The Return Of Coffee... With A Vengeance!

The Return!

Good morning all you beautiful coffee lovers, I thought it was about time to announce my blogs return to the not so big screen (your monitors, tablets and other devices). To get us started I want to explain why I had a brief hiatus from writing, then I will go on to explain the new adventure I am undertaking with the return of the blog and then the all awaited return date (whoop whoop!)! Rightio lets press on.

I finished up the previous segment of my blog by way of competition between an assortment of different flavoured coffees (If you don't know, go read it!), and I thought there was no better way to end it than that, so I did. I had just recently bought my first house (I know big steps) and with that mission being undertook I thought it silly to continue trying to write and purchase coffee every week (With all the money I didn't have). So being the mature adult I now am, I decided to go on a break from the blog and save up some of that well needed money to pay the bills. That's it, simple, I made a mature adult decision.

Moving on to the new adventure! This coming year I plan to write a new post every month, regarding the quality of the coffee from the coffee shops around Northern Ireland. This will include your well known coffee shops to the not so well known ones. I will then finish up the year with another competition to see which coffee shop in Northern Ireland holds the title (In my opinion) as 'The Best'! 

Alongside this I will be continuing my review on the different coffee of the world, but on a more spontaneous cycle. Meaning I plan to do it once a month in the middle of the month (but that might not happen every month so just go with the flow).

And that brings us to the end, I hope use all enjoy the upcoming adventure with me and have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! 

I will be returning around the start of the coming year, Monday the 4th of January to give an estimate. And our opening act has got to be the strongest you could imagine, even Sylvester Stallone wouldn't want to come out of retirement to face this bad boy! Firstly this is compliments of my lovely girlfriend Colleen (who I think is trying to kill me with this). In the red corner, boasting a 100% guarantee, give it up for the world's strongest coffee...... 

Death Wish Coffee!

**A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer.**

Hazelnut, Cinnamon and Pudding Walk Into A Bar!

1# Hazelnut and Cinnamon Coffee!

Starting of the is double bill of the competition is Hazelnut and Cinnamon coffee. When I first saw the selection of coffee, this was the one I had hoped would taste the best. So this post is really putting a dampener on my day, this coffee is lovely and flavoursome and ticks the right boxes in almost every way, the downside though lies in the fact that the cinnamon and hazelnut just don't have a great combination of tastes with the coffee.

The Bitterness is identical to that of the Irish Dream coffee. It is just as bitter and lingers on the tongue just after you swallow, making this a very short paragraph regarding the bitterness of coffee. Meaning that I am going to have to write just a bit extra to make it look like it has more content (sorry Richard (hope you get it) move there).

The Richness of this coffee is one that I thought would have taken the competition by storm, although I'm quiet disappointed with it. The reason for this is due to a few wee things, this coffee is bursting with flavour and in fairness, it is so far winning with that. Although the flavour that it is rich in, is a bad combination of flavours which in my opinion don't do the coffee any justice. As much as the richness is the best so far it just falls short with not having the good mix of flavours and coffee.

The Aroma is more than sickening with this coffee, the intense cinnamon mixing, with what I can guess is roasted hazelnut and coffee, sticks at the back of your throat. It is strong and really does pack a punch and in small doses is beautiful but to leave/smell for any large amount of time it is very off putting.

You could not... Would not... Want to miss, BEANS #1 & #2!

Bitterness - 3 out of 5 Beans

Richness - 3 out of 5 Beans

Aroma - 3 out of 5 Beans

2# Xmas Pudding Coffee!

Oh how I have tried to forget I even had to do this coffee, Xmas pudding flavour, really, who came up with that! And just like Christmas morning, I am shocked and excited at how nice this coffee actually is. The flavouring used for the Xmas pudding compliments the coffee well giving it a more smooth and fulfilling taste. Its like opening that 1 present from your family member that you know gets you something you don't want, and then finding out its actually a really awesome present.

The Bitterness is the best so far, nothing like the previous coffee's. It is a lot less noticeable and doesn't linger on the tongue. As shocking as this is due to the burst of flavour you get from the coffee. The bitterness of this coffee is the best by far!

The Richness, oh the Richness. The odd combination of Xmas pudding and coffee actually compliment each other perfectly. When you take your first mouthful you are welcomed with this lovely smooth coffee flavour flooding your mouth, although once your swallow you receive this second blast of Xmas pudding flavour which really combos well. Along with the lack of bitterness just makes this a tasteful, smooth coffee. 

