Review Posts

Aldi's Great British Brewing Company

A few years ago, there was rumbling in the world of whisky that perhaps something should be done about some bottlers - especially supermarkets - constantly inventing fictional Glens to use on their own-brand whisky. Earlier this year, the problem re-surfaced when it emerged that Tesco had invented a bunch of farms for some ...

Reads Coffee Sumatra Bourbon Espresso

Whenever I go somewhere new, I like to explore the local produce as much as possible. Just about anywhere you go in the world - and especially in the UK - there is guaranteed to be at least a smattering of local beers to be explored. This is increasingly the case for coffee, ...

Minoh Brewery Mini Tour-At-Home

Although I usually try to sample the whole of a brewery's range in these things, sometimes that's not possible. I've picked up these bottles on the road a little way from Minoh's home in Osaka, so I've only been able to get hold of what appears to be about half of their beers. I ...

Grumpy Mule Peru Cafe Femenino

I've tasted Grumpy Mule before, although not for a long time. Back then, I was a little underwhelmed - although to be fair, that was one of the weakest coffees in their range so it perhaps wasn't the best starting point for someone with my tastes. It's taken quite a while, but finally I ...

Toast Ale

Food waste is an undeniable issue; 2012 figures from WRAP (I can't see any newer numbers) show that UK households threw away 7 million tons of food waste. That's 260 kg per household, which is so high as to be almost unbelievable. Of course, as always with statistics there is more to the ...

Murray McDavid Twitter Tasting

Murray McDavid are a 'whisky bottler', which means that although they aren't a distillery themselves, they mature, blend and bottle whisky from across Scotland to produce their own distinct offerings. I've had more than a few of their bottlings before, and almost took part in their Twitter Tasting last year - until the Royal ...

Pact Bibi Plantation

It's fair to say that at times, my coffee tasting lags slightly behind my coffee acquisition. There are some times when I'm down to my last bag, but more often there's a half-dozen different coffees lurking in the cupboard, waiting to be tasted. That's generally fine, because coffee - even ground coffee - ...

Aldi Specially Selected Rich Java Coffee

Rounding off this trio of Aldi Specially Selected coffees, we leave the African continent and head for Indonesia. Java is apparently the world's most populous island, despite being considerably smaller than the islands in the next two spots (Honshu in Japan, and Great Britain). And yet, they manage to fit enough coffee plantations in ...

Aldi Specially Selected Ethiopian Coffee

Continuing my exploration of Aldi's fancier coffees, and we move one country northwards from Kenya, to Ethiopia. Aldi Specially Selected Ethiopian Coffee is another darkly roasted coffee, rated slightly stronger than the previous Kenyan blend. The ground are sweet and dark, with chocolate-dipped black cherries and dark, sun-warmed old wood. Brewed, the chocolate becomes darker ...

Aldi Specially Selected Kenyan Coffee

Aldi is a curious place to shop. Their prices are undeniably lower than the traditional big supermarkets, but their products are ... variable. They've had some remarkable whisky at times, and some terrible 'beer'. I'm a big fan of their pastries, and a lot of their staples are pretty decent. Their own brand clones are ...