but I am absolutely positive I was tasting dades in it, some chocolate, some nuts, a little spicey.... This espresso is a true mix of flavours, sadly not to my liking.
I am not a fan of dades or olives and it reflected in my opinion of this coffee.
Also, it lacked power, maybe that was just an impression of mine, but most darker roasted coffees are less present in flavouring and more present in pure power, but it had the aroma of a medium roast, all the flavours are very present, yet none of the usual power.

In the end, I have no idea how to rate it, if I have to go on my gut feeling, I can only give it a 6... But I think it deserves a lot more credit. They make it undergo a very serious quality control, one that should be the industry standard as far as I am concerned. Most roasters will have 1 or 2 filtering sessions to weed out bad coffee, Tre Forze does it five times! They deserve the respect for setting the bar.
Yet sadly my taste buds are screaming for a 6 out of 10. Sorry Tre Forze, you guys deserve much more based on merit and effort, but I am rating on my tasting only

Rated: 6/10
Purchased online koffiecentrale

Bellagio White Chocolate Mix

It's a new thing for me, trying out a instant drink. I decided to "expand" my blog a little to all kinds of hot drinks and even some cold drinks will appear soon, I am going to compare some of the canned coffees too, I got my eyes on a few of them already.

I have stated before that I have a sweet tooth, so it won't come as a surprise that I like going to the "oil&vinegar" store. My cupboard has a few of their products and I am pretty sure more products will be bought in the future. I simply love their flavours and most of their oils, vinegars and sauces are alcohol-free, always a big advantage for me.

Last friday, I was going to a shopping mall to buy some manga (japanese comics), one of my favourite shops had a 3+1 promotion, so I got quite a few. The same shopping mall houses a Oil&Vinegar, so we went in to try the goods and while browsing the shelves, I found this.
Bellagio, White chocolate, gourmet Hot cocoa Mix.
I also found out they sell white chocolate callets, black chocolate callets, dark hot cocoa mix, ... A little expensive though, but i dont really mind to pay a little more for quality, which their products usually are.
Took it home, read the instructions, got out a cup and started.
The instructions were simple, 3 spoons per cup.
Whenever I need hot water for a hot drink, I tend to use my panarello pipe, because it allows me to stir while the water is pouring into my cup. It is one of many advantages my new machine has, loving my saeco :)

First impression, smelling the cocoa mix, I guess
didnt really know what i was smelling, it smelled mostly like milk creamer (like coffeemate)

Second impression, smelling the hot white cocoa.
I have to say, it smelled decent, but it wasnt like "oooooh, I wanna try" The creamer smell was also very present, though it felt like this was not the right aroma, like it needed more cocoa mix.

Third impression, Tasting.
My hunch was right, not enough cocoa mix. Into the cup, another spoon, still not enough, second spoon, this felt more right.
My impression is not so good, I have had a hot white chocolate before, it was so much better. Then again, whole milk and chocolate callets, always so much better, I actually make them that way at home too. I have the dark chocolate ones at home right now, too bad it is dificult to find affordable white chocolate callets in smaller dosages, I know where to buy big bags, but 2,5 kilograms...... wow, too much really for the occasional sip.
Maybe I should have tried adding some sugar, but I just gave up. I did not like this. Very disappointed even, I hope my mom's grandchildren will like it, so I dont have to end up throwing it out with the trash.


Rating: 1/10
Purchased: Oil&Vinegar


A little PS this time, I have had decent instant hot cocoa before, this was just bad...

Hawaii Kona

First thing this morning, I opened up this nice pack of Mykona coffee labelled Hawaii Kona, the farm where the beans were grown is called "Tokie Farm". I loved how the trace information was actually mentioned on the outside, showing the info means it is usually grown by respected farms or owners.

Some random information on this coffee, there is a story to this coffee, I will not bother you with the details on how it is grown, but we will be starting off by stating a fact. Kona is a protected name, to be used solely on hawaii. They have sued farmers in the past for abusing the name/brand.
It is also the only coffee grown on American soil (USA soil, not the continents).
From what I read, Nasa lets its' astronauts drink Kona on flights in outer space, it would also appear this is the coffee they drink in the White house. President Barack Obama is supposedly a lover of Hawaii Kona.

A few years ago, they found dangerous beetles on the island of Hawaii, beetles that could potentially destroy up to 90 percent of crops, I am not up2date on the current status, but at the time of this news breaking, it was expected that this coffee would become even more expensive.
Right now, it is rated at 80 euros per kilo, which is not cheap at all. Alongside some other Grand-cru coffees, this is considered to be one of the best coffees in the world, I am looking forward to trying the Guadeloupe Bonefieur coffee, which is apparently a very similar coffee bean, but grown in Guadeloupe of course (the name probably gave that away, didnt it)

On to the good stuff, smelling and tasting this very expensive luxury coffee, will it live up to its fame?

First impression, smelling the beans.
Right after opening the package, my nostrils went into overdrive... I almost mistook the beans for chocolate, the smell is that intense, I would say this is the most peculiar coffee I smelled so far.
Mind you, this is not a bad thing, it is a really good thing even, I tend to be a fan of the special tastes/aromas and this one fit the bill completely!

Second impression, smelling the freshly made espresso.
a little less intense than the beans, the odor of a fresh cup of coffee became more clear, I was ready to take a first nip :) This is the Extra Fancy Kona and I had a hunch that "top grade" wasn't just a marketing slogan.