The Aroma, is a slight downer for this coffee, but not enough to make it loose this competition. It is a sickening, intense and slightly off putting pudding smell. Although you have to take a really big whiff to get this smell, if you take a casual sniff it is quiet pleasant to the nose.

Now the competition is over, thank you all for reading and I hope you really enjoyed this, as much as I enjoyed tasting and writing about it. I will now announce the winner along with the results of the Xmas pudding coffee.

WINNER: XMAS PUDDING!

2nd: IRISH DREAM!

3rd: ENGLISH TOFFEE!

Bitterness - 5 out of 5 Beans

Richness - 4 out of 5 Beans

Aroma - 4 out of 5 Beans

**A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer.**

Oh Its The Luck Of The Irish For Ya!

Irish Dream Coffee!

Well Monday has came and gone but I have a good reason this time, I promise. Well firstly the big news that I want to share with everyone that reads my blog first, I am now a Property Owner! I have bought and am moving into my own property and couldn't be more excited! Although I'm now a great member of this club known as the 'Mortgage club', which isn't the most exciting part. Now that I have got my good news out of the way lets get on to the part that I'm sure use are all here to read.

Irish Dream coffee is the 3rd in our instalments of flavoured coffee and so far it is my favourite. I seem to be doing these in the order that I like them so far, without even knowing (I have just been choosing each day what one I want to taste). Any who back to the coffee, Irish Dreams is definitely the most flavoursome out of the 3 so far and like the other the aroma and the bitterness are both on key. Making this a very tight and hard competition.

The Bitterness of this coffee is slightly more noticeable compared to the previous 2 coffee's, which is probably due to the increase in flavour. A sacrifice I would make to the previous coffee's as well, by increasing the flavour and taste of the coffee you make bitterness increase, but it is worth it. I feel I am enjoying this more than the others even with that slight increase in bitterness.

The Richness has definitely gotten an upgrade, having more burst and flavour really makes the difference. As I said above the slight added bitterness that you get is worth it for this. When you take your first mouthful, your mouth is filled with this intense and assortment of flavours all trying to get your tongues attention, and that is the type coffee that takes the top spot so far in this competition.

The Aroma has the same strong, appealing and alluring smell that really just drags you in. This seems to be the case with most of these coffee's, the slight difference with this over the previous ones is that in my opinion the smell is very strong and almost sickening in a way. That being said this only happens if you smell it for a long period of time, bar that the aroma is still on power with the other coffee's.

Please help me welcome the BEAN CAPITALISTS!

Bitterness - 3 out of 5 Beans

Richness - 4 out of 5 Beans

Aroma - 4 out of 5 Beans

**A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer.**

Its The Brown Toffee My Old Chum!

English Toffee Coffee!

My great and not very often Wednesday special is here! The reason for this is (if you haven't read Mondays post) due to getting an interesting selection of flavoured coffee from Dreamy Bean. As the days progress I will be unveiling these coffee's and on the last day will be doing a double bill release.

English Toffee coffee is a very odd yet appealing coffee, quiet similar to Mondays French Vanilla although different. The infused flavour is not overpowering or off putting in anyway. It is smooth but slightly more intense than the French Vanilla. The fact that the bitterness of this coffee is as absent as the French Vanillas, the combination of the flavour from this coffee and the lack of bitterness outshines the other.

The Bitterness of the coffee is as stated in the French Vanilla, it is really only present after you swallow and is not strong or unappealing. Once again the coffee seems to leave you with a light lingering bitterness that doesn't last long which I find great.

The Richness is better than the French Vanilla as it appears to be more full and smooth in flavour, this could be due to the infused stronger toffee flavour over the light vanilla flavour. All in all this coffee has a richer and more full-bodied flavour compared to the vanilla. Although compared to pure coffee, the richness is still at the bottom end of the scale in comparison.

The Aroma is as alluring as ever, a lot more sweet and slightly sickening if you take a big sniff, but yet still wanting to stick my face in it and eat it. The toffee flavour from the coffee bursts out and fills every inch of the room with this intense and sweet smell, even before and after brewing the coffee's aroma still is fulfilling and welcoming. That is a big plus for the coffee.

As its English Toffee I should introduce it as such, and now welcome the old BEAN!

Bitterness - 4 out of 5 Beans

Richness - 3 out of 5 Beans

Aroma - 4 out of 5 Beans

**A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer.**

La vanille française.

French Vanilla Coffee

Happy Monday all you hard working people! I have a lovely treat of coffee's this week, 5 different flavour coffee from the Dreamy Bean people. They specialise in the world of flavour coffee! I managed to get 5 of their coffee's to try out and give a review on, meaning that I will be doing (Monday (today), Wednesday, Monday and Wednesday). The final Wednesday will also be a double bill, consisting of 2 coffees and a conclusion on which one I thought took top spot,  I couldn't be more excited!

