Surprisingly Good …

Ran out of my Square Mile espresso beans at the weekend (another tale of the last 18 months that I shall tell at some point).

I have a bag of Peets House Blend in the freezer (oh the heresy) but don’t particularly want to keep grabbing it out – probably wait until I’m next going to be home for a few days, then take it out and finish it off.

And, being the weekend, I didn’t have the option of popping to Monmouth on the way home and picking up some of their beans.

Instead, on the spur of the moment, I grabbed a tin of Illy beans from my local Waitrose (the black tin, denoting darker roast). Normally I avoid buying any beans from the supermarket, because I’ve not had good results in the past, but I needed something and I certainly wasn’t picking up anything that was pre-ground …

To my amazement, the Illy is pretty damn good. I suppose I shouldn’t be that surprised – Illy’s a widely available brand for a reason, and I like a cup of Illy-based latte from Manon – but I was never all that fussed before when using Illy pre-ground. It wasn’t bad by any stretch, but nor was it anything to write home about.

I guess it just underlines the difference between freshly ground and pre-ground coffee … a lesson for us all?

Monmouth Newsletter

As a keen advocate of the Monmouth Coffee Company, I’m slightly irritated by the fact that their website has been “under construction” for several months.

There has however been a tiny crumb of comfort in the fact that they have now published their newsletter on line – here in fact.

Not perfect, but much better …

Fazenda Rainha (Monmouth Coffee Company) – Americano

Fazenda Rainha is a Brazilian yellow bourbon, described by Monmouth as “Sweet chocolate with full body and cherry acidity”. In addition to being sold as a single origin bean, Monmouth are also presently using it as the base for their house Espresso Blend.

After yesterday’s disappointment with the Fazenda Rainha brewed with a cafetiere, it was a relief to try it as an Americano; all of the “yeuch” tones from the cafitiere disappeared, to be replaced by a pleasantly rich and clean flavour. Whilst it didn’t have a particular “wow factor”, this was a very nice easy-drinking cup.

Details:
Bean: Fazenda Rainha, Monmouth Coffee Company
Grind: Course-ground with conical burr grinder
Brew Method: Espresso machine
Brew Detail: Double shot (circa 14g) in 250ml water with a slug of milk
Overall: 3.5 out of 5

Fazenda Rainha (Monmouth Coffee Company) – Cafetiere

Fazenda Rainha is a Brazilian yellow bourbon, described by Monmouth as “Sweet chocolate with full body and cherry acidity”. In addition to being sold as a single origin bean, Monmouth are also presently using it as the base for their house Espresso Blend.

[As I type this, Stoke have scored against Arsenal to go 2-1 up in their FA Cup 4th round match - being a Spurs fan this makes me rather happy. But I digress ...]

Today my in-laws visited, to celebrate my father-in-law’s birthday (I shan’t embarass him by saying which one). When offered a coffee he normally would request an espresso, but today was in the mood for a longer drink and chose a cafetiere brew rather than an Americano. Having picked up some of the Fazenda Rainha yesterday, and been impressed by it in a latte, I was keen to see how it fared …

Unforunately, in short, the answer is “not so well”.

[Stoke have just scored again to make the scoreline 3-1 with 85 minutes on the clock ... nearly makes up for Spurs' last-gasp draw with Leeds yesterday ... but I digress again ...]

Firstly I have to admit to blowing hot and cold with cafetiere-brewed coffees as a whole, generally preferring something espresso-based and presently favouring “strong” (double- or triple-shot) lattes. My issue with cafetieres (and even more so with drip machines) is that there is a pervasive flavour – which I struggle to describe – that you simply don’t get with espresso.

This was particularly evident with the Fazenda Rainha; the resulting brew had a strong (though not unpleasant) odour, and a stronger and slightly bitter taste. Add to this a hint of the ‘cafetiere’ flavour, and the overall effect is underwhelming. Drinkable yes, and still significantly better than an instant coffee, but nothing to shout about.

Looking forward to trying this bean in an Americano to see how it compares …

Details:
Bean: Fazenda Rainha, Monmouth Coffee Company
Grind: Course-ground with conical burr grinder
Brew Method: Cafetiere
Brew Detail: 4 heaped desert spoons in an 8-cup cafetiere, 4 minutes brew time

Overall: 2.5 out of 5

Fazenda Rainha (Monmouth Coffee Company) – Latte

Fazenda Rainha is a Brazilian yellow bourbon, described by Monmouth as “Sweet chocolate with full body and cherry acidity”. In addition to being sold as a single origin bean, Monmouth are also presently using it as the base for their house Espresso Blend.

