Black Cat Coffee Guide

30/09/2022

If you're ever taking a trip from Stansted airport, and fancy a coffee, you could do much worse than head for Harris & Hoole, situated as you come out of the departure checking area. Originally an independent specialty coffee house they were bought out in 2016 by Caffe Nero. Don't let that put you off! (For me, Caffe Nero are the best of the major chains.) By acquiring Harris & Hoole, Caffe Nero gained access to the world of specialty coffee. The coffee is changed with the seasons, currently coming from El Salvador. Quite naturally sweet with low acidity this is a very pleasant, easy drinking coffee. Well made by a well trained and kean barista (the company maintain their links with Union Hand-Roasted Coffee , one of our top specialty coffee roasters) this made for a pleasant break from the bustle of the airport.

Harris and Hoole

06/09/2022

The first time I've posted for quite some time but, having just had a coffee I really liked, it had to be done. On holiday in Wales at the moment and have called in to a coffee shop, Corner Coffee shop on Quay St in Cardiff, and the coffee is excellent. A washed Columbian, sweet and chocolatey, well made, very drinkable🙂

22/02/2021

It's been quite some time since my last post unfortunately. Having caught Covid for Christmas it's taking some time to get back to normal. Sadly, for an avid coffee drinker, one of the things that the virus did was to wreck my sense of taste. It means that I've gone from being able to taste a coffee, and usually get it right as to where the beans come from, to being able only to tolerate a weak instant coffee. Hopefully that situation will improve but in the mean time there won't be much coming out of the Black Car Coffee Guide. I do have things in the pipeline, such as a comparison of the standard supermarket coffee bean offerings, but they are on hold for the moment.

Hope to be back with you soon.

Dean

28/06/2020

Coffee review - Guatemalan from coffeebeanshop.co.uk

Another good quality coffee from this company, nicely packaged with quick delivery. The coffee was very fresh, having been roasted only a couple of days before delivery with dates printed on the package. Guatemalan coffee can produce a range of flavours but the tasting notes on this pack suggest a rich bodied coffee with overtones of spiciness and chocolate. I wasn't disappointed 🙂. Not as heavy bodied as I expected but none the less a very pleasant, fresh brew.

28/06/2020

Coffee review - Costa Rican from coffeebeanshop.co.uk

Impressed by the quick delivery from this company, nicely packaged it even included a personal note from the proprietor. The coffee was very fresh, having been roasted only a couple of days before delivery with dates printed on the package. Expecting a clean, sweet but light bodied extraction that's really what I got. To my tastes it was too light in body so some playing around with ratios might help. For the cafetierre I usually use 6g / 100ml but for me this coffee could benefit from increasing that to 7g.

15/06/2020

Coffee review - Bantam beans from India

I so enjoyed the previous coffee that I tried from Bantam that I decided to try another. Available from Sainsbury's this is a range of interesting coffees at really low prices, around £3.50 to £4.00 for 250g.

Today's coffee comes from a cooperative in India, the only group in India certified to Fairtrade and organic levels. It promises a chocolatey, fruity brew with a good level of sweetness. Made in a cafetierre the flavours of stoned fruit and raspberries certainly came through, as did a sweet and smokey note akin to maple syrup. If you like fruity coffees, like an Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, then you should try this one.

10/06/2020

Are you looking to buy an espresso machine? Have a look at this review by James Hoffman, ex world champion barista, before you do.

This was heavily requested, and to be honest - it was a pretty interesting experiment. If Patrons don't want the other machines then I will be donating them ...

03/06/2020

Coffee review - Bantam beans Ugandan

Well this is another Fairtrade, small batch winner from Sainsbury's. With beans from the Mount Elgon co-operative in Uganda this bag was only £3.50 for 200g. Not expecting the coffee to be up to much because of the price I was really caught by surprise. It lives up to the toasting notes on the bag giving a sweet coffee with flavours of toffee and stoned fruit. There's a little acidity to balance it and overall it is a really pleasant brew. Try it. At this price it's a steal!

24/05/2020

Coffee review - Modern Standard

Another coffee from a supermarket, Sainsbury's this time, and I'm glad I tried it! This coffee from Modern Standard is apparently a seasonal blend that changes throughout the year. This particular blend is Brazilian and Columbian, medium roast. Making it in a cafetierre and I was surprisingly pleased with the result. Reasonable body, sweet and chocolatey with a slight citrus acidity, very easy to get on with. At £3.50 a bag this is one of the cheapest coffees on the shelf, hence my being pleasantly surprised as I wasn't really expecting it to be up to much. Sure, it's not as complex as some of the offerings available, but this one still produces a good cup of coffee at half the price of many others. Well worth trying. Streets ahead of some of the more expensive offerings I've sampled.

17/05/2020

Coffee review - Taylor's Lazy Sunday

Having been disappointed with a coffee from Taylors that I reviewed previously I thought I'd try another one just in case I'd picked one not to my taste. The advantage of coffee from these bigger coffee companies is that they are readily available. Unfortunately though, for me, this is another one that disappoints. After an initial hit of something vaguely coffee like there was no complexity, no after taste, just hot liquid. I'm sure that some people will like it but for my money there are plenty of coffees out there of better quality at a very similar price.

28/04/2020

Coffee review - Guatemala Nespresso capsules from the Eden Project

Another look at some Nespresso capsules. These ones come from the Eden Project and were bought from Amazon. The capsules themselves are biodegradable and compostable. They are also made using renewable energy sources so don't contribute to climate change. My only slight reservation is that they are produced in Italy. Nothing against the Italians of course, particularly as Italy's the home of espresso, but surely one of our many artisan roasteries could have produced these and saved some air miles?

Inside they have a single origin coffee from Guatemala. Coffee from a Nespresso machine is not quite a true espresso but these capsules produce a very pleasant brew. With a sweet, chocolate note and low acidity this coffee reminds me of a very delicate drink made with Nutella. Very pleasant.