November 2011

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

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

Every cup of this has given us a smooth creamy head with less effort than Divine Brown. It's a strength four - which in this case means it packs tons of coffee flavour without any aftertaste or sickly sweetness. It can take a massive overdose too - don't be afraid to spoon this one up and it will just get better and better. As usual, the Percol packaging is as unattractive as Divine Brown on a Sunday morning after a long night with this year's RADA intake. What in their right minds, makes them think that derelict building and an old ladder makes you want to pop off and make a nice cup of coffee? One off for the packaging - as it's SO offensive - gives it 8/10

We've cracked - it's only mid November and we've been suckered in to this Christmas Coffee from M&S. In theory, we should love it - it should be totally over the top and over indulgent. Don't waste your time - it  isn't! There's more flavour in a bucket of reindeer's milk. It's just totally lacking uuumph. We immediately spooned it up a notch for the second cup and that made no difference either. This is meant to be a strength 4 - but it's more like a 2. It's not horrible though - it's the kind of just-about-ok-coffee that you might get made when visiting a friend's house. If you don't want to be over powered, if you like mellow, then you may well like this. Otherwise, it's a no no. 5/10

The Missis picked up a few bags of these coffees from a market in Bristol. They look the part - and come with their own self-sealing bag. Result! This is now the second bag we've tried - the first one went walk about when we foolishly left it in the kitchen after the first cup. Shame we can't remember much about that one. This one is immediately full on chocolate. There must be some kind of additive in this - it's just un-naturally chocolatey. Or is it Chicory? One of those weird coffee-add-ins, anyway. Which meant for me it just became sickly as I slurped my way through it. Sorry Jaccs - just a 5/10 from me - though most people would probably like this.

We picked this one up at the Tea and Coffee festival - and here's the idea. You join the Kopi Gourmet Coffee Club, and every month they send you a new fancy coffee. This is our first go - and it's very definitely a delicate coffee. Normally when people use the words "delicate flavour" they usually mean "f*ck-all flavour" and in this case its half true. This is a fine enough coffee - very coarsely ground so you really need to spoon it up to get the taste - and you cant really over do it. It just won't let you. Sometimes though, I want to make a coffee so strong that I can't even drink it and have to use it to clean the drains. Not with this little flower. It just left me wanting a bit more - which is lucky as we've got one more Kopi coffee to try. We like the idea though - swish coffee through the post. Have a read about them - sign up and give us your views. 7/10 from Judge Nooge.