The first of the coffees is (if you cant read the title cause its in French) The French Vanilla. This coffee was, by my opinion the best choice for a Monday morning coffee (from the list I had to choose from). The coffees subtle vanilla flavour with the enticing smell really drew me in this morning. The coffee infused vanilla smell really drags you in, although the subtle hint of vanilla that you get in the coffee is pleasant yet not overpowering.

The Bitterness of this coffee is really only present after you swallow. It isn't strong or unappealing, it is smooth, yet lingers slightly at the end. As you finish your sip it leaves you with a light lingering bitterness that doesn't last long, and that for a coffee infused with a flavour is great. I was expecting a more intense burst of bitterness on the tongue or a sense of heartburn and was shocked at the outcome.

The Richness is a slight let down for the coffee. As much as the infused vanilla flavour makes the coffee smooth and appealing, it also takes away from the richness of the coffee. At times it felt more watery or lacking in flavour, this being a slight negative on a coffee which is smooth and not very bitter is a sacrifice it must make I guess.

The Aroma that comes from this bag of coffee is so alluring, inviting and almost made me want to just lick it. It was delightful and it pulled me in making me want to try it. That for a coffee is a very important part, and adding to that is the fact that this smell does not vanish once you start to brew the coffee. The aroma from this coffee last and fills the room from the moment you open the bag to the moment you take the last mouthful of the coffee.

Now let me welcome the BEAN SPLITS, 1 BEAN, 2 BEAN, 3 BEAN, GROUND!

Bitterness - 4 out of 5 Beans

Richness - 2 out of 5 Beans

Aroma - 4 out of 5 Beans

**A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer.**

The Big Championship - Round 3!

Round 3 - Cafe Nero Classico!

Monday again, I mite just have to change the days around. This weeks challenger and facing off against the 2 giants of coffee, Cafe Nero Classico blend! This is a coffee that I would of put my chips behind at the beginning of this, I'm glad I didn't!

I am at a total shock at this coffee. From the type of bag I guessed it wouldn't be the best, although I thought Id give it the benefit of the doubt, nope wrong! The smell from the bag is pleasant and the smell from the brewed coffee is also delightful, but that is where it ends. The taste of this coffee, in one word, absent. Although this coffee does have something going for it, the lack of bitterness is a plus. Lets dive into the nitty gritty.

The Bitterness of this coffee, to start on a good note, is basically non-existent. You get a tinge of bitterness after swallowing but that quickly vanishes. This leaves so much room for the full flavour of the coffee to erupt, but it doesn't, what follows is smooth flowing coffee yet lacklustre on flavour.

The Richness of this coffee has been covered in every paragraph, as vague, void of taste and in a nut shell unappealing. With all that being said the coffee is not horrible, infect it would be suited best for your non intense coffee drinker. With the lack of bitterness combining with the lack of bursting flavour going to work on your taste buds, this coffee is perfect for your not so casual coffee drinker.

The Aroma is the second shining star for this coffee, the smell from the bag isn't overpowering but it is very delightful. Combining that with the smell of the coffee once it is brewed is fantastic, it creates the same smell you would get once you enter a coffee shop. I have to admire that if nothing else.

Short and sweet this week, not to much to write about, due to the unimpressive coffee. But moving on let me welcome the BEANS - BEAN, BOHNE and FASULYE!

Bitterness - 4 out of 5 Beans

Richness - 2 out of 5 Beans

Aroma - 3 out of 5 Beans

**A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer.**

The Big Championship - Round 2!

Round 2 - Starbucks Narino

I got sidetracked, I apologise! Now that the pleasantries are out of the way lets get onto the next round of the big championship. This weeks challenger and competing against last weeks Costa Espresso Coffee, is Starbucks Narino Coffee. There is a lot to be said for Starbucks and their coffee's, most of the time they are over priced and not to standard in my opinion, although they do put in a fair amount of effort in supplying coffee to the people. That being said the ground coffee they sell always seems to smell divine!

Narino Coffee has a smooth flowing taste that just makes the taste buds tingle. Along with that, the smell of the ground coffee in the bag and the fact that when it is brewing, makes you just stop and start randomly smelling the air (Like a dog at a park!). Although it is smooth and has a great smell, this coffee falls hard on the front that its actual taste is just 'meh'! When I opened the packet I thought 'wow this coffee is going to be bursting with flavour', although that statement couldn't have been more wrong. Adding to that is a lingering bitterness on the tongue that does not give a great after taste. Lets dive in more shall we!

