... I have recently enjoyed the Nescafé instant cappucino range so I thought I'd give the Douwe Egberts version a trial run.
~ HISTORY OF DOUWE EGBERTS ~
Egbert Douwes and his wife started trading back in 1753 by selling coffee, tea and tobacco to local villagers from their small shop in ... Read review
Advantages: Much cheaper than Starbucks Disadvantages: Lacking froth - bitter aftertaste
...I thought I'd give the Douwe Egberts version a trial run.
~ HISTORY OF DOUWE EGBERTS ~
Egbert Douwes and his wife started trading back in 1753 by selling coffee, tea and tobacco to local villagers from their small shop in Joure in the Netherlands. Their son, Douwe Egberts, joined the business in 1780 and began selling to other shopkeepers throughout Holland. The company eventually grew to become the Dutch market leader in tea ... ...now drink in coffee shops, Douwe Egberts have hopped onto the bandwagon and bought us their own range of instants, consisting of Latte, Cappuccino (sweetened and unsweetened) and Mocha coffees. All you have to do is simply add water, and hey presto, you have a steaming cup of "special" coffee.
So, today I will be mainly reviewing the instant Cappuccino brand.
I've very recently developed a taste for coffee. In the past I've always found coffee a huge disappointment - it always smells far nicer than it actually tastes. Anyway, in an attempt to curb my eating, I've started drinking coffee instead - preferably cappuccinos as the froth makes it seem more substantial and filling. Running up the street to Starbucks everyday is proving somewhat expensive so I thought I'd try some of the instant sachet versions on the market. I have recently enjoyed the Nescafé instant cappucino range so I thought I'd give the Douwe Egberts version a trial run.
~ HISTORY OF DOUWE EGBERTS ~ Egbert Douwes and his wife started trading back in 1753 by selling coffee, tea and tobacco to local villagers from their small shop in Joure in the Netherlands. Their son, Douwe Egberts, joined the business in 1780 and began selling to other shopkeepers throughout Holland. The company eventually grew to become the Dutch market leader in tea and coffee sales. Today Douwe Egberts is in the top three largest coffee suppliers worldwide and has been part of the Sara Lee Corporation since 1978.
~ SPECIALITY INSTANTS ~ The advert of Starbucks, Costa Coffee and Café Nero in every major UK town and city has seen us Brits enjoying a wider variety and range of coffees. There is now a bewildering choice of Mocha, Latte, Frappaccino, Cappuccino, Macchiato and Espresso just for starters. In fact it's a whole new language consisting of jargon like shots, double strength, java, skinny and so on. I felt so sorry for the elderly lady in front of me in the queue for Starbucks last week - all she wanted was a simple cup of coffee and she was presented with such a confusing range of options that she must have felt not only stupid, but incredibly thirsty by the time she eventually got her coffee.
Anyway, I have digressed somewhat. In response to our growing love of the speciality coffees we now drink in coffee shops, Douwe Egberts have hopped onto the bandwagon and bought us their own range of instants, consisting of Latte, Cappuccino (sweetened and unsweetened) and Mocha coffees. All you have to do is simply add water, and hey presto, you have a steaming cup of "special" coffee.
So, today I will be mainly reviewing the instant Cappuccino brand.
~ PRICE & PACKAGING ~ Cost is £1.97 for a 200g bag = approximately 16 cups of coffee. This works out at a bit of a bargain - 12p per cup as opposed to the cheapest take-away Starbucks at £1.79. So, it is really worth it ?
It comes packaged in a mainly brown and gold plastic sealed bag. There is a picture of a cup of coffee on the front, but it doesn't look particularly frothy and nor does it look appealing. I think Douwe Egberts ought to invest in a better photograph if they want to tempt people to try this…..
You need a fair bit of strength to open this bag without incident. I think it's fair to say that it is best cut open with scissors, as any attempt to open the bag by hand is more than likely going to result in an explosion of cappuccino powder all over the kitchen. Once opened, the contents need to be consumed within 4 weeks. The packet is definitely lacking a resealing tag or sticker though…..best to borrow a peg from your washing line then.
It is also worth pointing out that the Douwe Egberts cappuccino version is lacking any sort of chocolate topping dispenser that you get with other instant cappuccino mixes.
~ SERVING INSTRUCTIONS & TASTE TEST ~ The powder looks a sort of dirty beige colour with brown flecks. It does not smell of anything remotely like coffee. In fact I think it has a bit of a toffee/caramel aroma going on - but not in a particularly pleasant way - it smells really really sickly, and somewhat nauseating. OK - let's get on with serving it. It really could not be simpler (and I should know as I have frequently been told that what I know about catering could be written on the back of an incredibly small postage stamp….)
Spoon five heaped teaspoons into a cup or mug
Add a little cold water and mix into a paste (so that the froth develops)
Pour in the hot (but not boiling) water
Get it down your neck
The coffee itself is rather creamy looking but I don't think much of the froth. It has ended up looking more like pond scum rather than the creamy foam one expects on a good cappuccino. The "froth" or lack of it, is a sort of yellowy colour with no substance or height to it. And of course, it's lacking the chocolate sprinkling on top (unless you break out the hot chocolate powder from your own personal supplies at the back of the kitchen cupboard).
