Artisan Coffee Co The Ultimate Coffee And Chocolate Selection Box Review

Reviewed By Michelle Moloney

My selection box arrived sensibly packaged and without any of the waste that packages sometimes come with. I was very pleased to find that almost all of of the packaging can be recycled, the cardboard boxes and information sheet go in my household recycling whilst the plastic from the chocolate and the coffee pouches can be taken to many supermarkets for recycling now. We know coffee grounds are excellent for use in the garden. This makes the coffees and chocolates more environmentally friendly than some others with only the pods and the coffee bags themselves to be disposed of.

The box contains a selection of coffees in a variety of brewing methods. Sachets contain coffee bags or a measure of ground coffee for cafetières. There are also 12 nespresso comparable pods and twelve chocolate flights paired to match the coffee flavours. Each little sachet has the coffee name, type of brew method, best before date, an intensity rating and description printed on the front with instructions for brewing printed clearly on the back. This is a great way of keeping the info to make an informed decision about which one to try handy, it saved me hunting for bits of paper or the coffee name on a booklet or on the box to find what I needed.

The coffees are split across six flavours and there are two coffee bag pouches, one cafetière pouch and two pods in each flavour as well as two chocolate flights to pair with the flavour. All are colour colour coordinated so easy to identify. Of these “the big shot” with notes of Dark chocolate, fudge & vanilla has an intensity of 8 out of 10, “the smart cookie” with notes of nibbled cocoa, honey & biscuit has an intensity rating of 6 out of 10 and the others all have an intensity of 7 out of ten.

The Artisan Coffee website states the coffee is 100% natural Arabica speciality coffee, with each single serve coffee being nitrogen flushed and sealed to maintain maximum freshness and each sachet of ground coffee is measured to perfectly suit a 500ml pot. The pods flow more slowly than nespresso pods as the website states this captures maximum aroma and enhances the character in each cup. I haven’t got a nespresso machine so haven’t been able to test the pods or compare them to normal nespresso pods unfortunately. I have however passed them on to a friend to try.

I do like a nicely flavoured coffee but usually I stick to my well known tastes like vanilla or mocha so trying some new flavours was quite exciting. I had six brand new flavours to try and I wasted no time with the first by testing the decaf coffee named the dreamer. I found my cafetière in the cupboard and followed the instructions on the back of the pouch to brew the coffee. This was described as “ a delicate decaf with balanced notes of delicious honeyed chocolate and a fragrant walnut finish” . I drink a lot more decaf than caffeinated coffee these days so I was very pleased the selection included as many decaf sachets as sachets of each of the other flavours.

Each coffee I tried had a lovely smooth taste and I could indeed taste hints of some of the flavourings. I did find that the instruction of leaving the bags to brew for three plus minutes was a necessary step, my impatience meant I was tempted a few times to think it had brewed for long enough and then I’d find the taste wasn’t quite as intense. The flavour hints were not overpowering and did not detract from the coffee at all in the way some flavoured coffees, and especially syrups, can and didn’t add any sweetness to the overall taste, they enhanced and improved the coffee.

Of the six flavours included I think The Heroine is possibly my favourite, adding milk doesn’t detract from it at all and it is a delicious blend with notes of rich chocolate caramel and roasted hazelnuts. Though honestly all the flavours were delicious and I’d not refuse a single one of them. They’re very much better quality and nicer than instant coffee and I’d go so far as to say nicer than coffee shop coffees and thus well worth the cost. There are lots purchase options on their website, from advent calendars and tasting boxes with the option to purchase as a one off or to subscribe. I think the Ultimate Coffee & Chocolate Selection Box I tried or some of their other tasting boxes would make an excellent gift for a coffee lover too. I will be purchasing some as Christmas presents for other people this year.

Rating: 5/5

RRP: The Ultimate Coffee & Chocolate Selection Box is £34.99

Purchase: Buy directly from the Artisan Coffee Co website here.