Coffee Beans for Christmas

It’s that time of year again when we think of presents, wish
lists, parties and of course the dreaded cold weather! However, Hill Top
Reviews have put together fantastic coffees to try this Christmas.

Fudge and Toffee are the top sweets we get during the
season. Rave Fudge’s Blend is a coffee that gives that sweet and creamy fudge
notes. Although available, all year round, this is truly the best fudge like
coffee.

Rave Fudge’s Blend

Espresso and Flat White
– 21g in, 30gs out at 32seconds

As an espresso, you get a great burnt caramel taste. It’s
sweet with very low acidity. As a flat white, you get sweet and creamy fudge.
Using Yeoville Whole Milk, this brings out the sweetness of the coffee. It has
that great smooth mouthfeel. Almost like butter in your mouth.

V60 – 20g coffee,
240ml water at 93 Degrees

As a V60, it’s delicate. It’s caramel through and through.
It’s almost tea like and there’s no acidity at all.

Aeropress – 17g
coffee, 120ml water at 93 degrees

The Aeropress produces similar notes as a v60 but much more
intense. It has a slight acidity but cuts through when a little bit of milk is
added. Subtle fudge notes comes through.

Rave’s Fudge’s blend really shines as a flat white.

Union Roasted’s Foundation

Roasted’s Foundation is a blend of Asian, Latin American and
East African coffee. This blend has created intense dark chocolate notes.

As an Espresso, it is very intense and full of chocolate.
The texture is very smooth. With milk, it’s almost like mocha. As it cools
down, the chocolate comes through then you get that sweet aftertaste of brown
sugar. Almost like treacle pudding.

In an aeropress, it is smooth and intense. Treacle pudding
is the first that comes to mind.

As a V60, there is a delicate note of chocolate and treacle.

Casa Espresso
Yirgacheffe Giutiti

Casa Espresso’s Yirgacheffe Giutiti is a single origin. This
actually takes me back to my childhood. As a child, we would bake blueberry
muffins as part of Christmas brunch. Casa Espresso’s Yirgacheffe Giutiti is
probably the best Yirgacheffe I have encountered to date.

As an espresso, it is fruity and floral. It is very balanced
and intense mouthfeel. With milk, this is blueberry muffin in a cup with a
sprinkle of brown sugar on top.  

As a V60, it is very floral. As it cools down, the acidity
or the blueberry notes are quite subtle.

As an aeropress, the blueberry notes are more pronounced
than in v60. Adding a dash of milk with this actually cuts through the acidity
and brings out the sweetness and floral notes of this coffee.

Yirgacheffe Giutiti is best taken with milk. I highly
recommend using whole milk for this. This is great Christmas brunch coffee!

Coffee Compass’s
Christmas Blend 2015

As an espresso, the first thing that hits me was the
fruitiness of the coffee. Almost like raisins. It was quite jammy and there is
a hint of spice lingering at the back. It is very boozy and intense. There is
smokiness as well.

As a V60, it is fruity, smokey and a little bit of spice.
There is a bit of headiness as well.

As an aeropress, it is very intense and boozy. The
fruitiness is quite pronounced and it’s almost like raisins.

This is fantastic as a flat white. It is very creamy, sweet,
a bit of spice and boozy. It is practically Christmas pudding with custard in a
cup. This is actually a very interesting blend and it is quite memorable.