Please don't scream in terror when you read about my relationshop with coffee so far, I was just brought up that way.Instant coffee has been part of my daily caffiene intake since I was about 12 ish, courtesy of a naughty grandma who let me get away with murder. If you go into a supermarket in any part of the UK, there are tons of instant coffees to chose from and that is what I have always picked. There is real coffee about and some great coffee shops, so its not a total real coffee blackhole. I am not sure why instant coffee rules the roost in so many UK households, the difference in cost isn't that vast. I have become so use to flicking the kettle on and scooping the instant stuff in my mug, that it will be a hard habit to break.
Why break the habit then? On my trip to America last year, I was met with gasps of horror when mentioning that I always had instant at home and it was presumed that I musn't really like the stuff. How wrong they were and I overdosed on lovely coffee during my stay stateside. When I arrived back home I slipped back into my instant coffee habit and almost forgot about real coffee once again. Well apart from the odd cappucino at college (every chance I could get).
When Fuel My Blog offered us Free coffee to review, I of course jumped at the chance! Because I love free stuff and coffee, perfect. When it arrived the smell was amazing! Yes I sniffed the package and opened it excitedly. I really couldn't wait to try it, but something wasn't quite right with all this. It was almost like I had forgotten something. As well as forgetting my marbles, I had forgotten that I would need some essential coffee making equipment! The old coffee maker had been chucked donkey's ago. So I decided to get a cafietere (plungy thing) as they are decently priced and I thought it was sensible for my first forray into real coffee making. Also the type of coffe I was sent said it was suitable for a cafietere as its a coarse ground coffee.
More about the coffee I was sent, it was an Ethiopian Sidamo and the site is called the CoffeeBeanShop. It smells wonderful as stated above and once I figured out how much to put in cafietere, I was off. It was definitely stronger than instant, with a natural almost sweetness to it, that meant I hardly added any sugar to it. The site describes it as deep, rich, earthy, syrupy and chocolaty, which I agree with. Another good thing about this coffee, is that its fairtrade. In this day and age everything should be, but alas its not. So the site gets three thumbs up for promoting and supporting fairtrade.
It must of been a good blend or whatever you call it because on checking the site, it has ruddy sold out! But you can request an email update if they get it back into stock. I guess they will have to send me another to review now?
In the interest of fairness I went back to my usual brand of instant after drinking a pot or two of the real/proper stuff. That was a big mistake, because now my once beloved instant tastes like ash, not arse which is what somebody thought I said (not naming names). Have I been totally converted to the wonder of the proper stuff? Simple answer..... Yes. Will I ever sleep again.....No.
Check out the CoffeeBeanShop for all their other coffee like goodness.
