The Coffee Bloke

A Guide to the World of Coffee and Coffee Making by Michael Komorowski.

My Photo
Name:
Location: Heckmondwike, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

TCB's Product Test


Last weekend I decided to get off my backside and go out and get me some coffee for a taste test. My quest (cool - I’m on a quest) was to buy four different ready pack coffees of a similar type and to compare them. For this test I chose sticking my thumb in my mouth, removing it and then finding out which way the wind blows, and then decided that Colombian beans would be the best option. I know it’s not very scientific but that’s TCB’s way of doing it - my quest, my rules. The four chosen ones (the quest for chosen ones, how cool!) were:

1. Marks & Spencer Fairtrade Colombian, medium roast, 227g, ground for all machines, £2.69. (£11.85 per kg)
2. Sainsbury’s Colombian, Medium Roast, 200g, ground for all machines, £2.49. (£12.45 per kg)
3. Whittard of Chelsea Pure Colombian, Medium Roast, 227g, ground for cafetiere, £3.85 or 2 for £6.50. (£14.31 per kg with the multibuy)
4. Starbucks Coffee Colombian Narino Supremo, Mild Roast, 250g, ground for cafetiere, £3.90 (£15.60 per kg)

Now to make the test fair I got my lovely assistant (my wife) to put each coffee into a clean jar with a number on each from one to four. Then I was to try each coffee and to taste it blind and then decide which one I like the best. That way my bias against certain establishments couldn’t influence my choice! Each coffee was made in the same quantities using a cafetiere and tasted without milk or sugar.


No

ColourSmellBodyAcidity

Score

1Light brownSweet/NuttyLight with a hint of lemonLight4/5
2Dark copperToast & ChocolateFull and well balancedLight4/5
3Light golden brownWeakLight/sweetnone4/5
4Dark brownSmokeyLight/woodynone4/5

Although I scored each coffee in my table above the same, I did find that my order of choice was 2, 1, 3 & 4. I liked 2 best because it was simply my kind of coffee. I couldn’t find anything in the others that I thought was displeasing. Number one would be a nice coffee had the day been a little warmer perhaps. Maybe if I knew what I should expect from a Colombian coffee bean I might change my opinion of them as they were all so wildly different, perhaps my opinion would then be biased.

To make the taste test even fairer, I got two of my store team to try the blind taste test. Their tasting notes demonstrated once again how different each coffee was from the others. When I asked them to rate each one in order of preference, they both chose 4, 1, 2, & 3. One thing is clear, in this collection there is a coffee for every taste!

Having tasted the coffees I noticed a couple of important things about a couple of the coffees. First I will be sending an email to M&S about their storage instructions. They recommend that their coffee is best stored in the fridge once opened. Regular readers of this blog will know my views on that. I’m 98% certain that the Starbucks coffee is a blend of Arabica and Robusta beans. The smell and also the fact that they do not state it is 100% Arabica beans are clear signs for me. I don’t have a problem with this but I know there are a lot of people out there who do. For those of you who prefer your coffee 100% Arabica, all three of the other brands contain only Arabica beans.

The quest for righteousness is Oriental, the quest for knowledge, Occidental.’ Sir William Osler, Aphorisms, 179.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home

Free Web Counter