The Blue Coffee Box @bluecoffeebox #LoveBlueCoffee (By Uxorious)

The Blue Coffee Box is a coffee subscription club with a mission to bring speciality coffees from around the world to your door. In their own words they are a “gourmet” service and “You've never tasted coffee this good”. Their coffees are sourced from regions you don’t typically find in your supermarket aisle, with the farmers being paid above the Fairtrade price for their products. In summary, they live up to their acronym BLUE: Best of the best, Luxury, Unique and Ethical. With all these claims and such an obvious passion for coffee, how could I say no to reviewing their beans!?!

The Blue Coffee box arrived in the post, the presentation is absolutely beautiful and if you take a picture of the box and display it on social media, they even enter you into a competition. Does the FoodStuff Finds blog count? I think it must.

If you have read any of my previous coffee blogs, then you’ll know that I’m a physicist who lives on coffee; a physicist after all is simply a device for turning coffee into theories. My research is fuelled by deep dark rich black espressos, with my office and kitchen both having espresso machines; I just don’t have time to queue at some coffee outlet to get my needed shot of caffeine. As the Pulitzer Prize winner Dave Barry says, “It is inhumane, in my opinion, to force people who have a genuine medical need for coffee to wait in line behind people who apparently view it as some kind of recreational activity.”

The first bean to try is from El Salvador, Finca Las Nubes, and the coffee roasters are Campbell and Syme. Into my home bean-to-cup machine the light brown bean goes and a few moments later out pours the espresso. It produces a really good crema and the drink has a woody aroma. The taste is zingy full of berries that hit the sides of your tongue. This has a wonderful long-lasting flavour that will wake you up, it’s electric and alive, and even though it’s a mild roast it has some zesty strong kick to it! This espresso made me smile and my tongue buzz.

Onto the next bean, from Peru, San Ignacio, roasted by the Cast Iron Coffee Roasters. Another light brown bean that produced a moderate crema with a sweet mild aroma. I found that this expresso lingered beautifully, and had a very mild soft flavour. This is quite different to the El Salvador expresso; this is an anytime of day espresso.

Last but not least, from Nicaragua, Calixto and roasted by Campbell and Syme. Again, a light brown bean that generated an espresso with a thin crema and mild aroma. This was my favourite of the three beans I tried; it was fruity, full of treacle and the espresso sticks to your tongue. The flavour is wonderful, a velvety anytime espresso. Could you send me some more please!

All Blue Box Coffees score above 80 on the Specialty Coffee Association system, which officially makes them “speciality” coffees, and I can confirm that the recognised UCA marking scheme agrees, they are indeed special. That’s an official Uxorious Coffee Assessment thumbs up!

If you want to try Blue Coffee Box out for yourself we have a special Foodstuff Finds coupon for you to use of FS518 which gives £5 off any product, including gifts: The Blue Coffee Box

Cloggs Coffee Shop, a visit to Dewsbury [By Uxorious]

It’s Saturday! And what could be more exciting than a day trip to Dewsbury? For those of you who don’t live in Yorkshire and are perhaps unfamiliar with this historic green county, Dewsbury is a small town south of the city of Leeds. It is mentioned in the Domesday Book, with the name meaning David’s Fort. Anyway, I want coffee!

Recently, well it depends on how you view time, I reviewed Cloggs House blend beans and quite liked them. Noticing that Cloggs coffee company was actually based not far from me, Dewsbury to be precise, I thought I’d visit them at the weekend. A short drive later and we are parked in Dewsbury. By “we” I mean my wife and daughter, they say hello by the way. Soon we have found Cloggs Coffee Shop. It is a little bit hidden, but worth finding.

It seems other people had also successfully found this shop; it was surprisingly busy. You can buy all sorts from here: Belgian waffles, infused teas, milk shakes, hot chocolates, cakes, and of course an extensive range of coffees. A chocolate orange cake for my daughter, decaf latte (my wife can’t cope with caffeine, she goes all hyper, have you seen that squirrel in the movie Over the Hedge???) and for me a flat white.