Third impression and usually my favourite, the tasting!
I got a little skeptical, because of the clear chocolate smell i had as first impression, expecting it to be really present in the taste as well, but I was lucky! A mere touch of the chocolate smell, a lot more nut on top of a very clean coffee. It is very peculiar in taste yet flavorful, this was a surprise. But the real surprise was yet to come!
At one point, I was called out, having to leave a brand new cup on my desk. Upon returning, it had turned cold already, now I usually hate cold coffee, it is a drink meant to be anything but cold. Despite that, i tried my luck, took a nip and smiled! It was even better cold...
I had another cold one, just to make sure.
In the end, I have to admit, be it reluctantly, that I prefer this coffee when it is cold.
Don't get me wrong, it is great coffee, but I just love it that little bit more when cold.

I am still surprised :p

Those manufacturers selling canned coffee should be selling this one, it would be a great product for sure! For the record, I also drink canned coffee, yet not so often, I mostly drink that when I am on holiday in China, I love the "Mr. Brown" brand, their "Blue Mountain" is awesome, though i think they offer the Kenyan BM, not the Jamaican.
I will write a review on them in november, when I am going to China, it is actually my marriage that time too, I am already counting the days! I love my girlfriend very much! She makes me more happy than a good coffee in the morning :)


Rating: 8/10 for the hot coffee, I am rating it 9,4/10 when cold
Purchased online from koffiecentrale

Ecuador Galapagos Malabar Organic

Wow, so just 1 day after ordering from koffiecentrale.nl, we got the TNT delivery guy at work, surprised it didnt even take 24 hours to arrive.
Once again, WOW, delivery in under 24 hours is impressive to say the least.
Unpacking was fun, we got a handful of free goodies like sugarpacks and some awesome tasting Amaretti biscuits, almond flavoured. Non alcoholic biscuits too, really yummy, I may buy a box of these next time, 2 thumbs up for KC for their service, they deserve it.

Now on to the most dificult thing I had to do all day... lol... sounded so serious, but it was really only just picking which coffee to drink first.
We ended up trying the Galapagos one from Mykona.

A little information about the name of this coffee and why it is officially labelled as Ecuador Galapagos, thanks to wikipedia, I found out that the Galapagos islands are actually officially part of Ecuador, despite being a group of islands a little over 1000 km from the shore of Ecuador. The islands have a hot and dry climate, this is mostly due to the Humboldtstream from Antarctica.
This coffee specifically is grown on the "Oro Virgin" farm, the entire plantation is irrigated thanks to water coming from the El Junco crater. All this magic happens on the island of San Cristobal, fifth largest of the Galapagos.
Everyone knows these islands from the famous turtles, protected by law. Because of the overprotection of the turtle and the accompanying ecosystem, the island has a ban on Chemicals, fertilizers and pesticides. This ban was put into effect to help preserve the ecosystem, but obviously also has positive effects on the coffee, as it is grown the most natural way possible.
I have low hopes for this coffee to be honest, simply because of this reason.
Everything we eat or drink, in one way or the other, is processed. I doubt I have ever had a cup of natural coffee and I already confirmed in the past that I am not a big fan of fairtrade products, the ones with a relative possibility of being clean too.
It is also quite exclusive, very limited quantities apply, yet it is not in the price range of the Blue Mountains or the Kopi Luwaks.

So let us get to the actual testing, we opened up the bag, time to smell

First impression, smelling the beans.
Surprisingly strong and surprisingly chocolatey in aroma. You can actually smell the chocolate in it, both my colleagues agreed, the smell was very good! I took another sniff, my hopes went up for the actual tasting, haha!

Second impression, smelling the cup of freshly made espresso.
This was according to expectations, not the best i had smelled, but far from being the worst. What I really noticed... the pure smell of coffee, less of the chocolate. Expectations were still medium, better than the original low ones, I guess! Not so much crema.

Third impression, the tasting.
First thing my colleagues said when they tried it, was that it was a completely different flavour. I heard them give it a nine out of ten points, but I do not follow, I rate it a little lower, around 8,5.
The coffee is very creamy, little bitterness and acidity, a strange sweetness was present. I would be tempted to call it uniquely flavoured, like a mix of mild coffee, fruits and chocolates.
The reason why I am giving lower points than my colleagues is simple, I didnt fully enjoy the aftertaste of my first 2 cups. The first cup left me disappointed when it comes to aftertaste, the coffee itself was good, like a 8 out of 10 good.
But yet, I am rating it at 8,5, right?
This is the first coffee that immediately grew on me, as with each cup I had, it became better.
I rarely get this sensation from coffee, most actually tend to go the other way, making me happy that I finish the pack and can move on. Often I am not enjoying the last few cups, but this one grew on me.

Overall, a very clear tasting coffee with a surprising pallet of flavours, creamy and lovely too!


Rating: 8,5/10
Origin: Ecuador / Galapagos
Ordered online koffiecentrale.nl
Price: 9,90€ for 250 grams

Columbia Micro Lot Project

Ten PM, the last of the illy coffee. Time for a new one, the choice was easy, I only had 1 set of beans left from the Blanche Dael roasters, so I wanted to make sure to drink this one before it loses its spunk!

This coffee is grown in Columbia, it's a micro lot project, this means it is a small portion of land, bought specifically for growing this coffee. I don't know if Blanche Dael actually owns this land or that they get the coffee specifically from the real owner, not really important, because it is about the coffee, not who owns the land.

