Asda Extra Special
I found some half-decent supermarket brand coffee. It's part of the "Extra Special" brand at Asda, one of the largest supermarket chains here in the UK. I believe the supermarket itself was acquired a few years ago by an American conglomerate chain - Walmart I think. Anyway, they usually have a 3-tier system of quality with their in-house products. You have the 'value' stuff, which is usually much cheaper versions of anything you can buy there. There's the 'standard' version, which competes with standard products, and there's the 'extra special' stuff, which is their version of premium or luxury products.
I suppose it comes from Brazil, since it says so on the packaging. It is already ground, a bonus for me since I don't own a coffee grinder, and it's 'smooth', which means I don't need to use the French press or a filter. I make so many cups of coffee a day that it would become a bit of a pain. I just pour about one-two teaspoons full and pour boiling water in. Finito.
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My kettle also only boils enough water for an average cum of coffee or tea. I used to have a generic kettle and I found myself either wasting water or electricity. Sometimes I'd forget to fill the kettle with just enough water. With this one, I just fill it up and it makes about 5 cups of coffee before I need to refill it. I recommend it to frequent coffee or tea drinkers.
Another thing I like about this machine is it shoots the hot water out with a certain velocity which gives the coffee a good stir. Of course I also use a spoon to whirl the liquid around for a proper mix, but I enjoy the coffee-machine-like sound it makes :)
This coffee is smooth so the grains do dissolve nicely, but you have to give them about two to three minutes to do so. I find the taste to be quite bitter compared to the Machu Picchu one that's currently my favourite, but I still like it. The aroma isn't as nice either, but honestly I love almost all coffee smells.
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There is a "Rainforest Alliance" badge on the packaging which means they care about sustainability particularly relating to forestry, agriculture and tourism. That's definitely a plus for me. Being from Brazil, it is good to know that thousands of acres of the Amazon aren't being wiped out just so I can drink coffee cheaply in London. I hope not anyway.
Peace & Love,
Adé
Thanks for sharing this about Asda. I like to shop at Asda because they carry a large Jamaican selection of food items. However, my husband found some at Tesco of all places recently in Leicester - an entire aisle.
We've been lucky enough to get some pretty decent coffee from Lidl too:)
btw, you mentioned that you're from Brazil, I believe the ingredients used in your food is similar to Jamaica, although prepared different.
..good coffee is invading all the shops haha. I love a good variety so I always stash up where ever I can find it :)
Oh, not me, the coffee is from Brazil lol. I'm of West African descent which is similar to both Brazil and Jamaica for good reason :). I listen to some (non-Portuguese) Afro-Brazilian songs and I can actually understand what they're saying for most part.
Haha! Oh I read it wrong. I actually thought that you were from West Africa, and was surprised when I thought you said you were Brazilian. It makes more sense now :)
Hello @adetorrent