As you’d expect, the coffee was lovely. A flat white is sort of a latte but with a higher proportion of coffee to milk. (The flat white was either invented in Australia or New Zealand, people disagree on which, back in the mid 1980s. It could even have been the result of a failed cappuccino!) Next to a good espresso this has become my favourite way of consuming caffeine. Full of energy and recharged we then explored Dewsbury, which actually has a good town centre, market place, minster and town hall for you to explore. Parking was quite cheap too.

I shouldn’t fail to mention, that the staff were lovely! (I’m not even paid to say this. On a completely unrelated note, I do quite like their ROK Espresso maker.)

Cloggs Coffee House Blend Review [By Uxorious]

It’s 8am and I have a lot to do today! Do you ever get that déjà vu feeling? I have a research article to write (I’m a physicist by the way), a paper to review, a grant application to prepare and the never-ending line of emails to clear. I’m sitting in front of my laptop and I need to get going! This calls for caffeine, a lovely espresso will kick-start my day. It’s not procrastination, it’s coffee. One of the benefits of working from home is access to my lovely espresso machine. Today I’m going to try some Cloggs House blend beans, which have arrived in the post for me to sample.

I live in Yorkshire, which is where you’ll find Cloggs Coffee Company. They hand-roast all their beans and you can visit them in person, have a drink even, at their coffee shop in Dewsbury. I intend to pop in, now that I know it’s on my doorstep. (That’s taking my doorstep to be about fifteen miles in length, but for a good a coffee what’s distance but a relative concept. Did I mention the physicist thing?) They also have a website (www.cloggscoffee.com) and not only do they sell coffee beans, but tea, hot chocolate and coffee machines. What caught my eye was a ROK Espresso maker, which looks absolutely stunning and is hand powered, so if you are reading this I’ll take one of them and the ROK coffee grinder for my birthday please. Or Christmas. I’m really not that choosy.

All their coffee beans are ethically sourced and they sell both blends and single origin coffees. I’m drinking their House Blend. It combines Arabica Brazilian, Columbian and Peruvian beans. It’s not long before my bean to cup machine is powered up and out drizzles golden brown espresso. Looks good, a solid deep crema has formed. You can see the remains of this in the photo below, sorry I started drinking before the camera came out! I’m only human.

The aroma is quite soft to me, but pleasant. The flavour is likewise mild, very rounded, and warm, with a subtle sweetness to it. This espresso is mild on all the senses, but very moreish. There are no bitter tones and the coffee has a lovely lasting gentle aftertaste. This is a beautiful, any time of the day, espresso. Revitalised, caffeinated, I’m ready to work, but darn it, first I have to write a review of this coffee for FoodStuffFinds. But don’t worry! I’m a physicist, so I’ll use my time machine, go back to 8am, and paradoxes aside, I’m sure I’ll find I’ve already written this.

Nespresso Grand Cru Capsule: Cubanía (By Uxorious)

I am a coffee lover. You’ll know this if you’ve read my previous coffee review on this site. Coffee to me is more than just a stimulant to help me out of bed in the morning. It’s a pleasure in and of itself. A good mug of coffee or a shot of deep dark espresso should be savoured as one of life’s little pleasures; whether first thing in the morning, during the working day or even last thing at night, I enjoy a good coffee.

At work I have a Nespresso machine, an old reliable friend, not one of their new younger versions that at the press of a button can make a cappuccino or a macchiato. This old stalwart just dispenses dark creamy espressos. At home I make espressos from beans but this is a bit too much faff for the work place. I’m always amazed by how good this little Nespresso machine is and how easy it is to use, with no mess to clean up. It sounds like I work for Nespresso or that they sponsor me, just to be clear, they don’t! (ps is the cheque in the post?)

Today I’m reviewing their latest limited edition Grand Cru capsule, the Cubania. This coffee is said to be “inspired by the passion and the warmth of the Cuban way of life”! That sounds like quite a challenge to squeeze into a hot drink. By the way, surprisingly these capsules contain no Cuban coffee.