First impression, the beans.
So I opened the package, once again, Blanche Dael are great roasters, this is evenly roasted and I would estimate a level 3 roasting, which is slowly becoming my favourite. The smell of this bean is quite powerfull, a very strong odor comes out, I am expecting a strong coffee now!

Second impression, the smell of fresh coffee
Like always, I let 2 coffees pass the grinder before actually tasting, this is done to prevent flavour mixing from the Illy and this one. The smell pretty much confirmed my first impression, this appeared to be very strong flavoured coffee. For a medium roasted coffee bean, I am smelling some powerfull aromas, the crema is awesome, taking out my spoon, the crema is very gentle on the spoon, like sugar syrup falling down, the impressions are great so far

Third impression and the surprise!
This is very mild coffee... I am surprised big time, a very strong odor, all the signs so far pointed towards a strong espresso, but I was wrong. It tastes a little earthy, some chocolate in there, but mostly very mild and soft coffee.
I would not completely call it full bodied, it is more a creamy kind of coffee, I love it.
Very little acidity and bitterness in this coffee too, also in the aftertaste. The aftertaste is not clean, I do have a little bitterness in their, but not disturbing, not even the long aftertaste I am getting. A little earthy feel in the aftertaste too, again not disturbing. it is like the aftertaste is divided equally between the 3, being the coffee, the bitterness and the earthiness. A great coffee indeed.

Can I say anything bad about this coffee? Maybe that I only got 250grams :)
Great coffee for those loving milder versions of our devils' drink, I do guess the ristretto drinkers would not approve, it is not strong at all.

Rating: 8,9/10
Purchased: Blanche Dael, Maastricht, Netherlands
Origin: Columbia

what the future brings!

or what I like to call, what I just bought/ordered.

In this case, I used a new supplier called koffiecentrale.be, a belgian-dutch website, with a very decent supply of beans, including high quality beans and single origins.

What I liked about them, obviously, is the big amount of products! Many brands are represented, Illy, Mrs. Rose, Tre Forze, Mykona, La Semeuse, Lavazza, Kimbo, Mauro, ... I love it.
I got 8 different beans. Not kidding, 8 kinds...

From the swiss roasters Blaser, I am getting the following

• "Lila e rose"
• Jamaican Blue Mountain Wallenford
• Galapagos San Cristobal
• Java Katakan, the 100% pure Robusta, REALLY looking forward to this one!

From Mykona, roasters based in Berlin, Germany, I am only getting 2 beans

• Galapagos Malabar Organic
  
• Hawaii Kona, extra Fancy, Tokie Farm

Then 2 more, the Mrs.Rose and the Tre Forze beans.
Expect reviews as soon as I open them! I will be reviewing this Jamaican Blue Mountain again, as it is the Wallenford one, among BM beans, you have 3 quality ratings, this is the highest one guaranteed.
It will give me an excellent occasion to compare it to the one tasted in Belgium and the one in China.
Also wanting to try the Galapagos beans very badly, the Galapagos islands have a strict "no fertilizers, no pesticides" policy because of the turtles, so I heard they have the most natural flavour of all coffee beans, I hope this is not just some "commercial" trick to make u buy them at higher prices :)

In 1 order, I am getting the Hawaiian Kona, the Jamaican Blue Mountain, the 100% robusta called Java Katakan... The only problem I have now, which one do I try first?

Loving my life, Loving my coffee!

Why I don't like Senseo

First of all, let me say this, I started enjoying coffee the first time thanks to senseo, but as i grew more fond of the caffeine, I gradually became less fond of senseo.
Many years ago, my mom had her own cafe, the only coffee she served though, were filters. I occasionally tried them when my dad drank one, but i wasnt a big fan, it had a kind of run-down taste, empty bodied.
Suffice to say, i never got into it.

Then Senseo came onto the scene, my dad had tried it at the supermarket and decided he was getting a machine, so we eventually bought the basic blue model. I think they had 3 flavours initially, Mild, strong and decaffeine, we mostly got strong, because it was the one dad preferred ^^
Eventually, they got to having other flavours, like the one with vanilla, the Kenya, the Brazil, ...
Occasionaly I would drink a few cups, but not many, never was a real fan of their taste.

Then I ended up getting a free try of Nespresso in a local electronics store, I had the Volluto, which was much better. This sparked my interest for coffee...
Back home, I decided to give the senseo another try, no way they won't have such good flavours, was what i thought. So I gave it another try.
I did enjoy the vanilla one, there was one more, can't really remember the name.

I just ended up throwing away a lot of pads, buying a nespresso instead.
The Nespresso eventually got sold so I could buy my Saeco, but it did serve me well for many cups.

Now, why I dont like senseo, is mostly the taste. I know, I know, you can't argue about taste. But allow me to try.
Senseo tastes a little weird compared to real espresso or french press-made coffee. Even in bars, where they serve the real deal, it will always come off better tasting, both in-mouth and aftertaste-wise.
First, the in-mouth experience, Senseo does not really give a real body or that is my impression.
I can't really describe it, but senseo feels like it is an artificially made coffee.
One of the last senseo tasted was "Perla Cinnamon", the coffee itself had a chemical feel to it, in my mouth. The favour was exactly what they said it would be, but I am a big fan of cinnamon, real cinnamon bark tastes completely different. Also had cinnamon infused sugar before, even this felt more natural in my mouth.
Second, the shallow aftertaste it leaves me. It tastes about right for 10 seconds, after that, this chemical flavour pops up in my mouth, unless I oversugar it...