The Bitterness of this coffee, is not intense or overly horrible. You first sense the bitterness after you swallow, leaving your mouth in a dry and unappealing way. Yet this was not enough to put me off or make me stop drinking it. The bitterness is more of a low lingering, dry sort, but not to long lasting. This alone makes me not hate the coffee but does put a dampener on it.

The Richness is just the pitfall of this coffee! Don't get me wrong the coffee has a flavour (Obviously), it just isn't the full-bodied, rich and bursting flavour that I would expect. Although a credit to it is the smoothness. As much as this contradicts the bitterness slightly, they don't cross paths. The bitterness hits after you swallow, were as the smoothness appears as you take a sip into your mouth.

The Aroma is where this coffee really excels! The smell that radiates from this coffee is just utterly divine! I had left this coffee in my car overnight just so I wouldn't forget to review it, and the smell the next morning getting into my car!!! Wow I opened the door and it was like a wave of 10 intense coffee shops hit me, and it was beautiful (I want a coffee smelling air freshener for my car... if you can get these tell me!). Now moving on to the judging section, which I'm sure most people are interested in!

Let me welcome JOHNNY BEAN and THE BEANESSEE TWO!!!

Bitterness - 3 out of 5 Beans

Richness - 2 out of 5 Beans

Aroma - 4 out of 5 Beans

**A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer.**

The Big Championship - Round 1!

Round 1 - Costa Espresso!

Happy Monday everyone! Hopefully the last time I ever say that! Sorry for the delay, I don't really have much of an excuse bar getting caught up on Arrow, Flash, Supernatural and other TV shows over the weekend and getting abit sidetracked. But watching them gave me a great idea to blog about for the next couple of weeks (first ever topic! I'm so excited! Woop Woop!). Most of the people reading my blog are from the United Kingdom and according to the analytics tracker on the site, also from parts of America and Ireland (I'm shocked it has actually reached far!). But that is great becuase we we all share the same major coffee shops.

So getting down to my idea, I'm going to go out and challenge all the coffee shops and compare them for the world (or small amount of people that care) to see! The plan is to go into each of these coffee shops, have a coffee or 2 depending on how quickly I am able to write up some notes, then buy some of their own ground coffee and try it using my normal method as well. Meaning I get an all round feel for how the coffee of the shop tastes and should taste. All these results are going to be published on Sunday as usual (hopefully!) and will be non-bias and completely based of my tastes alone, although atleast it will be fair. So without further adieu, the first coffee shop to step into the ring, give it up for COSTA!

Costa Espresso coffee is packed with flavour and a delightful aroma to go with, a smell which a coffee shop would expect to have. The flavour of the coffee really hits the tongue and fills the mouth with an intense impact, and the aroma from the ground coffee is so divine and the slow roasting is what has produced that great smell. These quality's are both great, bursting with flavour and an aroma that makes my senses tingle, yet this coffee is just not up to the quality I would expect for a major coffee shop. The unwelcoming after taste not to mention the dry tongue feeling that you get after taking a few sips are not great for a coffee you are paying a lot of money for. That all being said the coffee is nice and with a touch of sugar (which I don't take, I'm sweet enough!) could be fairly enjoyable, but lets dive in deeper.

The Bitterness is its major downfall. It hits as soon as you have swallowed, leaving you with an intensely bitter after taste and a dry tongue to rival sandpaper. As much as the coffee fills your mouth with flavour for the few seconds that it is in there, that flavour quickly betrays you, turning bitter and leaving a dry feeling which lingers far longer than the rich flavour. Making this its biggest downfall.

The Richness is great (not fantastic but better than mediocre), yet as explained above, this lasts for no longer than a few seconds before betraying you. Although in that time this coffee's flavour really blasts around your mouth. It has your typical coffee flavour with a burst of intense sensation which really gets the senses on the tongue going. Yet I would say this is not great for your non intense coffee drinker, although would be good for the morning get me out the door to work coffee drinker!

The Aroma is 50/50, meaning that half of it is great and amazing, when your smelling the ground beans and they are pulling the senses in and making your mouth water with the smell. Then the other half being when the coffee is brewed, this is the complete opposite effect and basically terrible, the smell basically vanishes and their is no pulling on the senses or mouth watering, it is just 'meh'.

As I said I was catching up on TV as my excuse I think it only fitting I use an introduction from one. So let me introduce The WINBEANS and BEANTIEL!

