I was in the local branch of Hero(i)n Foods and saw they they do a block of vac packed coffee for £1 / 250g. Packaged to sort of look like Lavazza Red whilst narrowly avoiding copyright infringement. Claims to be 100% sawdust and chicory free on the packet.

I thought, what is there to lose at that price? It promised a medium roast and full flavoured brew at about 20% price of premium brands. I normally buy coffee from Baytown in Whitby or Lavazza espresso. I’m a bit fussy and usually find most supermarket coffees disappointing.

I brewed it up in an a Moka pot. The result was challenging but not entirely unpleasant. Very dark, a bit smokey and a little bitter. A full bodied yet drinkable brew. I’ve certainly had worse, it would maybe even be enjoyable if you like dark roasts. If it were packaged as an Artisan coffee with a name like “Vulcan’s Fury” it would fly off the shelves.

So push your way past the tied up Staffies and get into Heron foods.

Probably Robusta coffee beans from Vietnam.

Robusta is fine as I used to drink a lot of it as a kid.

I was with you till you mentioned lavazza espresso, then the thread died for me 😉, most bang for buck beans are a kg bag of Brodie’s mt etna from my local deli for £22.50.

Anything that has to proclaim to be sawdust free on.the pack is a non starter for me

Lidl’s blue and purple coffees are brill. Aldi’s are crap though, they’re too coarse.

Yeah the Lidl ones can be ok but still 2 to 3 times the price of this stuff

Coffee snobs don’t drink robusta.

It doesn’t proclaim to be Robusta, just Beans. Maybe magic beans, it just doesn’t say.

To be fair I’ve had some Robusta based coffees which cause an immediate “**** me” reaction on the first sip. This is better than that.

Claims to be 100% sawdust and chicory free on the packet.

So, all the good stuff left out then!

Coffee snobs don’t drink robusta.

Black Sheep https://leavetheherdbehind.com/ do a Robusta coffee, it’s very good. They do arabica stuff too but their standard brew is Robusta.

It’s all well and good proclaiming your “100% arabica” artisan-ness but when it’s shoved through a machine in CostaBucks by a barista who’s making their 400th coffee of the morning and there’s a queue of people there, it’s not exactly getting the most out of it, is it?! (not the most people care anyway to be honest, they just want something vaguely coffee-like on their way to work).

Coop do a £1 bag of ground coffee. It’s pretty good, I get it for work Aeropress.

The result was challenging but not entirely unpleasant.

I’m oot. I prefer my coffee unchallenging and pleasant.

Pffft. The continued existence of Laphroig Whisky and Frank Coopers Muscavado marmalade suggest folk enjoy a challenge.

I was with you till you mentioned lavazza espresso, then the thread died for me

I acquired 1kg of Lavazza espresso beans in an office move. Until this point I’d always assumed that variations in a coffee between espresso and filtering were fairly marginal, you could put it through the machine and get an espresso, or the french press and get two coffees that would both taste like espresso + blackcurrant/chocolate/nuts/whatever and a coffee + the same.

Nope, this stuff makes vile coffee in anything other than an espresso machine, at which point it’s just tastes like coffee.

I’m oot. I prefer my coffee unchallenging and pleasant.

That made me cackle. 😁 For me, “not entirely unpleasant” = worth a try, but won’t buy again.

On Vietnamese coffee, do they put syrup on their beans? I have the remains of a bag of arabica that is sticky as anything and tastes rather sweet.

And don’t be dissing Laphroaig!

Vietnam produces a lot of very poor quality robusta, grown at fairly low altitudes.

Very good robusta can taste somewhere near the lower end of specialty grade arabica, but it’s very much a case of why bother. It is much more resistant to leaf rust, though, which is one of the few good things you can say about it.

Life’s too short for bad coffee. Even a £40 per kg bag gives a relatively inexpensive per drink price, so I’d always drink decent stuff even if I didn’t work in the specialty coffee industry.

JP

The speciality coffee industry industry better take note, Heron Foods are coming for you.

I’ve spent a fair whack over the years on speciality coffee. I’ve spent proper money on undrinkable stuff in brown paper bags from people with beards.

£40/kg vs £4/kg is a hell of a price difference. I’m struggling to see the value.

The continued existence of Laphroig Whisky

Ah yes, whiskey for grown-ups! 😁

I don’t drink coffee much these days, nor do I know what Heron Foods is.

But the best coffee I have ever tasted was in Vietnam. I couldn’t get enough of the stuff.