aldi fairtrade organic coffee $14.95/kg

UNM

I bought a bag.

I thought that as aldi often have good products,  these beans should be tested. It seemed only fair that I should act as guinea pig.

Best before 26/06/2015. I surmise roast date is 26th of June this year. 100% Arabica, fair trade and organic. Roasted in Australia from imported beans. That's all the info I have.

Will try as aeropress and espresso.

If crap, will get a refund

UNM

Have you ever said you would do something, then when faced with it, you really don't want to go through with it? Well, I had a brief moment thinking 'Can I really put that in my mouth and swallow?' You will be glad to know I did it so you don't have to. The aroma is extremely unpleasant, no real coffee scent at all. Burnt tyres is the obvious comparison. Acrid, chemical, medicinal hints buried in there. Visually, the beans look fine, nice medium roast, no oil spotting Firstly, I made an aeropress long black. Again, that smell! Apart from that, the taste was only slightly revolting with notes of sharp turpentine and the rubber was much less evident. What surprised me was how long the bitterness and medicinal aftertaste lingered. Normally a long black is dilute enough that flavours don't linger long, but I could still taste this an hour later (psychological effect possibly). The next days experiment was an espresso. I gave Mac a good hour to get hot and at first attempt managed to  get a shot that was actually rather impressive. With a  slight adjustment to my grinding, the  second shot had  less volume but looked just about perfect as it started to drip, then settled into a steady stream oozing out the spout with lovely striping. This one was seriously nice looking - short, tight, dark fine crema  (didn't get a photo unfortunately as out of memory). Good balance of sweetness and acidity. Far less offensive odours than the long black. I have been served far worse in cafes. Regrettably there was still a slight lingering bitterness, but it was not as objectionable as the aeropress. Milk drinkers might find these quite acceptable. Beans are definitely not stale. I suspect a poor blend and/or badly roasted Result? Remaining beans returning to Aldi for refund as I am  not 100% satisfied.

derrilex

on 1375054440:

Result? Remaining beans returning to Aldi for refund as I am  not 100% satisfied.

:rofl: :rofl:, you tightarse :D

UNM

on 1375060147:

:rofl: :rofl:, you tightarse :D

Ooh! A compliment!! Thanks @d

derrilex

Make sure they pay for your petrol and time too :rofl:

askthecoffeeguy

I tried these beans once - don't think they were as fresh as yours though - the result? Same conclusion - though i tied it as a plunger and it was unpalatable ... P

UNM

on 1375064573:

Make sure they pay for your petrol and time too :rofl:

Well, I felt they should also compensate me for the assault on my tastebuds and sense of smell. It seems such things are considered 'consequential damage' and are specifically excluded. To make matters worse, when I explained the situation, the Lady on the checkout gave me one of those looks. You know -  the 'why do I always get the nutters?' look Anyway at least they refunded the purchase price.

derrilex

on 1375658723:

To make matters worse, when I explained the situation, the Lady on the checkout gave me one of those looks. You know -  the 'why do I always get the nutters?' look

I just can't do that sort of crap. I know plenty of people that will stay on hold for 5 hours to try and get 5 cents back from their bank too. IMHO, you buy it, you own it, you don't like it, tough shit. It's different if the goods are faulty/rotten/expired but the beans are beans, nothing wrong with them just not to your liking. Learn from the experience and write it off as a bad buy. The "look" is well deserved I think. :D

Brett H

While in some repects I agree DX the fact remains that if more of us did take the UMN approach companies like Aldi would be forced to address our outlandish belief that coffee beans are best sold when fresh.

UNM

on 1375663332:

I just can't do that sort of crap. I know plenty of people that will stay on hold for 5 hours to try and get 5 cents back from their bank too. IMHO, you buy it, you own it, you don't like it, tough shit. It's different if the goods are faulty/rotten/expired but the beans are beans, nothing wrong with them just not to your liking. Learn from the experience and write it off as a bad buy. The "look" is well deserved I think. :D

Don't forget  you are the one that said I should ask for petrol and time... :stir My last post was a tad tongue in cheek, I didn't  really pursue consequential damages. The  pack clearly tells me to ask for my money back if not satisfied. If nobody returns unsatisfactory products, how would suppliers know that better is expected of them. Conversely, if I receive exemplary service or better than expected quality, that is also deserving of recognition. I try to report  excellent  service up the management chain whenever I can. There are limits though and I am not going to give up a chunk of my time for little, if any, benefit. Brett, the beans were actually pretty fresh. Just tasted crap And on the subject of the beans tasting like a pile of poo, That  is exactly what I invested the refund in. http://www.oxfamunwrapped.org.nz/gifts/pile-poo Bought mine while passing the local oxfam, the nz onewas the first link on Google

derrilex

on 1375678661:

Don't forget  you are the one that said I should ask for petrol and time... :stir

God dammit Kelsey - where the hell is the sarcasm emoticon ! Brett, true, but would anyone on this forum really expect anything other than ordinary ? We all know that beans are absolute number 1, followed by the grinder, then lastly the machine. Rubbish in = rubbish out.