Miles Finest Teas West Country Original Blend

More and more tea blenders are jumping on the Yorkshire Tea bandwagon and selling blends of black tea under regional names. D. J. Miles & Co are a Porlock based tea company, founded in 1888, who also import and roast coffee.

We've not been impressed with this tea - it's either strong or its vaque - there's no balance to be found in which the tea is delivered in a crisp and fresh manner. There's a chemical, soapy quality. It doesn't sit well with milk - it gives it a vomit flavour, and on it's own it's a little crude and tannic. Now, it may well be that I don't like the Assam tea or the African tea they use in the blend, and that those who like Assam or African tea will like this, Most African tea is grown in Kenya, processed by the crush, tear, curl (ctc) method, then sold in bulk to be blended in tea bags.  Most ctc teas reveal little of their origin as they tend to all taste the same. They just make basic brown tea of no character.


Score: 3

Finlays Cafe Express Premium Guatemalan Beans

A one pound (lb = 454g) brown paper bag of Guatemalan Beans from Lidl for around £3. Can't say no to that. This is a Finlay's package - most people will not have heard of Finlays, but will certainly have drunk their tea and coffee if they have ever bought a supermarket own brand, for Finlays are one of the UK's main suppliers of tea and coffee for the supermarket own brand ranges.

This is a smooth, slightly nutty, slightly sweet coffee with hints of milky chocolate. Easy drinking but lacking in character. I'm not getting much in the way of aroma, and there is little depth or range, but it's pleasant enough. This is not a coffee to sip and savour, it's simply something to drink. As it's fairly sweet, with little roast character, it's not really a coffee I can enthuse about, but it's not at all objectionable, and I don't mind drinking it. It's easy to make - standard three scoops, easy to grind, no fuss at all, and quite forgiving.

The more I drink this the more I like it. Easy to make. Easy drinking, and quite flavoursome. It lacks character and interest, but makes up for that in sheer drinkability.


Score: 7

Guatemala coffee