Double Espresso vs Barista & Co Strong Brew

Hi single trackers, Mark here. This is a bit of an extra Fresh Goods Friday bonus video

I guess, because we've just received a coffee making device from Coffee Maker's Barista

& Co. Here they are. Some of you may remember that I actually reviewed this a few years

ago. Anyway, Barista & Co. have been in touch and said that they've actually, this one

which I did actually rate quite highly at the time, they've actually upgraded it, they've

changed the seals on it. Oh, this is called the Strong Brew, by the way, and it wasn't

called the Strong Brew when I reviewed it a few years ago, that's a new name they've

given to it. And it's pertinent because they noticed that after they'd actually made the

improvements to it, that it made the brew stronger. Here's the claims, I've got the

numbers written down here. Here's what Barista & Co. have told us. They say that the Strong

Brew makes coffee so strong that it's almost three times the typical caffeine strength

of an espresso. They've put some numbers on this. They reckon that when using the instructions

we've got here and the amount of coffee that they're recommending we use for this thing

this thing will kick out 257 milligrams of caffeine. Now, to put that into context, a

typical espresso might be something between 80 and 90 milligrams. Here at Singletrack

we like our coffee. You see behind me we have our standard coffee machine. We've had this

for over 20 years. In fact, it's the oldest asset that the company actually owns. Chips

bought this from a guy, and I think he was about 15 years old when he bought it 20 years

ago. So it's got some stories, this coffee machine. It's seen some action. It's delivered

coffee to some very influential mountain bike people. Gary Fish has drunk from this

machine. Hans Rey has drunk from this machine. Many, many others have also consumed coffee

from this machine. So what I'm going to do today is I'm going to knock out an espresso out of this thing, and I'm going to knock out a coffee from this thing, and I'm going

to do a taste test. It's subjective. It's me. If this is going to be three times as

strong as an espresso in the amount of caffeine in it, then you'd think that I'm going to

be able to notice that by doing a taste test. That's what we're going to do right now. Now, if any of you are wondering why on earth on the Mountain Bike Magazine are we actually

reviewing coffee? Well, it turns out that Barista & Co, their shtick for the strong

brew is that it's for athletes. You see, there is actually some science behind this, which

is that caffeine in your system does actually help with doing a workout, or if you're going

on a big ride, having a bit of caffeine before you get going does actually give you a bit

more energy. It doesn't actually give you energy. There's not any extra energy in caffeine

itself. What it does is caffeine mobilises fatty acids that basically fat stores around

your body, and it brings it into your bloodstream, and there you can turn it into energy. That's

the angle that Barista & Co are coming from, and this is why they've sent it to us. We're

going to put this to the test. I'm going to read the instructions, and then we'll get going. Okay, so in the pack that Barista & Co sent, they actually sent some coffee. Any

coffee that gets sent to us by any manufacturers will always get tested. 15g of coffee is pretty

much what would normally go into a double espresso machine head. Because I'm going to

make an espresso out of this machine, that does mean that I can reasonably say that I'm

using the same amount of coffee. So let's give that a go. Okay, so this thing opens

up like so. We'll wiggle. You can see the chamber inside. That's where we're going to

put the coffee. Whenever I get new coffee, the first thing I do, I always have a smell

Oh yeah, I'm getting... I'm definitely getting coffee. Like I said, 15g is about what you

would normally put into a double water filter. Okay, I've got my boiling water. It recommends

about a centimetre from the top, so about there. Bit of a stir. Now, I'm going to put

the filter paper on. So, there's just one. What I normally do with these, I'll just wet

it a bit. It just helps it to stick in its holder under its own steam. Then we are going

to apply this onto the top, like so. It's been sat there for about 30 seconds. We're

ready to actually extract our coffee. So, I'm just going to turn this over. Already

I can see that there's some coffee coming through. Now, I'm just going to slowly twist

under pressure. Force that coffee through. I'm using quite a bit of pressure here. I

can taste a bit. So, there's definitely a lot of pressure. I've made a hiss at the end

because that's the small amount of air that's in the system. Now, what I'm going to do before

I drink this and test it is I'm going to make myself an espresso with this and water it

to the same amount. So, I've got the same in both of these two cups. Okay, let's give

this a go. Now, I'm not using the same coffee, so this does make a bit of a difference. What

we've got here is we've got a number four dark and rich, so it's going to be pretty

strong anyway. But the reason I'm doing that is because the grind that's in the coffee

that we've been sent is very coarse. Tamp. Okay, so now we have our espresso. It's a

double espresso. I'm going to pour this in. It's about the same. I'm going to start with

the espresso. Okay, so give this a go. Oh yeah, I can tell that's an espresso. But let's

give it a comparison taste against the Barista Unco. Cool. Yes, there is a difference. It

doesn't taste three times as strong and I don't think that's the point because it's

the amount of caffeine that's in there and the amount of caffeine doesn't actually dictate

whether it tastes strong, just whether it is or not. But that does taste... Let's have

another go. The Barista Unco's coffee, the Great Coffee Good Vibes blend, the Rocketman

Espresso Roast is actually very tasty. As to how much caffeine I'm imbibing right now

I would say that the Barista Unco does just edge it. That makes a really nice coffee

is that Barista Unco Strong Brew? Make of that what you will. Two good coffees made

in different ways. One without a massively expensive espresso machine and instead using

the Barista Unco Strong Brew, which costs £34.99 for this. If you buy it as a bundle

with 350 grams of this coffee, then that comes in at just £39.99 and it does come with a

massive bundle of hundreds of these. That's it. Oh, the one thing I didn't mention is

this device does have a secret storage compartment inside here. It's very cool. There's a little

note with it saying it's not waterproof, there's a rubber bung on it, but you can stick coffee in there. All you need is some hot water and you can make yourself a really awesome coffee

wherever you happen to be. If you want to check out some links about all this stuff

I'll stick it around this video somewhere underneath or you know where to look. Until

then, that's all from me. See you next week. Cheers