Life, the Universe and Coffee

The other coffee shop

coffeewizard — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 01:29:42 +0000

Well… I have mentioned Hasbean, I have mentioned Coopers & Co. I forgot to mention one other… The Bean Shop. I have bought some coffee from here but not for a while. They do these interesting gift ideas of 12 months or 6 months of coffees of a certain size and range sent each month. Nobody bought me one though

Coffee at work – Meeting coffee

coffeewizard — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 18:05:27 +0000

There are two ways to get coffee at work. One is for meetings and one is at the deli. You can bring your own as well but I discount that one for now.

The coffee given for meetings (arranged via contractor and lots of paperwork of course) has two different styles. There is normal and ridiculouslystrong. About a year ago they a employed a new lady to prepare the coffee. She was rather generous with the coffee leading to unbelievably strong coffee. The coffee is made available in the usual lever operated coffee flasks. The actual coffee used is clearly filter coffee but there was a time I was not so convinced about this. I suspect the coffee is catering sized cheapest possible available. Maybe fairtrade but I am not very sure – nothing is said about this and usually there would be I think. I would rate the coffee as just OK, mainly as you have no alternative at the meeting. Rather a captive audience.

Coffee at Weatherspoons

coffeewizard — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 17:34:42 +0000

Well… you can go to weatherspoons for a number of things. They have special days for meals (e.g. Thursday night is curry night). They have beer and so on all at reasonable prices So… one has to try the coffee of course. The cup indicates Lavazza coffee is used. Whether this is true I don’t know. The coffee was not brilliant, but it was an adequate price. Some of the quality of the coffee might have been due to the enthusiasm (or lack thereof) of the staff serving it. Kind of service without a smile. Have to say rather better than a particularly frustrated looking member of staff at a Burger King I went to once.

Costa Coffee

coffeewizard — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 13:58:53 +0000

Occaisionally I have been known to visit an expensive outlet for a cup of coffee. Costa, well known for the presence in less places than Starbucks is one such outlet that I visited. It was ok. I had a skinny latte (for health reasons). Rather efficient server almost a blur watching the coffee grinds being put out and pressed down. Fairly expensive. Mine is better

Coffee of the Day – Guatemala Genuine Antigua

coffeewizard — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 13:55:07 +0000

Well… some new coffee. Sainsbury’s Guatemala Genuine Antigua. Strength 3. Not a strong smell, although it purports to having one. Smooth taste, pleasant. On offer

Described as growing high up on volcanic slopes with soil rich in minerals.

I still much prefer the ones from smaller sellers, like hasbean, but they are more expensive. I have had some “duds” from smaller sellers too, but even in those cases the smell and taste is somehow just fresher.

Coffee of the Day – Percol Colombia

coffeewizard — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 17:47:38 +0000

Current on going coffee is (apart from the breakfast bomb mentioned earlier) Percol’s Colombia blend. This is a fairtrade coffee marked as strength 3. I am a bit of a fan of Colombia blends anyway as they have a smooth nutty taste. Well to me they do, could be anything to some other people :p I would recommend this for what it is. Price OK, particularly if it is on offer

Breakfast Bomb

coffeewizard — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 17:41:36 +0000

The breakfast bomb is a high caffeine blend from hasbean.co.uk that should give a kick in the morning. The taste is quite nice. Maybe slightly harsh but not that harsh… but this can be expected from a high caffeine blend. I guess I could recommend it but its not so spectacular, just good to wake up with.

What happened to all the coffee?

coffeewizard — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 17:34:33 +0000

Well… long time no write. In fact, there was a pause for two reasons. First I had a lot of coffee from Coopers. Nice coffee mind you. I will definately go back… The second reason was I decided to reduce my coffee intake to about 1 cup per day. This has slipped a bit however! But down to 1 cup per day, extended the life of that coffee.

That aside I intend to list the ongoing coffee, possibly with some comment.

Travels to Vienna

coffeewizard — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 16:55:03 +0000

Is Vienna a nice place? Is it friendly?

Vienna has some nice buildings. It also has quite a few coffee shops. I recently visited Vienna. I was not there long enough to spend much time in the coffee shops but I did have one or two.

I am a bit confused about Viennese coffee. A long time ago I had some Viennese coffee, it contained some kind of fig flavour. I rather enjoyed it. I thought for so many years that all Viennese coffee was like that.

So was a bit surprised when I asked in a coffee seller’s shop for Viennese coffee with fig. They had no idea what I was talking about. They sold Vienna coffee beans which seemed to be the shops own version of a coffee blend.

When you ask for a Viennese coffee to drink, they will give you one. But the Viennese bit is the way it is prepared, with the foam, milk and coffee combination – something a bit different to cappucino. No complaints about that drink though.

But no fig! Some googling search later and yes I did find Viennese coffee has fig in it. I wasn’t imagining things – which I did think for a bit.

So which is which?

Still drinking the Coopers Coffee

coffeewizard — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 14:54:34 +0000

Well…. Too much silence!

The Coopers situation from so long ago resulted in me having rather a lot of coffee from them. At the same time I reduced the amount of coffee I drink to 1 or 2 cups a day. And mostly that is using the evil Instant Coffee at work (my own – bought on buy one free one). I need to get back to my real coffee… It might explain a few things!