Coffee Beans

by Nigel Ong

Aside from the Breakfast Blend, Starbucks has many medium roasts, such as the Pike Place and House Blend. Will the Starbucks Breakfast Blend taste better than them? I am here to try to answer this.

I try to brew and sample the Starbucks Breakfast Blend in this post. I’ll also compare it against its contemporaries and see how different its taste is.

This is part of my extensive review of Starbucks’ coffee roasts. Feel free to check out my other reviews on Starbucks Veranda Roast, Caffe Verona Roast, or Pike Place Blend.

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by Nigel Ong

You may have heard of strong, dark espresso. However, would you consider a light, delicate, and flavorful one? Welcome to the world of Blonde Espresso.

Roasted light, these beans are meant to be intense, yet at the same time, not smash your palate with smoke and bold flavors. It is a rather different experience with Espresso and something few are familiar with. 

For this post, I thought I would experiment with blonde espresso, starting with Starbucks’ Blonde Espresso roast. I will first sample the espresso before making several espresso-based drinks with them. Finally, I compare it against other espresso coffee I have.

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by Nigel Ong

Many people seem to enjoy pissing on Folgers, especially coffee connoisseurs. Its commonality also made it not appealing to coffee drinkers, assuming it is a mass-produced, low-quality coffee.

However, just because connoisseurs say the coffee is bad, does not mean it actually is. I prefer to find this out myself. If you wonder how Folgers coffee roasts taste, join me in my little experiment here.

In this post, I will be brewing the Folgers Breakfast Blend several ways and sample it. I will also try the coffee with flavorings and compare it against its contemporaries. 

Ready? Let’s go.

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by Nigel Ong

South Korea is known for its amazing coffee culture, and it is also one of the world’s largest coffee consumers per capita. Koreans drink all sorts of coffee, from the fanciest to the humble instant coffee. 

One of the most popular Korean instant coffee is from Maxim. It is so popular that people import and sell them to the US on Amazon. 

We have reviewed the Original instant coffee before, so here, I will be reviewing the most popular instant coffee in Korea, the Mocha Gold Mild. I’ll brew the coffee several ways and then compare it against other popular instant coffees.

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by Nigel Ong

Folgers’ regular coffee blends tend to split opinions. Some are okay with it, but some dislike it so much that they call it rat poison. One good thing is that Folgers do not just sit on their laurels and let it be. They actually try to introduce something better. 

Enter the 1850 roasts. These are Folgers’ attempts to produce premium blends to counter the public perception that Folgers only makes poor-quality coffee. One of the posts is the Folgers 1850 Pioneer Blend, a medium roast.

In this post, I review the Folgers 1850 Pioneer Blend. I’ll brew the coffee several ways and then try them. I’ll also experiment with flavorings like milk or creamer before finally comparing them with other common coffee roasts.

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by Nigel Ong

Colombian coffee is known for its citrusy, chocolate-like notes. As a result, many roasteries offer Colombian roasts in their coffees. Gevalia is not an exception – its Colombian roasts are very popular with coffee drinkers.

In this post, I thought I would give Gevalia’s Colombian Medium Roast a tryout. I’ll brew them three ways and sample them. Then, I’ll try the coffee with popular flavorings such as milk or sugar. 

Finally, I’ll compare the coffee with its contemporaries and see if it is up to scratch. Let’s go.

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By Darren Oliver

Entering the world of high-quality coffee surely you have come across a basic distinction: arabica and robusta. These are the two most popular (though not the only!) varieties of coffee on the planet. You’ve also certainly encountered the opinion that arabica is really the only variety worth considering. This stereotype has its basis, which of course we will mention. 

However, people associated with specialty coffee are known to break stereotypes and expectations. More and more coffee shops and roasters want to redefine what robusta is, and so in their offerings you will find high-quality beans of this very variety.

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by Nigel Ong

Espresso drinkers usually seek deep, dark, and bold flavors with their coffee. This made roasters roast their coffee extra dark for them. Starbucks also offers its own take on espresso roasts, with the Starbucks Espresso Roast. 

However, how good is it? Will it be another case of ‘Charbucks,’ where the beans are roasted to be so smoky you simply taste nothing else? Let’s find out. 

In this post, I grab myself a bag of the Starbucks Espresso Roast. Then I brew it several ways and see how the coffee tastes. Finally, I compare the Starbucks Espresso Roast with other espresso roasts and other dark roasts from Starbucks.

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by Nigel Ong

IKEA is known for its furniture and home supplies. However, they also ventured into the coffee world, first by making coffee gear and now, coffee roasts. There are several roasts that IKEA offers; one of them is the Patar.

Now, how good is the IKEA Patar? Is this a proper coffee roast, or more as a way for IKEA to sell cheap beans to generate more revenue? I picked up a bag of it to try it out myself. 

I will review the IKEA Patar Organic Dark Roast coffee in this post. I’ll brew it three ways and sample them. Then, I’ll flavor them several ways and see if these popular flavorings improve the taste of the coffee.

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