Starbucks Café Estima Blend

Café Estima Blend by Starbucks

Café Estima Blend is a Fair Trade Certified coffee from East Africa and Latin America. For those who don't understand what Fair Trade is about, a simple explanation is that the farmers in poorer countries get the same price for their coffee as farmers in wealthier nations, rather than being paid a low price for their product.

I got my first taste of this blend a couple of days ago - they had run out of what they had brewed up earlier, so a young barrista made me up a venti serving. I had to wait about 5 minutes to get my coffee, but it was worth the wait.

This is a rich, bold blend, which hits the tip of the tongue at first taste. I noticed some earthiness to the flavor, along with a hint of fruit. After tasting a few more sips, I decided that the taste had a hint of peach flavor to it.

After sipping a little more, I noticed that it starts to hit the back of the tongue as well. Some awesome bitterness is in this blend that makes it a great all-around coffee. In addition, it doesn't linger on the tongue very long, so it is good for just about any food, and I think it would be an excellent coffee for breakfast with bacon and eggs.

After I finished my tasting, I decided to try it with one of my favorite coffee pairings - coffee and a candy bar. This coffee is fantastic with a Payday candy bar. It is a real treat, that enhances the flavor of the candy very nicely. I think that next time I will try it with some chocolate, as its richness is guaranteed to work very well with just about any good chocolate.

Starbucks suggests pairing with a chocolate chip cookie - this would be a near-perfect combination. Another suggestion is to pair it with chocolate-dipped fruit. Personally, I would skip the fruit and go straight for a Café Estima with some good milk chocolate - heaven on earth, for sure!

I hope you have found this review helpful, and as always, may your next cup be your best!

Copco Acadia Mug by Wilton - Review

Review of Copco Acadia Mug by Wilton

Buy a Copco Acadia Mug by Wilton

I ran across this mug in a local grocery store and decided to check it out. The manufacturer is targeting those who want to cut down on the paper and styrofoam coffee cups going into the landfills.

The mug holds 16 ounces of liquid and is just as suitable for tea or other beverages as it is for coffee. It features double-wall insulation and it is made from BPA-free plastic. It has an integrated sleeve to allow you to hold very hot coffee without burning yourself.

This mug is microwave-safe (you are supposed to take the lid off before microwaving to prevent damage to the seal), it is dishwasher safe, it is made of break-resistant plastic, and it has a reasonable amount of insulation with the double walls.

In use, the mug is very user-friendly. It is easy to clean up, it seals with about 1/8 turn of the lid, and it does keep coffee warm. Unfortunately, it does not keep it warm for a long time, but that seems to be its only failing (see table below).



If you drink your coffee within the first hour or so, this cup is a real winner. If you drink slowly, perhaps you will need to be near a microwave for reheating of your brew. I would give it a rating of 9 out of 10.

I hope you have found this review helpful, and as always, may your next cup be your best!

Fair Trade Tierra Del Sol by Archer Farms

Fair Trade Tierra Del Sol

Archer Farms is the store brand of premium foods offered by Target Corporation. Because it is their "premium" line, is it really good enough to rank well with other fine coffees out there? I had to find this out for myself.

The coffee that I sampled was their Fair Trade Tierra Del Sol. This is sold as a medium roast coffee, and it is available in the sampler size as well as the larger packages for general consumer use.

The coffee that I purchased was the sample size, which is already ground for drip coffee makers. I usually make my coffee in a french press or as an Americano in my espresso machine. Since the coffee was already ground, I decided to grind it down to a very fine grind for my espresso machine.

As espresso, the coffee comes out nice, rich and dark. The resulting brew is more like a dark roast than a medium in color. The taste of the coffee is smooth and it hits the tip of the tongue with a little bite, that says, "I am here to please your taste buds." This single origin coffee does just that. It is very smooth tasting and after several sips I noticed it started hitting the back of my tongue with a nice, mild bitterness.

This is a first rate organic coffee that I think any coffee lover would enjoy. Just because it comes as the store brand from a chain known for discount merchandise, it doesn't mean that it is a coffee with a low-cost taste. I am very impressed with this coffee and I will definitely get some more. It is worth the few extra miles to travel to the nearest Target to buy some.

I hope you have found this review helpful, and as always, may your next cup be your best!