Another small concern i have, is a technical one, how does a small machine like this create such smooth crema? That is easy to explain, it is not cream but artificial foam.
The average Senseo machine has around 1,5 bars of pressure, while you need approximately 8 to 9 to start creating proper crema. Senseo uses the small hole in the pad holder to help create the foam that appears. A little cheating :)

But let us give credit where credit is due, Senseo does the trick for thousands of casual coffee drinkers, they deserve the kudos they get, much like Nespresso, Dolce Gusto, Lavazza, .... They provide a easy way to make a cup, one cup at a time, with no real effort.

Senseo, one of the good choices for the occasional cup.
Get a better one if your standards are higher or you want a better cup of coffee.

Frankly speaking, my caffeine addiction began with senseo, but I moved on to better, I am stil grateful that my dad ever got a senseo machine, thanks dad!

ILLY

I have been wanting to review this one for a very long time now, but illy is expensive in belgium, where i live. A 250grams tin will easily set you back more than 7 euro, my local supermarket sells them at 7,45, not really cheap huh
I got it a week ago, when shopping in Maastricht, Netherlands, at 5,85 in the Albert Heyn shops, I immediately got a tin, being oh so lucky with this relatively good price.
Truth be told, I had already tried illy before, many times even, one of my favourite bars in my hometown serves this coffee, but there is a downside to them, they use fresh milk for the caffe au lait they serve.
Let me tell you this, fresh milk... awesome (pretend this word is being sung out loud)
It really is that good, it adds so much more flavour to the coffee, I wish i could have the luxury to have fresh milk on a daily base, but I still havent found any reliable suppliers that can keep providing the high quality i am looking for.

Back to the actual review and let us keep the ranting for another blog post, I should do one about the choice of milk, could be a very interesting one to experiment with various milk types on purpose.

So I got the tin, opened it up, pulled the tab and out came the odor of this bean.

First impression, it is a medium roasted bean, again I would estimate this one as a level 3 roast, but it does smell more powerfull than most other coffees. A very clear more intense aroma. I was a little worried, most coffees this lightly roasted do not smell this intense, it made me expect a strong espresso, a very strong one even.

Second impression, to my surprise, when i smelled the freshly made cup of espresso, I wasnt liking the smell. I cant explain it even, it just didnt smell right.

Third impression, my all time favourite, the drinking.
Now to be honest, I divided this test in 3 parts, because I had just bought some new cane sugar too, I wanted to experience that too.
Test A, half n half milk, cane sugar... Medium flavoured coffee, a thick body, a very nice crema layer. I didnt really seem to enjoy this one, could it be the cane sugar?
Test B, half n half milk again, this time with regular sugar. While the sweetness experience changed a little, the coffee didnt seem to improve a lot. I will give it due credit, this one would be getting a mere 6,2 / 10, based mostly on past experiences, when I drink it at the coffeeshop, it is just so much better.

Then finally, Test C, whole milk, my favourite Joyvalle brand, regular sugar.
The flavour really changed, the soft nutty flavour I know, came back immediately. Medium to Strong flavoured, I wouldnt call it mild or strong, something nicely in between. I like this one much more, thanks to the milk.

Final thoughts, this coffee is good, but expensive. Makes a great cappuccino or caffe latte, needs whole milk to be really good. I suggest everyone gives it a try, but do try it in a Illy shop, their baristas really know their coffee and should not disappoint.

Rating: 8,7 / 10
Purchased: can buy it almost everywhere
Price: 5,85

Raja Batak

I have great Karma, yet another new coffee to try today !
Raja Batak, the Sumatra grown coffee. It is typically grown around lake Toba at 1000 meters above sealevel, like always I am trying arabica coffees, I should get a robusta once, just to try it... or even a liberica or excelsa, but haven't seen those for sale yet, only one time did i see a 100%robusta, but it was a very dark roast, most likely a level 5 out of 5. I am sure you already figured out my love for lighter and medium roasts compared to dark ones :)

A little more information about lake Toba now, according to geologists, lake Toba is one of the better places on our planet for growing coffee. The rich soil, the higher altitude and the almost perfect climate are what makes this the ideal location.

I got this coffee at the Maastricht roastery called Blanche Dael, together with the Micro Lot, the Cup of excellence and 2 syrups. I already gave 2 thumbs up to the CoE, this was the second of their coffees.
Again a medium roast, I guess between a level 2 and a level 3, I think it is a 3, but I could be wrong.

First impression, like always, smelling the beans. A clean smell of good coffee, a little spicy, would say dark chocolatey too. Even my mom smelled and approved, she is like my fiancee, doesnt like coffee very much. They go hand in hand for many things, they both call me crazy and obsessed, haha.
The other day, I went to a market, both asked if I bought new coffee, that is how funny they can be :)

Second impression, the espresso smelling. I had just got the cup in my hand and immediately noticed a very clean and thick layer of crema on top of the espresso, it smelled good, same impression as the beans.

Third impression, my all time favourite impression, the drinking.
I am going to do my best to give this cup the justice it deserved. First off, it was beyond good, but not great. First thing I noticed was a clean yet heavy taste. The acidity in this coffee were just above the average you would expect, but because it has some added sweetness, I didnt feel betrayed by my taste buds. It was good, despite the acidity. I know, am almost contradicting my own words and ideals, but this was a good coffee. What I also noticed, if this coffee had gone up one level of roasting, it would surely be too bitter and the sweetness would most likely have vanished too, making it great for ristretto, but not for me.
Last but not least, the long aftertaste in my mouth, again this is not a complaint. It stayed present on my tongue for almost an hour, the light syrupy spicy kind of dark chocolate. As I have stated a few times before, I have a sweet tooth and chocolate is my nemesis, must be why I did enjoy this coffee so much.

