Remember the ‘old days?’ When instant coffee was a powder that looked and tasted of watery sludge? How times have changed.
Now, better instant coffee comes in granular form…and you can get instant coffee in numerous flavours (hazelnut, cappuccino…), with different ... Read review
Advantages: Coffee flavoured. Hot, wet, stimulating Disadvantages: Some may find it too 'middling' - either too bitter or not bitter enough
Remember the ‘old days?’ When instant coffee was a powder that looked and tasted of watery sludge? How times have changed.
Now, better instant coffee comes in granular form…and you can get instant coffee in numerous flavours (hazelnut, cappuccino…), with different levels of ‘richness’ (dark and rich, or golden and mellow).
However, here in my office in the armpit of London, we get ... ...road coffee.
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What This Op is NOT
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You will not find here a complete history of coffee, or a detailed description of the growing and preparation of coffee beans. What I’m hoping YOU, the consumer, want to know is how the stuff tastes, what it looks like, and what it costs. After all, you either drink coffee, or you don’t – and if you do, ... more
Remember the ‘old days?’ When instant coffee was a powder that looked and tasted of watery sludge? How times have changed.
Now, better instant coffee comes in granular form…and you can get instant coffee in numerous flavours (hazelnut, cappuccino…), with different levels of ‘richness’ (dark and rich, or golden and mellow).
However, here in my office in the armpit of London, we get Nescafé Original granules. A well known, middle of the road coffee.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ What This Op is NOT ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You will not find here a complete history of coffee, or a detailed description of the growing and preparation of coffee beans. What I’m hoping YOU, the consumer, want to know is how the stuff tastes, what it looks like, and what it costs. After all, you either drink coffee, or you don’t – and if you do, you want to know whether to buy this stuff.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ How Matty drinks coffee ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Well…I carefully raise the cup to my lips, if I’m wearing white, I spill some, take a sip, burn my lip if the coffee is fresh, and grimace if I’ve let it go cold on my desk…
OK, that’s not what I meant. I am not a coffee aficionado. I don’t drool over Kenyan coffee, and am baffled by the bean choices when I go into Starbucks or the like. As long is it’s hot, tasty, and not too bitter, I’m a happy woman.
I am not a coffee addict – if I drank as much coffee as Ken does, I’d be a jittering wreck, spending more time peeing than drinking or working. I drink around three cups of coffee in the morning. And that’s it.
What you DO need to know is how I take my coffee. Hot, ideally. I can drink it black or white, but always with sugar – one generous spoonful or two sugar cubes. So what does this tell you? It tells you that I need to cut the bitterness of coffee a bit. This should help you understand what I am looking for, and what I base my opinion on.
OK, now that’s out of the way, let’s talk about Nescafé Original Soluble Coffee.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Appearance – Packaging (and price) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You can buy this stuff in all sorts of sizes – from the dinky little jars that people who don’t drink coffee keep in their cupboard to serve to friends who do, right up to the econo-size tins that offices and catering companies buy. The jar I have in front of me is 300g – selling at Sainsbury’s for £4.73. Downstairs, we have a 200g size, selling at Asda for £2.98 (Asda’s website doesn’t list the 300g size – Sainsbury’s do the 200g for £2.99.).
Now, I’m sure the vast majority of you have seen a Nescafé jar before…but for the sake of thoroughness…it’s glass. It’s got a vaguely hourglass shape, though the ‘taper’ is about three inches from the top of the jar. There is a label on both front and back. On the front, it has the Nescafé Original logo, along with a mug of ‘steaming’ coffee – the mug is red with a gold band, and the mug sits on a picture of coffee beans. The ‘steam’ has obviously been drawn in.
On the back, there’s some geezer listening to headphones, with a very silly look on his face. My question – the point? Anyway, it also tells you that you are ‘GETTING MORE from the BEAN for a great FULL FLAVOUR.’ Yeah, whatever. It’s got the barcode, the website (www.nescafe.co.uk, if you’re interested), the size, the freephone number (0800 00 00 30 – please, let me know if you’ve ever phoned any of the numbers – and why!). It also tells me that Nestle are ‘Good Food Good Life’. Marketing speak. Again, whatever.
Look, skip all that. You’ll recognise the jar because it says Nescafé on it. Nuff said. Too much said, really.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Appearance – The Contents ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Well…it looks like instant coffee granules. Granules are coarser than powder. The granules are dark – darker than those in Gold Blend. Ummmm…that’s it really. That’s what it looks like.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Appearance – The Coffee ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Once you’ve made your coffee (around one spoon of coffee per mug…pour hot water – I’m told it shouldn’t be boiling, but who waits…stir well. Add milk and sugar to taste. Duh.), the appearance will vary depending on how strong you’ve made it and whether you add milk (Duh again).
At the moment, I am drinking the coffee black (because the milk’s gone off). It looks…very dark brown. I make my coffee fairly strong, so it’s really quite dark – not translucent in the cup.
C’mon guys, it looks like COFFEE! Do you really want to know what the cup looks like. Good, because I’m not going to tell you!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ AT LAST – the taste ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nescafé original has a fairly strong, bitter (but not, to me, unpleasantly so) taste. Keep in mind, though, I add sugar.
It is not as smooth or mellow as Nescafé Gold Blend (Nescafé’s more expensive, more golden stable mate). It is a stronger flavour.
It has a slight bittery/coffee aftertaste (although I did use water that had just come off the boil). Again, I don’t find the aftertaste unpleasant, and it can be lessened with the addition of milk and sugar.