When you think of Cuba you picture sun, sea, beaches, beautiful women, alcohol, cigars, classic American cars and Gloria Estefan. Actually I often picture Gloria Estefan, but this is not the place to discuss that. I inserted the capsule into my Nespresso machine, switched it on and patiently thought of Gloria. The espresso shot delivered looks the part, the right consistency, good texture, not watery. The crema was just a couple of millimetres thick, not as deep as their Ristretto capsule produces, but more than adequate.

The Nespresso website describes the aroma as powerful and complex. I will have to disagree here, I found it quite underwhelming, far more muted than their other capsules. But what it lacks in initial aroma it makes up for in spades with the flavour. Simply wow. The strength guide gives it a 13 out of, well what used to be just, 10. This is their strongest coffee yet. The coffee warmed, I would even say tingled, the sides of my tongue and the flavour lingered delightfully for ages after each sip. They have in my opinion developed exactly what an espresso should be! Rich, strong, full of flavour, a long lasting experience, with no bitter tones, in many ways just like Gloria.

By Uxorious

Nespresso Santander / Cauca Limited Edition Grand Crus [By Uxorious]

Up front, let me put my cards on the table: I love coffee. I’m constantly drinking the stuff. Even now as I type these very words I have a mug of, hold on whilst I take a sip, coffee within arm’s reach. At work we have an espresso machine and our secretary jokes that if this ever breaks down my work would come to a grinding halt. I blame my dad. Don’t we all? He’s German and he brought me up drinking coffee from well before the age of five. So I’m hooked!

We would all love to make the perfect coffee at home, to recreate the taste, smell and aroma (which as the technically minded might notice is very similar to smell, indeed some would go as far as saying that they are mere synonyms and indeed in my opinion they would be right) of an Italian cafe espresso.

The espresso is the fundamental building block of all coffee drinks. Over time I’ve tried practically every variety of coffee making device: cafetiere; espresso stovetop; filter coffee machine; French press; aeropress; and even bench press. 110 kg if you are wondering. And it should come as no surprise to you that I have an Nespresso machine! If it does come as a surprise, given the items that I’m reviewing here, may I politely suggest you stop reading this and go and make yourself a coffee and wake the fudge up!

I love my Nespresso machine. Ok, it doesn’t quite give you the rich feel and full body flavour of the perfect espresso, but my word it’s close. And the added bonus is that it takes no skill on the part of the user. No need to measure out the right amount of coffee, with the correct grind not too fine not too coarse, no need to think about pressures, or forming a cake with the right consistency. It’s quick, easy and mess-free. In no time you have a very pleasing espresso with a perfect crema. Indeed it’s the only coffee machine I’ve ever found that can consistently do this.

The first coffee I tried is the Santander capsule, a limited edition with intensity level 7 out of 10. The coffee comes from AAA sustainable farms from the Santander department of Columbia, to be found in the central northern part of the country, where the coffee is grown in the shade of tall trees surrounded by mountains.

The Santander capsule produces a perfect looking espresso with a sturdy, good sized crema. The aroma is warm and sweet and delivers the promise of a perfect shot of coffee to come. The texture of the drink is surprisingly good, there’s a real richness that my usual Nespresso capsules haven’t before achieved. The flavour is strong and long lasting with a surprising zesty bitterness at the end, which really gives a remarkable pleasing finish to each mouthful. The capsule may be orange, but you can colour me impressed.

The next one to test is the Cauca capsule, another limited edition AAA sustainable coffee, but with a lower intensity level of 6. This coffee comes from the Cauca department of Columbia, which is in the south-west part of the country, a lush, green, fertile equatorial region. The capsule delivers a good crema, not quite as firm as the Santander, but nevertheless very satisfactory, and the aroma, which has hints of chocolate, is somewhat muted in comparison too. I found the texture of this espresso to be watery and not as satisfying as the Santander one. The flavour is indeed milder as expected from the lower intensity rating, with a far simpler taste experience. What I did like in particular though was that it gives a very long lasting, some would say lingering, pleasant, gently toffee flavour after-taste.

Both of these coffees are very good and I’m actually going to swap over from my usual Nespresso Ristretto capsule to the Santander one, as I prefer its texture. Shame it’s a limited edition! I’d love to write more, but this mug isn’t going to refill itself!

By Uxorious