Final conclusion.
I will be a little sad when I finish it! But.....
I still need to try a few hundred coffees in my life (not joking, it is my queste) but I am very glad I got to try this one, maybe I am underrating it at 8/10, but all in all, the coffee felt like it was on the edge of going too far. I would however recommend it to everyone, for 2 reasons. It is a specific taste experience, one everyone should have tried at least once. Second, most Sumatran coffees are not this clean when it comes to the taste of things, it is another big part of why this coffee is a "must try"



Rating: 8 / 10
Purchased: Blanche Dael, Maastricht
Full name of this coffee: Sumatra Raja Batak Lingtong

Sainsbury Kenya

Today is my lucky day, I got to try two new flavours in 1 day, aside from the DE Peru, I am now trying the Sainsbury blend from Mount Kenya. I bought this coffee when I was visiting London for the weekend with my fiancee. I don't really remember which supermarket I got this one, I do however recall buying a few Mountain Dew bottles there too. Mountain Dew is another one of my vices... I often try those so-called Energy Drinks, maybe I should blog about those too. For the record, my favourite energy drink is called "Burn", made by coca cola and I recently found out David Guetta, the French DJ also likes this one. He has good taste in music and in energy drinks hehe

Now, on to this coffee. My usual ritual, opening the bag and smelling the beans.

First impression, a medium roasted bean, the aroma coming from the bag was a little citrus mixed in with a pure coffee smell. It made me wonder how it would taste.

Second impression, smelling the fresh espresso. Again I could swear I have this light citrus fragrance in my nose, so I decided to do a second bean smelling test, this time outside the house. It confirmed my original impression, both for the beans and the espresso smell. I was real curious by now, would it taste citrus-like too?

Third impression, actually taking it to my mouth and trying it. So there I was, outside the house, with an espresso in my hands, took it to my mouth and took a nip.
Disappointment time :(
It tasted a little stale, like it was too old. So I checked the expiration date, which was good, valid before Feb 2012. The aftertaste was still in my mouth 30 minutes later.
Really disappointed... I added extra sugar, to no avail. Tried a second cup, this time with Vanilla canderel, slightly better but no real luck in making it decent

I am persistent in my efforts, so I dove into the fridge, took out a cup of yoghurt and kill the taste in my mouth so I could try a third time, possibly the last time too.

Nothing improved, sadly.

I read the package again, it stated the taste was indeed citrus and blackcurrant. Maybe I am not a fan of the blackcurrant flavour. Now that I knew about this second taste, I can understand this coffee a little better, but the aftertaste is what ruins it for me, I am not a fan and to be blunt, I never will be.


Rating: 3,0 / 10
Purchased: London, England (supermarket)

Douwe Egberts: Peru Nutty and Sweet

Early this morning, I woke up, knowing I would be tasting coffee number 66 today. I had high expectations until I arrived at work.
Having brought my own milk to work, a liter of Joyvalle whole milk, I was just about ready to give it a go.

We have a Saeco at work and I am the supplier for all beans. Yesterday evening, we had the last cup of the Ikea coffee, a rather decent blend for very cheap coffee from our well known Swedish furniture makers.
Out with the old, in with the new.

While opening the big bag of DE: Peru, I noticed the beans were medium roasted, maybe even at roast level 2 (out of 5 total). I was looking forward to them even more already. A lighter roast usually means there is less acidity and bitterness. The aftertaste usually becomes more clean too. Maybe this is my experience and/or impression only, but it's how I experience a lighter roast VS a darker roast.

First impression, the smell of the beans. A clear coffee aroma, mild, would have called it sweet, not so nutty. I liked what I smelled, I liked it very much.

Second impression, the coffee slowly pouring into my cup. A little disappointing, to be honest. The aromas from the espresso were light, almost like I didnt just make a cup of coffee, but had a senseo ready. Most senseos dont smell so good to me, I am not a fan anymore of them, sorry :)

Third impression, tasting it! Halleluja! No senseo taste! Halleluja once more! This was good!
Wow, I am impressed, this coffee is really rich flavoured, a little sweet. Not so much Nutty, i think, at least not while drinking, the aftertaste had a sort of lighter nutflavour.
One more cup, this coffee is ideal for early mornings, a rich coffee without acidity. Kinda makes me wanna have a third one already.

In the end, I had 5 cups in the first hour of work, I ended up making a few espressos for colleagues too, they were all unanymous about DE: Peru, it was great!
I think I am taking a can of whipped cream to work on friday, to try it as a "Franziskaner", I can only imagine it will be awesome.


Rating: 9,2 / 10
Origin: Peru
Purchased: Supermarket in Netherlands

Blanche Dael: Cup of Excellence.

I bought this coffee last weekend in Maastricht, the Netherlands, a mere two days later I can already try it! The Shop is called Blanche Dael and is famous for being good roasters. I got 3 new types of coffee and 2 syrups that day, Cinnamon and Caramel. The caramel one is new for me, while I have tried it before at Starbucks in a Caramel Macchiato, this was the first time to have a small bottle at home.

The coffee itself is a single bean coffee, but I wasnt told the country of origin, some roasters prefer to keep secrets, too bad.

