The taste comparison you’ve been waiting for… with bated breath…
Thank you to all who reached out with messages of compassion, flowers and candles. These have all been wonderfully comforting and I am very grateful.
In response to last week's post, a number of newsletter readers mentioned their experience with International Roast. I ended up purchasing the instant coffee from Woolies and was shocked that I couldn’t find International Roast, so this post will only deal with NESCAFÉ Blend 43 and Moccona. I used the following approach:
- Assessed aroma and appearance prior to brewing;
- Two identical cups were used;
- One teaspoon of each instant coffee;
- 50 g of water heated to 95 degrees Celsius poured over the instant coffee;
- Assessed aroma and appearance subsequent to brewing;
- Five minute pause to allow temperature of brew to drop;
- Assessed flavour.
Prior to brewing, the two instant coffees look and smell very different. Moccona is noticeably lighter in colour with coarser granules. Blend 43 had a distinctly artificial aroma which bordered on smelling a little plasticky.
Subsequent to brewing, the Moccona has some hints of “crema”… there are some bubbles and some oily looking traces on the surface of the water. Blend 43 very quickly homogenises.
And now you finally get to read what you’ve been waiting for! How do they taste side by side???
To me the two are shockingly similar. Blend 43 has slightly more pronounced acidity and they both display similar muted echos of coffee flavour. I’m surprised that the two are so similar given how different they look and smell dry! I’m also surprised that Blend 43 is slightly more acidic given that it is noticeably darker in colour (higher degrees of roast tend to mean lower acidity in coffee).
I can say definitively that I was very relieved to make myself a proper espresso, a drink with real flavour and mouthfeel!
To read about flat whites and extract chilling click here
To read about the Hario Skerton Pro hand grinder click here