A return to Bewley’s this week – the Irish tea and coffee importers whose Panama we’ve featured before. Although based in Ireland, the coffee is fairly widely available in the UK as well.

This is the Araku India coffee, grown in the Araku Valley in Andhra Pradesh. Unlike some of their range, it’s nice to see that this is a Fairtrade product.

The grounds have a rich aroma, with dark fruits and old wood and just a touch of molasses. Brewed, the sweetness and the fruit is somewhat lost, and the old wood comes through more strongly.

There’s a richness to the flavour too, with warm dark fruits slowly yielding to a long lasting but gentle tannic bitter finish. The depth of flavour and full body makes me wonder a little about the strength 4 label, but it manages to keep that bitterness nicely subdued.

Overall a very drinkable coffee that deserves 3 stars.

Many thanks to Bord Bia for these samples.