THE POLITICS
Fair trade. As consumers, most of us would agree in principle that the ideal relationship between ourselves and the people who provide the goods and services we consume is for us to pay a fair price, and for the various people along the chain of production to receive fair payment ... Read review
Advantages: taste, fairly traded Disadvantages: price, but think of your conscience
THE POLITICS
Fair trade. As consumers, most of us would agree in principle that the ideal relationship between ourselves and the people who provide the goods and services we consume is for us to pay a fair price, and for the various people along the chain of production to receive fair payment for their part in the process. In the 21st century, however, reality is somewhat different from the ideal. Often the clothes on our backs are ... ...backs of the poor. The food on our supermarket shelves is brought to us by the middle-men whose obscene profits take bread from the mouths of the disenfranchised. They get away with it because more often than not the consumer is unaware of it. The exploited are on the other side of the world in sweatshops and farms. They have no voice. We don’t have to see or hear their misery when we pop into the supermarket for a ready-meal, or drive to the out ... more
THE POLITICS
Fair trade. As consumers, most of us would agree in principle that the ideal relationship between ourselves and the people who provide the goods and services we consume is for us to pay a fair price, and for the various people along the chain of production to receive fair payment for their part in the process. In the 21st century, however, reality is somewhat different from the ideal. Often the clothes on our backs are courtesy of someone getting rich from the sweat on the backs of the poor. The food on our supermarket shelves is brought to us by the middle-men whose obscene profits take bread from the mouths of the disenfranchised. They get away with it because more often than not the consumer is unaware of it. The exploited are on the other side of the world in sweatshops and farms. They have no voice. We don’t have to see or hear their misery when we pop into the supermarket for a ready-meal, or drive to the out of town mall to pick up this week’s must-have trainers. We want quality at a low price. We want the latest gear at inflated prices to show our friends how successful and cutting edge we are. The fat cats rely on it.
Fortunately, organisations like Fairtrade are doing something practical to reduce the number of fat cats in the world, and give voice, dignity, and security to the victims of the global market. Not only do they draw attention to the exploitation, they also operate a certification scheme whereby companies can display the Fairtrade logo on products deemed to have been, you guessed it, fairly traded. In the case of Cafédirect, this means the coffee growers receive a bigger share of the money you pay for your jar of coffee, normally well above the artificially suppressed “market price” of the beans.
THE PRODUCT
OK, so the politics are all very fluffy, but what about the coffee? I like to make informed decisions about what I’m buying but at the end of the day, if the product isn’t up to snuff, all the worthiness in the world isn’t going to make me buy it. Nor is this advertising drivel :
“We all need a ‘special place’ to visit, even if only in our daydreams. A cup of Cafédirect 5065 is the perfect excuse to ‘switch off’ from your schedule and let your mind wander.”
In your dreams, Mr Copywriter! It’s a jar of instant coffee. Let’s keep it real.
The reality is that you get 100g of freeze dried instant coffee for a RRP of £2.59 (it sells for £2.57 in Tesco), or 200g for £3.45. It’s also available in 500g tubs, but I don’t have a price for those, as I’ve never seen one.
I always buy my instant coffee in 100g jars, even though buying in larger sizes is normally more cost effective. The reason for this is that instant coffee starts to degrade in taste from the minute you open the jar. Have you ever noticed how good the first cup from a new jar of your favourite brand tastes in comparison to the last one? I mention this little idiosyncracy of mine solely to impress upon you that, for me, taste is paramount when it comes to instant coffee. I value taste above price (within reason), and – confession time – politics. I was brought up on Nescafe. I’ve been drinking it for around 30 years. To me, Nescafe is what instant coffee should taste like. Unfortunately, politically, Nescafe is firmly on the side of the evil empire. At various times in my life I have tried to find a replacement to ease my political conscience, but I don’t think I’ve ever finished a 100g jar of another brand.
