Carte Noire Coffee

Being a massive caffeine addict, I am always up for trying new brands of coffee, especially as I tend to get bored of the taste if I stick to the same brand for too long. So once I'd had one cup of Nescafe too many off i trotted down to the supermarket. As usual I was greeted by (what seems like hundreds of) rows of different coffees, which had me scratching my head in confusion for a good five minutes. Finally I decided on the Carte Noir instant for a change and I'm glad I did! PACKAGING: I know it's a bit boring to describe the packaging but as it helped with said five minutes of indecision ... more

~ ~ The ‘mad cabbie’ made an impulse buy yesterday evening. I’d called into the local supermarket on my way home from a shift in the old ‘joe maxi’ as I’d run out of my favourite Kenco coffee that morning, and didn’t fancy an evening of drinking one of the lesser blends of instant coffee (Nescafe and Maxwell House) that were left over in the kitchen cupboard. I recalled reading a recent opinion by Mel, (the ‘cheekychicken’) where she was extolling the merits of a coffee called ‘Carte Noire’, and saying that she and the ... more

I first tried Carte Noire when I visited the Ideal Home Exhibition earlier this year. They had a promotional stand and were offering small cups of coffee to sample there and then as well as handing out money off coupons and small sample packets to take home. As I had enjoyed the taste of the samples I decided to put the money off coupons to good use and when I next needed to purchase coffee I chose Carte Noire instead of my usual brand, Nescafe Original. I have done a bit of research on Carte Noire coffee and have detailed below a brief history about the range. In 1978 Frenchman René Mannier ... more

On scouring the instant coffee shelves a while ago for something a little more interesting than Nescafe I came accross Carte Noire. I think it was the jar which caught my eye. The jar is tall, square and black with a gold band around and a white label with Carte Noire and 'Un cafe nomme desir' written in black on it. For those of you who speak French no doubt you will be able to translate it (something along the lines of a coffee named desire). The label is plastic which can easily be removed before you take the jar down to the glass bank. The lid is something which is totally unique. It is ... more

Second coffee op in the space of a week - yep, you're right: it's exam term! Normally the Douwe Egberts Continental Range are my instant coffees of choice, but when faced with a shelf of coffee that did not include it, Carte Noire was the one I decided to buy last term. So what made me buy it? The first thing was the packaging. It comes in a roughly cuboid-shaped glass jar, with a curved lid, and is completely black (hence the name). The jar itself is covered in black plastic, and boasts the Carte Noire logo in black lettering on a white background at the front, and a big gold line around the ... more