Bitterness - 1 out of 5 Beans

Richness - 3 out of 5 Beans

Aroma - 3 out of 5 Beans

**A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer.** 

Sweet Sweet Brown!

Old Brown Java!

I have a bit more to cover this week, so lets get started. I have had a few people ask me about the rating system and how I rate the coffee's, It's simple, the categories are Bitterness, Richness and Aroma. Each of these are rated out of 5, Bitterness is rated on 1 being really Bitter and 5 being little to no bitterness, Richness is done by 1 being not very rich in flavour and 5 being full of flavour and Aroma is done the same by 1 being not very fulfilling to 5 being you want to shove your face in it. Now these are very rough evaluations on the ratings, there is a lot more thought and process goes into it but this is a simplistic view on it.

Now moving on to the most important part, THE COFFEE! This weeks coffee is Old Brown Java, and this coffee has no hidden speciality to it, its just pure java at the heart. This coffee gets its name Old Brown Java because the coffee is matured, giving it a very intense and pure coffee taste along with smell.

The lack of Bitterness in this matured coffee is interesting, I would have thought a matured coffee to have a lot more bitterness to it. You seem to get the bitter sense after you swallow leaving you with a very (and I mean minute (my-nute for the dyslexics)) slight lingering of bitterness on the tongue. This makes it a lovely combination with the Rich and intense matured flavour.

The Richness of this matured coffee is definitely top notch. Even from the smell of the coffee you can tell that it is intense and full of flavour. This is not me saying that it is a very strong coffee and unappealing for the one off coffee drinker, this coffee has a strange combination of intense, full-bodied, smooth and inviting while maintaining very little bitterness to disrupt your taste buds. This coffee is so smooth to drink that I have had a few cups black without milk just to try it, and you wouldn't believe how easy it is to drink (Very easy encase you couldn't believe it).

On to my favourite section the Aroma! The aroma you get of the coffee from the bag is intense and even smells as though it would be matured, although this seems to fade once you make the coffee. That intense and matured smell that you got from the bag vanished, leaving behind a natural coffee smell with a slightly inviting sense to it, making you want to take sip after sip. I love it!

Now I would say I'm running out of ways to introduce my judges ... but I'm not. Welcome the BEANS GOT TALENT JUDGES!

Bitterness - 4 out of 5 Beans

Richness - 4 out of 5 Beans

Aroma - 4 out of 5 Beans

**A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer.**

The Crema the Coffee... The Crema the Taste!

Lavazza Super Crema Coffee

Sunday again already! These weeks are beginning to fly in a lot more than I would like (A slow time super power would be good about now!). With work at the moment taking over most aspects of my life, trying to write a post for Wednesday seems to be near impossible. Okie dokie enough ranting, I was asked again to review a persons favourite coffee (I know I'm still shocked I'm getting asked!), so that's what I'm going to do.

Lavazza Super Crema Coffee is deserving of its name, this coffee really is creamy. Even though it is suppose to be an espresso styled coffee, there seems to be very little indication that it is. The coffee from the moment you open the packet has a creamy/chocolaty smell to it and that continues into the taste of the coffee.

The Bitterness of this coffee is basically non-existent and is really only evident at the moment the coffee touches your tongue, after that moment your mouth is filled with this lovely, smooth, creamy chocolate tasting liquid. This is very interesting for an espresso styled coffee as the amount of Bitterness should, in my opinion, be a lot higher or at least linger on the tongue afterwards, this coffee doesn't do that.

The Richness of this coffee comes from the pure creamy flavour that fills and confuses your taste buds. I can honestly say that while I was drinking this coffee I thought that I had put cream into it instead of milk, it was that creamy. The creamy taste of this coffee combined with the lack of bitterness, gives your taste buds a smooth fulfilling sensation every time you take a drink. All these aspects mean that you could drink this coffee all day without ever really feeling like you are drinking coffee.

The Aroma of this coffee is a lot different from the previous coffee's I have reviewed, given that yes the coffee normally will have an earthy smell, or a chocolaty smell or something of that regard, I have never had a coffee smell creamy. When you sit and smell the coffee (yes I do... what of it!) you will just get the normal chocolaty coffee smell but if you be patient and focus on the smells you will find that there is a creamy sensation coming from the beans. That really amazed me about this coffee, and to be honest it left me a bit baffled but wanting to try it, and I'm glad I did.

Well Ive been really into my anime recently and One Piece at the moment ... OMG ... So give it up for THE COFFEE BEAN PIRATES!!!

Bitterness - 5 out of 5 Beans

Richness - 4 out of 5 Beans

Aroma - 4 out of 5 Beans

**A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer.**