I just had my first cup 5 minutes ago and I am already drinking my second cup right now. When I first opened the bag of beans, I experienced a softer, fruity smell. The beans themselves were lightly roasted, usually resulting in less acidity or bitterness in the coffee once prepared, this was no exception.

For these beans, I used my beloved Saeco, whole milk and 2 sugarsticks. Lately I have been liking the whole milk from the "euroshopper" brand a lot, this is my last bottle and I am glad I got to try Cup of Excellence with it.

Now, time to describe the flavour. It's soft and rich at the same time, a nice layer of crema on top, the whole milk is adding a creamy texture to this drink. It does have some bitterness to it, but only very lightly, a little sweet too.
I can definetely understand that this coffee has the "cup of excellence" label, it is very high quality.

I would label this coffee as great for after dinner or late at night. The aftertaste is not disturbing, so you keep enjoying this sweet sensation for a while. Very good coffee, had high expectations and it lived up to all of them.

I will be buying this one again, for sure!


Rating: 8,7/10
Origin: unknown for now
Purchased: Blanche Dael, Maastricht, Holland

a sweetener called Tagatesse

The other day, I was out shopping for groceries with my mom. While I do often go to big supermarkets, I rarely visit such rows like the sugars, the milks, the canned foods, ...
I usually spend my time in the sweets department, cookies and stuff, I have a serious sweet tooth, I love snacking.

If and when I go into the sugar  department, I just end up buying the same canderel vanilla scented sweetener. Canderel is probably the best known sweetener in Belgium. The vanilla scented one... only one word can describe it: Awesome! A great replacement for the vanilla syrup I used to buy.

This time however, my mom noticed a new sweetener called Tagatesse, based on tagatose.

We bought it and later that day it was the time to try it out. I read the label, it is based on Lactose, supposed to be as sweet as real sugar and labelled as "healthy sugar".
I will elaborate a little more on the truth about this last claim, there is no such thing as healthy sugar, though this tagatesse is about as human-friendly as they come. Among my friends, I am lucky enough to have a health  guru, he said this was one of the more effective and "safe" sweeteners, labelling it about 90% as sweet as the real refined white sugar. Tagatesse has been deemed safe by the necessary authorities in both Europe and America.

I completely follow him on his claims, I have tried it too now. It is almost as good as real sugar, but better than some other sweeteners because tagatesse tends to provide a more stable sweet feel to my coffee.
Some other sweeteners, like saccharine-based ones, they have a kind of disappearing sweetness, but tagatesse does not.
The only downside I found so far, I tend to use 3 servings of tagatesse to replace 2 sugars.


Tagatesse, a sweetener, a valid alternative to real sugar.

wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tagatose

Sigri

Sigri has its origin in Papua New Guinea, a poor country. I specifically mention they are poor for a very good reason. No money usually means they do not have the funds for synthetic fertilisers and pesticides, those are too expensive and this is an advantage for coffee. It helps guarantee their low caffeine levels and fruity flavours. This coffee is said to be full-bodied with a pungent fruitiness of mango and papaya.
The Sigri plantations are filled with arabica beans, mostly of the typica kind, making them the higher quality. As far as I know, Sigri is the only beansort of this quality in Papua New Guinea. I look forward to one day trying others from this country like Arona or Arusafa...
Sigri plantations export mostly to France, Germany and Japan.

I bought it in one of my favourite coffee shops, Corica. Sigri is a good coffee, but more on that later on :)

I had never heard of this one before, so I was eager to try after buying it. Only mere hours after buying it, I was already grinding the beans, I had just bought a ceramic grinder, put it on the seventh setting, specifically for my French press. I still remember how nicely the ground beans smelt. I could indeed point out the fruity origins, but could not differentiate the mango or papaya, it just smelt a little exotic and sweet.

After pouring the water on the ground beans, a cloud of steam filled the atmosphere. Let me tell you, I was ready to taste this coffee, there is no doubt about that.

Sigri, how I love thee. Coffee with such a soft and refined flavour. Well balanced. Really full-bodied. A lot of crema on top of the espresso. Then tried it with milk and sugar... like music played spontaneously. This is GOOD coffee, even cold it didnt turn bitter.
Sigri has a firm flavour and it is great. I am rating it at 9,9/10, Only Kopi Luwak is the one I liked more, mostly due to the aftertaste, Kopi Luwak doesnt leave any for me. Something I have come to prefer.
This little difference is what gives Kopi Luwak that very small advantage.



I had bought this together with the Antigua I previously described. As it turned out, one of the best and one of the worst in 1 purchase. Kinda funny when you think about it, finding two so very different kinds together, but I am not complaining. While I got the bad one too, Sigri is one of the coffees I consider "awesome"
Maybe one day, this one would become my "daily cup of coffee"



Rating: 9,9 / 10
Purchased: Corica, Brussels
website: www.corica.be

Recipee: Caffe Borgia

This is a little gem I discovered when travelling. According to legend, the Borgia family used poisoned orange zest to murder their enemies, thus resulting in everyone nicknaming this the "caffe borgia"

we need 4 ingredients for this one.
1. 10cl coffee
2. 10cl hot chocolate
3. whipped cream, preferably sugared cream.
4. orange zest

There are only 3 easy steps to make this one.

• pour the coffee and hot chocolate in a glass, gently stirring them together
  
• whipped cream on top of the drink
• finish with the orange zest

Enjoy, this is a real easy and yummy recipee!

