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?

Peet’s House Blend (Peet’s) – Latte

I was extremely fortunate, and grateful, that my friend Steve Errey (who was my best man) arranged for a bag of Peet’s House Blend to be shipped over from the US as a christmas present.

Opening the bag revealed darkly roasted beans glistening with oils, and the most gorgeous coffee odour with undertones of chocolate.

I’ve already tried this bean out in a cafetiere and as an Americano, but was inspired today to try it as a latte.

I should point out here that I’m not generally a big fan of lattes. Since discovering the joys of “proper” coffees earlier this year, I have primarily stuck with Americanos, not least because I find lattes too milky. I’ve seen derogatory references to ‘milkshakes’ here and there, and have agreed with the sentiment. I’m also not particularly keen on the syrups that seem to be a vital part of the latte experience – never ordered one myself, but tried the odd one here and there and simply don’t get the point.

After today however, my views have changed a little …

This was my first chance to try out some of the gizmos from christmas – particularly a new stainless stell milk jug and a milk thermometer. I’ve occasionally tried to use the espresso machine to froth or texture milk, but have been frustrated in not having an appropriate size jug (my Dualit machine has has a short steam wand and needs a small jug) or knowing when the milk is at the right temperature. Having tried them out, I can honestly say that (a) they’ve made it easier to get a result and (b) I’ve got a long way to go before I can say I know what I’m doing!

That said, the result of a double-shot espresso in textured milk was divine. Enough bite from the coffee to give it some edge, a wonderful creamy undertone from the milk, and a very slight hint of chocolate.

I’m assuming that the main reason for the transformation from “milkshake” to honest drink is primarily having a decent double-shot of espresso in a standard (ish) cup, but have to say that the Peets House Blend seems ideally suited to the task.

Only problem now? I’ve checked on how much it costs to buy – and ship – the beans to the UK. Wow … that’s not something that I’ll be doing too regularly!

Details:
Bean: Peet’s House Blend
Grind: Fine – ground with conical burr grinder
Brew Method: Espresso machine
Brew Detail: Double shot of espresso (circa 14g) in 250ml of textured milk

Overall: 4.5 out of 5