On the whole the finished product is rather disappointing. No delicious coffee aroma to tempt your taste buds - it just smells rather milky. It tastes rather flat and watery I'm afraid. It's very thin and sort of gravy coloured. It also has a really strong bitter after taste to it as well. It is slightly improved in texture and taste if you add a spot of hot milk to it, but the foamy froth is still missing.
I think that the Nescafé version is much much better.
~ RECOMMENDATION ~ Sadly this drink is about as close to a cappucino as I am to being 21 and a size 8 again. They're handy if you're out of milk and can't get to a shop. A cheap and cheerful alternative if you can't get to Starbucks for the real thing. There is the disappointing lack of froth and chocolate sprinkling. This drink won't transport you anyway near an Italian coffee stop - more like a motorway service station. I do not recommend this product - the Nescafé version is much much nicer.
~ DIETARY BITS ~ Suitable for vegetarians. I won't list the ingredients as I will get six billion comments from you all telling me that Ciao doesn't like it. Suffice to say that there is a lot of milk/lactose products as well as sweetening agents in it, so it is definitely not one for those a detox kick.
Nutritional Information per serving:- Energy - 202kJ or 48 kcals Protein - 1.3g Carbohyrates - 6.4g Fat - 1.9g Sodium - 0.2g No Fibre at all
~ CONTACT DETAILS ~ Douwe Egberts UK Limited PO Box 760 Slough SL1 4FL
Advantages: Fairly cheap Disadvantages: Very poor taste
...looked promising did the new Douwe Egberts Instant Cappuccino. It was on special offer last week, £1.49 for a 200g pack. The usual price is £1.99. It’s supposed to make ‘up to 16 cups’. The packaging is attractive, and is hard to distinguish from packs of ground coffee, as it’s the same size, design and the same sorts of colours, mostly browns. There are two varieties, sweetened and unsweetened. I bought the latter. The pictured cup of coffee looks ... ...pardon me if I decline the offer. I can’t understand how Douwe Egberts can put this feeble stuff on the market, as their other coffee products are pretty good.
This pack is going back to Tesco tomorrow, and I shall get a refund. Please, do not buy it. ...
Schmutzie 12.01.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Douwe Egberts Instant Cappuccino
Advantages: Frothy and quite tasty Disadvantages: A bit watery in taste
I bought a packet of Douwe Egberts Instant Cappucino ages ago and since then it has been sitting at the back of the cupboard - not because I don't like it, but simply because I tend to drink mostly tea and coffee instead. I like drinking cappucino when out, but it isn't the sort of drink I would have on a regular basis at home. However, upon discovering this half empty packet in the cupboard, I thought it was time to give it a try again to see how ... ...background to the company itself. Douwe Egberts is a highly respected name in the world of coffee and has been established here in the UK since 1981. However, the company was first founded in 1753 in the Netherlands by Egbert Douwes and his wife Akke Thysses. They owned a small shop and initially began selling coffee, tea and tobacco to locals, but the business quickly went from being a local venture to a national and international one when their ...
rowei 24.10.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Douwe Egberts Instant Cappuccino
Advantages: great taste Disadvantages: very messy, no resealable bag
Douwe Egberts’s hot drink Cappuccino comes in a large 200g bag, which “makes up to 16 cups”. Each bag costs about £1.25 and contains cappuccino mix but no sachets/bottle of chocolate flavoured topping. This cappuccino is rather creamy with a very frothy top, which needs mixing well. Unlike the other Cappuccinos I have reviewed, this one does not contain any sachets of chocolate topping, which is a great shame. The ingredients used ... ...of 5 teaspoons. Douwe Egberts’s has website which is www.douwe-egberts.co.uk . This item is produced in the United Kingdom (makes a change) for Douwe Egberts UK Ltd, PO Box 760, Slough, PDO, SL1 4FL. I have not tried the website yet. I would recommend this drink but I prefer the Nescafe version because:
1. Nescafe has a chocolate topping
2. Less mess – the cappuccino mix went everywhere but the mug, the bag is difficult to open and ...
werewolf 13.01.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Douwe Egberts Instant Cappuccino
Advantages: Great taste, great looks, fast & easy to make Disadvantages: Comes in a Non-resealable bag
...finally found coffee heaven in Douwe Egberts instant cappucino. Douwe's Instant Cappuccino comes in a 200gram bag that contains approx 16 delicious cup fulls. It's based on the standard powder and boiling hot water mixture. Though unlike other instant powder mixes, this mixes smoothly, and doesn't leave you gulping down lumps of mushy coffee at the end of your drink. (Yuck!!). It has great taste, and even looks good, with an ample frothy head. If ... ...your cappuccino, relax and dream of a beach somewhere or your favourite coffee shop. Douwe Egberts instant cappuccino beats all other instant coffees hands down. a reccommended 8/10.
Only disadvantage I can think of, is that you cannot re-seal the bag it comes in, and the bags aren't bigger! :) ...
StarSurfer 24.01.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Douwe Egberts Instant Cappuccino