So, I found myself having my weekly tussle with my conscience while lifting a jar of Nescafe towards my trolley, when my eye lit on Cafédirect 5065. For some reason, on this occasion conscience and a spirit of adventure won the day and I found myself parting with £2.57 for the unknown, instead of £1.63 for the tried and tested. I regretted it almost immediately, and fully expected to be chucking it out halfway through the week. However, having forked out £2.57, the least I could do was try it.
THE AROMA
One of the joys of coffee is the smell, and one of the mini highlights of my week is breaking the seal on the new jar of coffee and sniffing the fresh coffee smell straight from the jar. I was disappointed to note a distinct lack of Nescafe smell from this one. Freeze dried coffees tend to have a less intense aroma in the jar, so it wasn’t too surprising. As soon as the water hit the granules in the bottom of the cup, order was restored and a rich, rounded aroma floated up to my nostrils. The aroma has no hint of the slightly sweet top note that Nescafe has, and a very roasted quality to it.
THE TASTE
First impressions were surprisingly good. The dark roast theme suggested by the aroma is realised in the taste. I often find freeze dried coffees get the dark roast taste at the expense of the essential coffee undertones, the beaniness of the coffee if you like (decaf is similar in my experience), but this is a very well rounded flavour which escapes the bitter edge of many. If I’d been blindfolded and asked to taste this, I would have suspected that Nescafe had brought out a freeze dried version of their original coffee. There is an indefinable freeze dried edge to it, but it’s slight. I don’t know how else to describe this except to say that it’s a quality that all freeze dried coffees have. I can always tell a freeze dried coffee from a traditional granule or powder just by the taste. I normally prefer a granule, and steer clear of freeze dried coffees, but the edge is so slight in Cafédirect it was only mildly disconcerting. In truth, after the 3rd or 4th day of drinking it, I stopped noticing it. Cafédirect is stronger than Nescafe. I like my coffee really strong and I found I was gradually reducing the amount of Cafédirect per mug till I got the taste just right.
THE PACKAGING
I’m not going to describe this in detail. The essential facts are that the jar is made from 70% recycled glass, and the cap has a novel twist off/press on action. I found the cap disconcerting at first, because the packaging doesn’t tell you it’s twist off/press on, so I was trying to twist it back on and failing miserably. I pressed it back on by accident once and the penny dropped. Now that I know how it’s done, it’s actually easier to operate than a screw top jar. My only concern would be that if you’re one of those women who tote around a jar of coffee in your handbag you might be in for a nasty surprise and more than fluff and dead tissues in the bottom of the bag.
THE VERDICT
Cafédirect 5065 scores pretty well on aroma, and very highly on taste. It’s GM free, so wins the health and environmental arguments for me. It could only be improved in that respect if it was organically grown. Cafédirect do in fact produce an organic decaffeinated instant coffee, but don’t do an unadulterated organic instant. I find that odd. They can obviously source the beans, so why not offer consumers the choice? The price is steep, compared to Nescafe, but I think I’d rather pay an extra £1 per jar and know that the people who grew the beans could feed their kids. I’ve found my replacement for Nescafe, and that’s a dose of reality I could drink by the mugful.
Advantages: In its favour, it's fairly traded Disadvantages: In its flavour, it's fairly jaded
There used to be a coffee advert featuring a houseguest discreetly feeding a bland cup of instant coffee to the rubber plant. We never found out what became of the plant. But I don't envy it. I've always thought instant coffee is to ground beans what cubic zirconia is to diamond: a pale imitation which just about passes muster for everyday use.
Fear not though: now there's an instant coffee that can actually make you feel good. Fairtrade instant ... ...has added ethics. I only ever buy instant coffee to serve to unwelcome guests. So it seemed churlish not to try and help the less fortunate at the same time. That is how, gentle reader, in my selfless quest to bring you the truth, I came to buy a jar of Café Direct 5065. The label promises that "the farmers benefit from a good income while you get the best quality coffee direct from the growers." Presumably this isn't wholly true. Somewhere along ...
Silverback 22.12.2002
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Cafedirect Freeze Dried Coffee
Advantages: A proper price to pay. Disadvantages: None.
...viable source of income.
