Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Douwe Egberts Decaffeinated Taste Test

Worthy Winner

Well this has to be one of the better New Year challenges  and also the easiest way to settle into purging some of our Christmas excesses, Chris and I were invited to try Douwe Egberts in a taste test along with three other decaffeinated brands.
Chris would be taste tester as he drinks coffee all day long albeit instant regular, so I believed he would be more the connoisseur and  the results truer . Happy to get involved as well, so made it more fun.
We decided to do it properly so he did them blind following the tips at the end  so that it would be a fair test. I prepared the cups and he had no idea which one he would be trying. . Chris loved slurping the samples as suggested, only time I would allow it!

Our set of decaffs to compare were as follows.


Tesco Decaffeinated Original Roast & Ground (227g)
Taylor’s Decaffeinated Ground Coffee (227g)
Douwe Egberts Decaffeinated Medium Roast Coffee (250g)
Lavazza Caffé Decaffeinated Ground Coffee (250g)

We were to mark them on a scale of 1-5 and on the below attributes, so a possible score of 50 could be attained.


Aroma
Strength intensity

Coffee taste

Sweet taste

Smooth taste

Artificial taste

Aesthetic appearance

Acidity

Body

Aftertaste

As I am not familiar with putting them in a chart for you to see you will have to get my ratings on a first to last basis with a description and special mentions. A possible 50 points were to be attained.

I am rather pleased that as Douwe Egberts provided the goods for the test they came out favourably, as I said it was a blind test,  so they did not receive extra credit because of the goods, we have two cafetieres and borrowed two so that it could all be performed in the one test.

Douwe Egberts 46 points First place full marks for Coffee taste, Aroma, Smooth taste, Aesthetic appearance and Body
Taylors 42 Points Full marks for Body Aesthetic appearance and Aroma
Lavazza 39 points Full marks for Aesthetic appearance, Aroma and Coffee Taste
Tesco 34 points Full Marks for Aesthetic Appearance

This is  a great way to try out the difference between full fat and half fat coffees as Chris jokingly calls them, he enjoyed the taste and was surprised that cafetiere coffee could be as fab without caffeine and has switched  to decaf for most of his coffee drinking, saving regular for after our evening meal.


 
With the end of another year  and the effects of a slightly over-indulgent festive season starting to surface, you’re no doubt already on the look-out for ways to kick start your annual health MOT and get that gruelling January detox on the go once again…


But while you’re busy banishing everything remotely tasty from your diet, the good news is that coffee doesn’t have to be one of them. Opt for one of the numerous decaf options on the market and you can keep your daily cuppa without compromising your detox.


Coffee Tasting Tips

If brewing coffee in a cafetiere, add hot water just off the boil, stir well and leave for 3-4 minutes before plunging.

When tasting coffee, it is best to ‘slurp’ at it, as this covers your tongue evenly and allows you to get a full mouthful of flavour across all the tastebuds.

Make sure you have a drink of water after each different coffee, as the aftertaste of one will affect the flavour of the next, so the palate-cleansing is essential!

Mark a score for each coffee on the scale below, rating them on a variety of factors including taste, aroma, acidity, strength and aftertaste.


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