Whittard Almond Amaretto Coffee

...supplier of choice is still Whittard of Chelsea, who have stores springing up all over the country as well as in most Factory Outlets, selling a wide range of coffees, teas and hot chocolate.

With such a range of products it’s easy to be spoiled for choice, but a firm favourite of mine is their own brand Amaretto Flavoured – an almond liqueur flavoured ground coffee. In the Middle East, Amaretto is added to coffee to create a spicy ...
...it is rather intense – Whittard have watered down the flavour somewhat in their version to make it creamer and more palatable to the less adventurous coffee drinker!!

The only problem I have with it is the fact that it is ground coffee for use in coffee machines and sometimes the effort of making a cup just for myself is too much, so I was delighted on my last visit to see that Whittard now produce Almond Amaretto Flavoured coffee ... more

Being a Yorkshire lass, I’ve always been a big tea drinker (Yorkshire tea, naturally!)
I was never a big fan of coffee until I lived in France where I discovered the error of my ways. Good coffee is a marvellous thing – I’m not talking Maxwell House here, I mean good strong coffee made with freshly ground beans.

In recent years getting hold of really nice coffee in this country has become much easier but my coffee supplier of choice is still Whittard of Chelsea, who have stores springing up all over the country as well as in most Factory Outlets, selling a wide range of coffees, teas and hot chocolate.

With such a range of products it’s easy to be spoiled for choice, but a firm favourite of mine is their own brand Amaretto Flavoured – an almond liqueur flavoured ground coffee. In the Middle East, Amaretto is added to coffee to create a spicy brew – I’ve tried this myself and whist it is delicious it is rather intense – Whittard have watered down the flavour somewhat in their version to make it creamer and more palatable to the less adventurous coffee drinker!!

The only problem I have with it is the fact that it is ground coffee for use in coffee machines and sometimes the effort of making a cup just for myself is too much, so I was delighted on my last visit to see that Whittard now produce Almond Amaretto Flavoured coffee in an instant variety. Question is would it be as good as the ground coffee version. The answer, unsurprisingly, is no….

Whittard describe their Almond Amaretto flavoured coffee as “Something with a kick! One loves or hates that superb, brittle, breath-taking bite of almonds and amaretto.” Whoever wrote that description was clearly drinking a different beverage to me… This coffee is pleasant enough but it’s bland. The only kick I can think of is the fact that I was kicking myself for thinking that an instant coffee could ever be as good as a ground one. And far from having a brittle bite, it is sweet and insipid – it wants to be a Friday night out partying but in fact it ends up being a Sunday afternoon round at grannies eating sandwiches with the crusts cut off! Its bland and safe, which is fine, there’s nothing wrong with that but it truly is a let down.

But lets start at the beginning (that’s a very good place to start apparently!!)

Almond Amaretto comes in a 50g clear glass jar with a picture of what appears to be a cartoon armadillo/sheep/anteater on it. I’m not sure why – even with my love of the pun, making an ‘almondillo’ is pushing it somewhat – I was tempted to ring the freefone helpline number on the jar just to question the poor hapless soul on the other end about the meaning of it, but decided against it for the sake of the sanity of all involved!!
The label also points out that this is calorie and sugar free (hooray!) and is made by simply pouring ‘off the boil’ water over a teaspoon of the granules and adding milk and sugar to taste.

On lifting the lid on the jar, the coffee smells really nice – quite strong but with definite hint of marzipan.

So far so good (except for the ‘almondillo’)

Even after adding the water, the smell is still strong and delicious and the brew looks creamy and inviting.

So where does it all go wrong?

It really is too sweet, that’s the main problem – even without adding milk and sugar its sickly and slightly cloying. One mouthful was enough although I perserved in the name of research (and the fact that it wasn’t cheap and I had a whole jar to drink!!) and it did improve slightly after a couple of mouthfuls but this really is a beverage better suited to someone with a really sweet tooth.

In all fairness it is an instant coffee and expecting the sharpness of a ground coffee was rather naïve (all that ‘ground coffee taste without the grind’ business that instant coffee makers churn out is slightly wishful thinking on their part I tend to think!)
Its OK, that’s the best I can say about it – its not horrible its not excellent, its OK…nice to serve after Christmas dinner maybe, but not the coffee to serve after a dinner party if you want to impress your guests with your fabulous taste in coffee.

If you don’t have a Whittard store nearby (for a full list of their branches see their web site) then you can order products on line. Their web site is interesting and easy to use although you don’t get the fabulous aroma of the shop of course.

Almond Amaretto Flavour Instant Coffee is £2.50 for a 50g jar. Other flavoured instant coffees in the same range include Vanilla, Rich Hazelnut, Irish Cream, Toffee Mochaccino and Chocolate. (Although be warned, a quick look at pictures on the web site revealed that they all have random cartoon animals on the jars – Choc Croc anyone?…)

I would definitely recommend that if you like the taste of Amaretto and are looking for a really nice liqueur flavour coffee that you stick with Whittard Amaretto ground – it may be a little more hassle but its worth it for the flavour and the lack of ‘almondillos’ on the packaging!!
 

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