Does it taste like freshly brewed coffee? Don’t be silly. No, it doesn’t. It tastes of a quality instant coffee.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Verdict ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Do I like it? Yeah. It’s OK. Like I said, I’m not fussy. I am currently on (now luke-warm) cup number three, and am, admittedly, badly in need of a you-know-what (but the loo is freezing). I’m a wee bit jittery – but I do make coffee strong, and as I’m not a ten cup a day drinker, I don’t have a high caffeine tolerance.
Would I recommend it? If you like instant coffee, sure. I mean, I don’t enthuse over coffee in the same way I do, over books, say. But it’s coffee.
When made properly, it’s wet, it’s hot, it’s a stimulant, and it tastes like decent coffee. If you prefer a stronger or milder coffee, well, there are varieties out there for you. This is a mid-strength, mid-bitterness, mid-range coffee.
So, if you like coffee…try it, if you haven’t already. You never know!
That’s all folks…I REALLY have to go now!Cheers, Kate
...night!).
I recently purchased Nescafe Original Instant coffee, paying £1.99 for a 100g jar. I don't tend to stick to one brand. I buy whatever I feel like buying at the time. But, more often than not I do end up running back to Nescafe's various brands of coffee.
Did you know that it is estimated that a staggering 3,000 cups of Nescafe coffee are drunk every second? Astonishing, isn't it?! In an average cup of instant coffee, it contains approximately ... ...There's a big difference, isn't there?
I very rarely buy the powdered form of coffee. Why? Well, the simple fact is that I prefer the granuales! For some reason, the granuales have more taste, strength and texture to them. I tend to drink my coffee farely weak. Can't stand strong coffee or tea! Just makes me even more thirsty! But, even with the extra milk added, you can still taste the full flavour of the coffee. The coffee beans aren't too strong, ...
Louise90 06.09.2002
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Nescafe Coffee Granules
Advantages: delicious, gives you that morning jolt you need Disadvantages: may be too strong for some, pricey
...coffee of all time is Nescafe Original Instant Coffee. As someone who has tried a variety of different coffees, I can safely say that nothing beats it for taste and quality (unless, that is, you want to go to France every morning and get your fix there). First of all, it’s instant, so the minute you add it to boiling water it turns to dark, rich, aromatic coffee… no messing around with a coffee brewer – or worse yet, a coffee grinder (my grandma ... ...A 200-g jar of Nescafe Original Instant Coffee usually costs around £3, but it’s worth it if you want a good cup of coffee. The jar itself is pear-shaped and made of real glass (yay), with a dark brown lid. The label has NESCAFE ORIGINAL scrawled across it with a red cup of steaming coffee as the backdrop. It also comes in smaller jars, although the big jars are obviously more economical if you’re a big coffee drinker like I am.
I strongly recommend ...
roxygirl 17.11.2002
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Nescafe Coffee Granules
Advantages: Full of flavour, Intense aroma, Very relaxing and soothing drink Disadvantages: High on caffeine
...imagine it. 3,000 cups of Nescafe are drunk every second throughout the world.
Out of this amount a large proportion would be of the Nescafe Original type and this happens to be the type that I regularly consume.
Nescafe produce many varieties of coffee including Gold Blend, Blend 37, Black Gold, Fine Blend, Alta Rica, Cap Columbie, Kenjara and several others.
The differences between all of these variations are based on the mixture of coffee beans ... ...as it main mixture.
Nescafe Original provides you with a relatively inexpensive way to enjoy your coffee.
As Nescafe say, with reference to the original version, “they make more of the bean”. I have become so accustomed to the taste that if you were to give me a different blend such as “Gold Blend” I might certainly enjoy it and any other blends but I would most certainly still prefer my usual original version with its original ...
vinodgm 16.03.2002
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Nescafe Coffee Granules
Advantages: The original and best Disadvantages: Too much caffiene can be bad for you ... like im listening ... NOT
...company that are responsible for Nescafe as well as many other quality brands in our shops ) and asked them to find a way of making a mug of coffee that could be done just by adding hot water.
It took seven years for Nestlé to finally come up with a way of doing it and in 1938 they released Nescafé on the Swiss market and by the mid forties Nescafé had managed to find its way all over Europe and into the UK. Then, continuing its trek over to he ... ...it in their soldier’s rations.
Now Nescafé comes in many shapes and sizes and styles but still the best loved and most purchased in its original coffee granules. In recent times the well known round jars that had wider tops and bottoms have been replaced with a more stylized horizontally oval shaped jar that is thicker at the bottom than at the top. The lids changed too to a more sloped shape that melds with the new jar and adds to symmetry of the ...
gabrielangeles 17.11.2002
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Nescafe Coffee Granules
Advantages: Good quality coffee Disadvantages: can be pricey
As I have reviewed Nescafe FineBlend and in that review mentioned I drink the original, here my review of Nescafe Original. Once again I am reviewing the coffee in general but the jar I have is the 100g.
Oh no not another one to add to the list that is already there ! - I hear you say. Well I am going to review all the coffee makes that I drink eventually.
~ Nescafe ~
In my honest opinion it is a good quality coffee, slightly pricey but you get ... ...a good choice through the Nescafe range. As mentioned above this review will be on the Nescafe Original.
~ The Jar ~
This jar is the same shape as the FineBlend jar in my other review and is 100g. The jar in my opinion has a good shape for ease of holding, due to the thinning of the bottle neck and then widening at the top, there is less chance foe the jar slipping out of your hand. It is a good strong glass jar with a plastic lid with a paper ...
lostsworld 25.06.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Nescafe Coffee Granules
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Why settle for anything other than gold ?
- well think of it this way ....
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