Antigua

Antigua, my nemesis.
Antigua, the coffee I love to hate.
Antigua, the one that I really couldnt like.

I am being a little poetical, but this is how I really feel about this strange coffee. It was a cold winter day, 2 years ago now, my fiancee was visiting me for christmas and we went to the Christmas market in Brussels. My fiancee is from Hong Kong and she actually does not like coffee, we are a perfect couple haha.
When strolling through Brussels, we came by a coffee shop called "Corica", which became one of my favourite sources to buy freshly roasted beans. This is a really nice place, very friendly too. One of their best assets is that you can actually taste the coffees before taking home a kilo of something you might dislike. They are not expensive either, I drank my first Kopi Luwak in their shop, cost me a mere 7€.
I had never set foot in their shop before, as I mostly used my Nespresso at the time, I did have a French press, but still used the Nespresso the most.
I didnt want to inconvenience my fiancee too much, so I only drank one cup, bought 2 kinds of beans and we continued our shopping spree. We had some great pancakes later that day too :)

About two days later, I finally got around to trying the Antigua. Put the beans in the grinder, started the water kettle and took out the french press.
Everything ready and it was time to taste.

I was told this Guatemalan coffee was supposed to be full-bodied and a little spicy with traces of cocoa.
A coffee made to drink and enjoy.

First off, I loved how this smelled. It smelled great, like pure coffee should. Then I took a nip and my face changed, even my fiancee noticed that I obviously didnt like this one.
I am at a loss for words here, I describe the flavour as "too much of a wood flavour".
The flavour really disturbed me, so I asked my fiancee to try it too. I have to admit it was a relief that she agreed with me, this was bad coffee.
I thought I maybe did something wrong, so I restarted my process of making coffee with the french press. Everything cleaned, water heated, beans and everything ready.

Back to the smell test... Again this really great sensation in my nose. This coffee has a excellent smell.
Then I picked up the cup, took it to my lips and took my first sip from this new batch.
Disappointment struck, I had done nothing wrong in brewing the first cup, again this same nasty sensation came to my taste buds. This was NOT good.

Cinnamon syrup to the rescue! Or so I thought... It couldnt cover up the wooden bark-like flavour this coffee had. This was the first coffee I actually disliked!

When I originally rated this coffee, I gave it a 3 out of 10 points, mostly due to the great smell. I am now however dropping its score down to a 2. Sorry to any Antigua lovers, I do not share your love for this coffee.


Rating: 2/10
Sold By: Corica, Brussels
Website: www.corica.be

Ranting is an art, so is making coffee.

Time to rant a little, because some things need to be said. I am a coffee snob, I know this, but what most people do not know, I only really started to drink coffee about approximately 5 years ago. We had just moved into our previous house, we got ourselves a Senseo coffee maker, my first step to coffee loving.
While I have some issues with the easy coffee makers, they provide for the easy cup, are generally cheap machines and do the trick for just about most of us. Not for me, but that is another rant, one I will write up later.
At first, all I did, was experiment with the Senseo blends. Some good, some not so good, a few very bad ones, I still occasionaly taste them, when i am visiting friends, not everyone is crazy enough to have a full-automatic espresso machine.
Once I had tried all the blends, I got more creative, buying a few syrups, cinnamon, vanilla, chocolat, ... From Routin and after all that, I went to the internet for more information. Learning a lot about coffee, I also got familiar with some coffee terminology and this is where my rant will start off.

Oh dearest coffeshop owners and baristas...

When I order a cappuccino, please give me a real cappuccino.

A mistake made by too many places, the typical whipped cream on top of a black coffee, sorry peeps, this is actually another coffee, the one called "caffe con panna" or "Franziskaner".
sigh... Same for "Latte", another typical mistake is to just call it a "latte", it is "caffe latte".
Latte is italian for milk, asking for a latte is basically asking for a glass of milk.
Oh and Caffe Latte doesnt have any whipped cream either... just a little milk foam.

A real cappuccino is made up of 3 equal parts.
First of all, the coffee, usually 1 espresso shot.
Secondly, the HOT milk, preferably whole milk too, though half and half milk will add a creamier texture
Third, milk foam

That is a real cappuccino, not the whipped cream solution.
I hate it when those places are boasting about serving great coffee, but can't even get the basics right.


For the record, the coffee in the picture was a home made Franziskaner using Yellow Bourbon beans, hailing from Brazil. One of the softer coffees I have had, a true delight.

Bali, Starbucks Blend.

My first Starbucks review on the new blog, will definetely not be the last. I bought this coffee in Aachen, Germany, when I was there 2 weeks ago. It was the new coffee they were selling, so instead of drinking one locally, I got some beans and took them home.

Starbucks describes these beans as "This single-origin coffee from Bali is full-bodied with subtle herbal and dark chocolate flavours."

The local barista offered to grind them, but my plans included drinking them from my Espresso machine, my beloved Saeco, so I declined their kind offer. Very friendly too, I also bought one of the new "Coffee Series" mugs, the Kenya one, they wrapped it up perfectly, have had some bad experiences there, mugs breaking before even getting home...

Ok, so I finally get to tasting this Bali coffee. Two cups down the drain after changing the beans, like always, some of my friends have witnessed this protocol, they call me crazy :)
What can I say... I just dont like the coffee contamination from mixing beans or melanges that were not meant to be together or I havent found one that was drinkable. Not kidding, most times you do this, you end up with a horrid taste. I suggest you try this at your own risk!

