10 June 2011

Kenco Millicano Whole Bean Instant (Waitrose) [By @Cinabar]



This is Kenco’s new instant coffee, which is made with a mix of real bean, which has been fine milled, to give it an improved flavour. It seems to be a similar idea to Starbuck’s microground coffee which also contains an amount of fresh coffee mixed with an instant.
I liked the tin packaging for this coffee, despite the shiny nature of it making it difficult to photograph! It looks smart, and is refillable too, which is better for the environment.
Opening up the tin and the coffee granules inside look very much like any instant, and there are no visual clues to its extra ingredient. All that you can see are the usual, brown almost cubic grains. I spooned some coffee into the mugs and added boiling water. The coffee was dark, and there was a good aroma with some rich scents.
The taste was nice too. The flavour was decent, quite soft, and had a nice range of tones to the taste. There was a definite hint of real coffee about it, but it also had a hint of instant too. Don’t get me wrong I liked the drink, but I wouldn’t have mistaken it for fresh in a blind taste test.
In summary, If you are looking for a better quality instant coffee, then this drink will really impress you. It has a good flavour and has some aspects of a fresh coffee taste. As an instant I enjoyed it, and will happily work my way through the tin. Sadly though the flavour isn’t quite a replacement for a cafetiere filled with the real stuff. I think maybe my previous review for Bocamonte means I have just been a bit spoilt for coffee this week!
By Cinabar

6 comments:

Paulham said...

I don't normally agree with you, but I have to say I totally disagree with you on this one!
So much so, I wrote to Kenco expressing my deep disappointment.
Even Nescafe is better than this stuff.

cinabar said...

Paul - Have you tried the starbucks microground - what did you think of that?

Paulham said...

Nope, cinabar. I don't buy(literally) into coffee shops.
I just buy loads of ground for home brewing.
I find Taylors to be very good.

cinabar said...

They sell the starbucks microground at sainsbury's so you don't have to venture into their coffee shop.

I do agree with you though, there really is no mistaking any sort of instant for the real thing.

MK Images said...

agreed its not fresh ground quality but in a hurry its heads and shoulders above other freeze dried coffee.

cinabar said...

Absolutely - it is still an instant - but a really good one.