Took Joshua into London this afternoon, mainly because I haven’t been home all week and wanted to spend some time with him, but also to take a trip to Borough Market. On the shopping list? Coffee and cake.

The cake in question was for tomorrow, when my in-laws are visiting to celebrate my father-in-law’s birthday. We ended up getting a wonderful-looking creation from Konditor & Cook, which is next door to Monmouths.

For coffee, of course, we went to Monmouth. I’ve pretty much run out of the Peet’s House Blend that I was so fortunate to receive for Christmas, and to be honest the little that’s left has gotten pretty stale and lost some of it’s flavour. If I hadn’t been working all hours and staying in town I’d have finished it off a couple of weeks ago!

Due to the price of Peet’s – mainly in shipping from the US to the UK – I was hoping to find an appropriate replacement so that I won’t need to bankrupt myself in order to get the same kick, and can instead order a couple of bags when I’m feeling flush. My mission therefore was to find a bean that works well in latte.

Once again I took advice from the Monmouths staff, and ended up with two small (250g – roughly half pound) bags. One is their current house Espresso Blend, the other a Brazilian (or Brasilian if you prefer) bean called Fazenda Rainha. This forms the base of the Espresso, and (as the tasting notes replicated at the top of this post) I was told that it has a chocolate note that should work well in a latte. To be fair I was offered at least two other options, but this was the one that I plumped for.

Having previously tried out their Espresso – albeit a different blend – and having had a latte in the shop that used the new blend, I decided to put it in the freezer and try out the Fazenda Rainha.

On opening the bag there was a slight disappointment regarding the look of the beans – I’ve been spoilt for the last few weeks with the glistening Peet’s beans, whereas these had a lacklustre look to them. However the smell was something else – strong and sweet. The end product was a strong and full-bodied latte with plenty of bite and a slight chocolate note.

Overall I didn’t think that the Fazenda Rainha was quite up there with the Peet’s House Blend – it’s possibly a little too in-your-face, lacking the subtlety of the American. However it did make for a very palatable drink, and I’m looking forward to seeing how it fares in an Americano.

Details:
Bean: Fazenda Rainha, Monmouth Coffee Company
Grind: Fine-ground with conical burr grinder
Brew Method: Espresso machine
Brew Detail: Double shot – circa 14g – in 250ml textured milk

Overall: 4.0 out of 5

Monmouth Espresso (Monmouth Coffee Company) – Americano

Went to the Muse gig at the O2 Arena – absolutely fantastic.

No-One’s Going To Take Me Alive, The Time Has Come To Make Things Right / You And I Must Fight For Our Rights, You And I Must Fight To Survive …

Marna and I decided to stay in town overnight rather than fight (and probably lose) to get home – particularly since the last train straight home is at the ludicrously early time of 22:05, when the gig hadn’t even finished. This morning therefore we strolled over to London Bridge and – with some time to kill – wandered around Borough Market for an hour or two.

I’ve never been to the market before and knew very little about it. Suffice to say that there were some great stalls selling a fabulous range of … well, stuff.

Of interest for this blog, though, is Monmouths. Monmouth have three shops in London, one of them just outside Borough Market. I suspected that there was something special when I saw the queue – literally out of the shop, round the corner and down the street, probably 30 or more people standing in line for a coffee. More imporantly though, they also sell a range of freshly roasted coffees …

I decided to play it safe and ask for some advice, rather than end up with a random bag, and ended up with 500g (just over a pound for anyone who thinks imperial) of their house Espresso Blend, ground for an espresso machine (hope to get a grinder for Christmas). The smell of the beans was fantastic, although Marna did start to complain when our train broke down and we were stuck in a confined space with the odour for 3 hours …

We had friends over this evening, so I have only just had time to make myself a drink. Decided to stick to Americano since it’s what I know and like. And the result? Wow. Just … wow … Great, smooth finish with plenty of bite and a slighty nutty tone – possibly almonds? Any which way, definitely the best drink I’ve made at home to date.

And the good news … so long as I’m working in the same office (likely to be at least another 3 months) I’m catching the train home from London Bridge – so should be plenty of opportunity to stay stocked up with beans.

Details:
Bean: Monmouth Espresso
Grind: Fine-ground in-store
Brew Method: Espresso machine
Brew Detail: Double shot of espresso (circa 14g) 250ml water with “a slug” of milk

Overall: 4 out of 5