Cafedirect started trading in 1991 and is constantly seeking to pay the farmers fairly for what they produce. They work across 11 countries and ensure a better deal for some 1.2 million families...
Not convinced? Take a look at this:
The world market price for a pound of Arabica coffee beans is a mere 61.45 US cents.
Cafedirect pay 126 US cents for the same amount 105% more than the world market price. Fairtrade guarantees ... ...world market price.
Cafedirect also pays an extra 10% on top of this as a Social Premium payment that is used to create better farming techniques or even pays for schools and improvements in healthcare.
Who'd have thought buying fairly-traded goods would have made THAT much difference?
***THE COFFEE***
I've just had a nice cup of 5065 coffee and am very well armed to write this opinion...
Freeze-dried coffee always tastes worse than 'proper' ...
Critchyboy 11.03.2003 (12.03.2003)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Cafedirect Freeze Dried Coffee
Advantages: Tastes good in the mouth and in the heart Disadvantages: Runs out too quickly
...is expanded to say 'Excellent cafedirect from the growers'. Below that is the large white '5065'. This is the name of the coffee but I don't know what it means. Below that is 'the height of coffee taste' and at the bottom is a picture of a cup of coffee.
To the right of the label is the all-important Fairtrade logo.
The back label has some words on how good the coffee is and a quote direct from a coffee farmer saying that cafedirect are pretty ... ...GM free and the jar is made from 70% recycled glass but makes no mention if the the jar can be recycled again, i assume it can.
The smell
I have to admit to being underwhelmed by the smell. It smells good but nothing special.
Now that I've added boiling water to it, it smells more like coffee. The granules dissolve well and the colour is very rich and dark.
The taste
Lets get this straight to begin with. This is a freeze dried granule, instant ...
Heidavey 17.05.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Cafedirect Freeze Dried Coffee
Advantages: good coffee and properly paid growers Disadvantages: none
I love a cup of coffee in the morning. I take my coffee black with no sugar so the coffee has to be of high quality to meet my high standards. I have had cups of coffee, which could put me off coffee for life. I could only recommend a coffee that had a good flavour and did not leave any nasty after tastes.
Cafédirect 5065 freeze dried instant coffee is a great tasting coffee. It has a smooth flavour and smells delicious. I would be happy to serve ... ...I am sitting with a mug of this coffee beside me. The coffee looks dark brown with steam rising from it inviting me to take a drink. The smell coming from the mug is as good as any coffee I have smelt. There is a sense of fresh ground coffee. The flavour would compete with any other for the real coffee taste. All in all this is an excellent mug of coffee.
What makes this coffee special? This is a good quality coffee without GM beans. The beans are ...
mjbarkley 25.04.2002
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Cafedirect Freeze Dried Coffee
Advantages: Direct from the farmer Disadvantages: None
...which was also made by cafedirect and it was from machu picchu. It has a cup of black coffee at the bottom of the picture. It has the words, excellent cafedirect from the growers. The 5065 The height of coffee taste. It also has the fair trade logo. The label on the back says "5065 is the height of coffee taste. Cafedirect pays the best price to get the pick of the crop. This way farmers benefit from a good income while you get the best quality coffee ... ...yes plain ordinary tea.
Cafedirect is now available on the high street at costa. I think I paid £2.69 from tesco a bit more expensive than most instant coffee but well worth it. I am sure that you can get this from most supermarkets.
Cafedirect,
City Cloisters,
Suite B2,
196 Old Street,
London,
EC1V 9FR
Thanks for reading and I hope that I have not bored you to much. Please do give it a go. At least you know that your hard earned money that ...
hazle 30.05.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Cafedirect Freeze Dried Coffee
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Thanks to SamtheMan for this FT challenge: good on you mate. It was inspired to give a little Ciao support to Fair Trade fortnight which is in full swing right now. If you want to know more about this particular coffee then take a look at http://www.cafedirect.co.uk and if you want to know more about the fabulous FairTrade, their new logo launch, what is happening in Fair Trade fortnight and much much more go to www.fairtrade.co.uk – it comes highly recommended. ...
