Tesco

This is a dark and moody one – as soon as you open the pack the heavily roasted smell hits you – it’s black and heavy. You’d be forgiven for thinking you’ve accidently bought a packet of ground carbon. Consequently, we had to put this in the plunger with kid gloves. It felt like one grain too many and we’d be paying for it. But actually it’s not that bad – yes it is a very burnt tasting brew – but it does serve up well and come outs more or less the same whether you make it weak or strong.  So, it’s not one for those who like a mellow or fruity taste – it’s a one trick pony, but it’s not a bad trick. 7/10

We don't often get coffees that come from this far flung part of the world (Tesco - Sidcup). They claim fruity on this one - but no, it's not. But that doesn't make it a bad one - this is just a damn fine cup of coffee with no whistles and bells. No lemon, no choc, no fruit...  just coffee. Maybe we're getting a bit too poncy in our coffee tastes these days - and we kind of expect some kind of swanky sophistication, rather than brute force coffee. This one is definitely a MAN's coffee. There's no drinking this one from a tiny doll's house tea cup. It's for serving from a big mug - made of thick china that can cope with the heavy liquid within. Are you getting the picture? Just a couple of points off this one for the slight metallic aftertaste. 8/10

A good white foam on this one - it looks fantastic. But the taste is dry, bitter and lemony. The aftertaste really stays on your tongue too - there's no escaping this one once you've swilled some down -you're committed to this thing for the next 15 minutes, like it or not. Maybe it needs a bit more sugar than normal to try and balance it out. It doesn't have that cheap French-Hypermarket-Coffee burn, but it may as well be as cheap as it's as undrinkable - just in a different way. A very low judge rating of 4/10.