Costa Rica

This is probably the first coffee we have ever had that claims to taste of peanuts. So from the outset let's clear this up - it doesn't. And a good thing too as there's nothing more likely to ruin a good cup of coffee that a sprinkling of KP's finest all over it. What next - Chicory??  Hazelnuts? 'nuff said. The first cup we have from this was a real washout - weak as hell even when made at our normal strength of 5 desert spoons for two cups. But on closer inspection when we ground the beans for the second cup we realised why - these beans are as hard as the Kray Twins and practically took the blades off our puny little grinder. We had to put them through again before they submitted and we finally got to taste what this coffee's really like. We couldn't really pick up any berry fruits in there as they claim - it's pretty much a standard coffee without any whistles and bells. Nice enough - but neither super strong nor super fruity it kind of falls into no-mans land. 7/10

These beans are pale, large and dusty. Not that unlike the contents of the Judge's underpants. Visually though, if you ever had a pet guinea pig and looked in its hutch a week later, you'd be forgiven for thinking you had a Golden Goose that had been busy laying Blue Mountain coffee. We've had this stuff before - of the Jamaican variety - which is one of the ponciest coffees known to man and generally only bought by toffs in Nottinghill. We're presuming this is the same variety but grown somewhere less salubrious. It's a mild roast - we couldn't over cook this no matter how hard we tried. If there was a taste to label this with it would be nutty, and the harder you brew it, the nuttier it gets. The packet mentions "maltyness" which is a fair comment (for once). It's like it's been cut with a spoon of Milo. It does tend to get a little dry on the tongue if you get a bit heavy handed with this one. We slurped the whole pack down in a few days though -so it's an 8/10

This is a first - the first ever coffee marked up as a strength TWO. And, yes, it's probably the weakest thing that's been near my mouth since the tooth fairy went down with man flu but still managed to struggle out of bed. They claim "aromatic, lingering sweetness" on the packet - well you'd never know. The lingering sweetness turns out to be a sickly sweetness - as all I can really taste in this one is the milk. If you like super-weedy coffee - which some people do - then this is ideal. I don't think you could ever make this too strong. (3/10)

Both times we've made this, it's foamed up in the pot to the point where you could shave with it. But over the 3.5 minutes stewing the foam totally disappears and when it's poured it's completely flat and, let's face it, unappetising. But don't let it's bland appearance fool you this is a really well flavoured cup - from the first initial sip through to the lingering aftertaste. Even when it's gone, you still feel like you're drinking it. And enjoying it. When I started this one I tried not to think of the cost and vowed not to mention it. I've failed again - it's 13 quid a pack. Would have been an 8, but drops one for cost to a 7/10.

This came out lovely with a nice head on it in the mug. The strength was good and bitter - but it just lacked that smoothness that you need to help a strong coffee slip down. It was slightly fighting with my throat on the way down - resisting being drunk. There's a slight citrusy twang to it, not in Fairy Liquid kind of way; much more subtle. This could be due to the slice of lemon cake I ate just beforehand though. The packaging of these Sainsbury's Taste The Difference coffees is all wrong though - and I think that sets your mind ready to eat a packet of raisons and not drink coffee. I'm sure that's caused it to lose a point... Judges Rating - 7/10