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