Now, let us describe the initial flavour, I used whole Joyvalle milk and 1 sugar for the first cup. I entered a new dimension in coffee drinking with this one. Bali has a very special flavour, some sort of dark fondant chocolate seems to be vaguely present. Also special about this one, very little bitterness when it is still hot, but as it cools down, I seem to be experiencing more, mind you the sensation is not disturbing at all, just that it is distinctively better when very hot.
I guess that is why it is one of my favourites to drink as a Caffe Latte, but a real Caffe latte, 1 shot of espresso in 3 times the milk. In some coffee shops, the baristas tend to give you a Macchiato when ordering a Caffe Latte.

The bottomline, it wasnt really cheap, I did pay 6,90 for 250 grams, which is the higher price range, this coffee is worth it. It makes for a great Caffe Latte!


Price: 6,90€ for 250 grams, Starbucks Aachen
Rating: 7,8 / 10
Remark: best served with hot milk, for a better experience.

Jamaican Blue Mountain

This is a coffee with mixed experiences, a very bad one and a very good one. First the one in Belgium, which was bad, then the one in Shenzhen, China, which was truly a top experience.

Blue Mountain, hailing from the "Blue Mountain region" just north of the Jamaican capital "Kingston", is a relatively mild and not so bitter coffee, at least, that is what everyone says.
Three quality ratings exist, but most roasters do not offer proper traceability. I can not say which Blue Mountain I tried in the past.
Enter "Koffie Onan" in Leuven, Belgium, this is my hometown, so I was excited to go visit a local coffeeshop. Located right next to the "oude markt", it was a sunny wednesday when I entered their shop.

Originally I had planned to drink a Kopi Luwak, after checking their website, it was priced at 7 euro, but when I arrived, they told me it was 17... This was my first impression of them, a rather bad one. Kopi Luwak may be great coffee, I didnt intend to spend 17 on a single cup of espresso, so I opted for the Blue Mountain instead. I paid 7 euro for a lungo, not so bad after all, I thought. I got my cup, picked up a milk and sugar from the self service counter and left.

Outside, sat down on a terrace, took off the lid and smelled the goods. I couldnt really grasp the smell, so I decided to take a nip. My face changed, this was a stale and horrible coffee, it tasted like it had been roasted more than a year before I drank it. I added the milk and sugar but to my own disappointment, they only made things worse. This coffee was stale and extremely bitter, clear signs of being "past its prime".

My first review at the time, I think I gave it a incomplete number, I think it was a 3 out of 10, not intending to drink it again. The decision not to drink it a second time, mostly based on the price and the horrible aftertaste that was stuck in my mouth for a little more than a day... I said to a friend at the time: "if this was supposed to be a Grand-cru, I would rather drink Senseo!"

Ok, so now, let us jump 1 year into the future, I am visiting my future inlaws for the first time and my fiancee takes me to Shenzhen, HuaQiangbei to be precise.

I love gadgets of all kinds, so I ended up buying my first tablet there, the Epad, long before I got my ipads, even before they were out on the market, but that is another story. Next to South Gate, you have a big street filled with snack merchants, my fiancee said this was the place for us to have a snack, because it would never disappoint. I got 2 bapao, 3 chicken sticks, ... and after I was done, I was longing for a coffee. On to a little street vendor, where I asked for her best coffee. This is not my habit, I just couldnt read the pricelist. She replied I was going to be getting a Blue Mountain and I immediately stopped her, asking if she was going to be getting a Jamaican, a Kenyan or a Indonesian Blue Mountain, there are 3 types of Blue Mountain and I had already disliked the Jamaican one. I was getting the Jamaican one, to my dismay. I ended up taking it after all, because she only charged 1 euro for it, which was expensive for China, but not for me.

I was sceptical and was expecting the same horrible taste again, but hoped a little that the Chinese water would prove a better ground for making this coffee. I smelled it, I think I recalled a different scent, might have been my imagination too. Then on to the tasting itself.

Surprisingly, this was great coffee, a little bitterness resided in the aftertaste, but nothing like what I remembered from the bad experience back home. It was like a completely different coffee, soft and mild, I enjoyed this one. I actually enjoyed it a lot, even my fiancee noticed how much I was liking this one. I let her try too, keeping in mind that she usually hates coffee. She called it a little bitter, but with a sweet aftertaste, which must have been the cane sugar I used to sweeten it up for her. Then it was time for a second nip for myself, turns out the cane sugar really added a sweet lingering feeling in the mouth, something I would remember for future referencing with the Blue Mountain beans.

I decided to ask the lady if I could buy some beans to take home with me, She let me buy a pound worth of beans, she took out the typical wooden crates these beans are sold in, weighed the coffee carefully and I had a pound worth of Blue Mountain for home. Upon my arrival back in belgium, I took the coffee, divided it over 3 plastic bags, kept them in the freezer for a while. I did purposely leave out around 50 grams, to verify my assumptions. I put these in an airtight container for 12 months, to check if this coffee got more bitter over time (like most coffees do), approximately 1 year later, I used my french press to make the old coffee.

I still hate myself for trying this, it tasted absolutely horrible, like the one I had in Koffie Onan...

While I am not calling them bad Baristas, I had a bad experience with them, hoping you will not :)

Costprice: 7€ for 1 espresso (Koffie Onan, Leuven in Belgium)

Costprice: 12€ for 500 grams (Shenzhen, China)

Rating: 8/10

Origin: Jamaican Blue Mountain is considered a Grand-Cru, Single bean coffee.