Barista Box Little Taster review

Regular readers will know that we enjoy a cup or two (or three!) of real coffee every day. That’s why we were really up for trying the subscription service from the newly formed company, Barista Box.

The Brighton-based brand teamed up with their favourite local coffee shop, Blend & Brew, who supply their coffee. In addition, Barista Box also donate to local causes:

Barista Box has formed a charity partnership with two The Trussell Trust Foodbanks. Our pledge is to donate a 1-litre carton of long-life milk, or non-dairy equivalent, for every order that we fulfil. So for every monthly coffee subscription order, every coffee gift box and any other products we might sell in the future we shall donate long-life milk to one of these foodbanks

They have a number of different options on offer; tasting boxes, gift sets, regular subscriptions and one off purchases. Our ‘Little Taster’ box comprised 2 resealable pouches of coffee (1 x Libertine + 1 x Blend & Brew), blue plastic coffee scoop, glass espresso measure and battery-operated milk frother.

As we have a bean-to-cup coffee machine, we requested bags of beans in our bundle. However if you have a filter coffee machine, moka pot or cafetière (the latter which they can supply), you can choose from their 3 textures of ready-ground coffee.

Usually, I like a flat white with soya milk. However, as I was trying out a new coffee, I made a double espresso with the medium-roast Libertine beans so I could enjoy it in its pure form. The taste was very smooth and mellow – no bitterness at all – very enjoyable with a couple of chocolate digestives!

The espresso measure that was supplied is just the right height and width for fitting under the portafilter of our coffee machine.

The second pouch of beans, the Blend & Brew type, were also medium-roast. It has a little more earthy flavour with a touch of chocolate flavour. This time, I enjoyed my soya flat white with a late-afternoon croissant.

Many thanks to Alexandra from Barista Box for supplying us with our Little Taster coffee box.

**Use our special discount code H4H12 for 12% off any gift box, (valid until 4th September 2021)**

Mocha dalgona

Apparently, there’s a South Korean coffee drink that’s currently a social media sensation! It was only when it found its way on to the BBC website that we got to find out about it. Always late to the party, but hey… we’re here!

The beverage in question is called dalgona coffee, named after the Korean version of honeycomb toffee aka Crunchie here in the UK. My version is mocha dalgona, where I substituted half the coffee with cocoa powder.

There are only 4 ingredients – that you’re likely to have in your post-Covid lockdown food cupboard; coffee, cocoa, sugar and milk.

The knack to the drink is in beating the hell out of the topping so it’s light and airy as a cloud and forms soft peaks.

The mixture is spooned on top of hot or cold milk (or any vegan alternative). It’s sweet, rich and intense; use decaf coffee if you’re worried about it giving too much of a buzz!

It would also work really well spooned on top of an ice cream float or sundae.

Save the recipe to Pinterest here

Dalonga mocha

2020-04-02 12:56:30

Serves 2

Ingredients

1 tbsp instant coffee/espresso powder/granules
1 tbsp cocoa powder
2 tbsps brown soft sugar
2 tbsps hot water
2 glasses of cold milk (leave 1cm/⅓" gap to rim)

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Instructions

Put all the dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl
Pour over the hot water and begin to beat by hand using a balloon whisk - try to get as much air into the mixture as possible
Mix until peaks begin to form (as much as 5 minutes... it depends how many breaks you need to give your wrist and biceps!)
Spoon the mocha mixture equally over the glasses of milk

Notes

This can be made with either hot or cold milk; use cows' milk or soya, almond, oat, coconut milk for a vegan option

H is for Home Harbinger https://hisforhomeblog.com/

Price Points: Unusual Easter flavours

There are some strange people out there that prefer savoury to sweet. There are some even weirder people who don’t really care for chocolate. So, if you’re one of those, or know someone that’s like that, these unusual Easter flavours might appeal more than the usual fare.

Hot cross bun tea: £3.99, teapigs
Cheese Easter eggs: £8.50, Marks & Spencer
Lakrids by Bülow Ægg – crispy caramel chocolate coated liquorice: £17.90, Sous Chef

We actually got sent some of the limited-edition hot cross bun tea to try out from teapigs. So we did a little afternoon tea taste test.

When I took one of the bags out of the box, I took a little sniff… am I the only one that does that? The scent was delicious, good enough to eat! The tea is flavoured with apple and cinnamon and completely caffeine-free. I made a brew, nice and strong; the taste was like a comforting dessert in a mug.

In fact, the dessert aspect might be expanded upon. I think I’ll make an afternoon tea loaf with dried fruit steeped in this tea… the flavours will be absolutely perfect.

The tea bags and packaging are all plastic free and recyclable or compostable. As it’s made from plant starch, you can pop the used bag or ‘tea temple’ as teapigs call it, in your food waste bin.

Have you come across any unusual Easter flavours? Tell us below!

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Lakrids by Bülow Ægg – crispy caramel chocolate coated liquorice
£17.90

Cheese Easter eggs
£8.50

Hot cross bun tea
£3.99

Lakrids by Bülow Ægg – crispy caramel chocolate coated liquorice
£17.90

Cheese Easter eggs
£8.50

Hot cross bun tea
£3.99

Lakrids by Bülow Ægg – crispy caramel chocolate coated liquorice
£17.90

Cheese Easter eggs
£8.50

Hot cross bun tea
£3.99

Lakrids by Bülow Ægg – crispy caramel chocolate coated liquorice
£17.90

Cheese Easter eggs
£8.50

Hot cross bun tea
£3.99

Lakrids by Bülow Ægg – crispy caramel chocolate coated liquorice
£17.90

Cheese Easter eggs
£8.50

Hot cross bun tea
£3.99

Price Points: Supermarket Prosecco

In 2016, it was reported that the UK consumed 35% of all the Prosecco produced in Italy that year. The country exports 70% of its total yield – so that means half of what leaves the country comes to these shores.

When it comes to celebrating that special event with a bit of fizz, many people immediately turn to champagne. On some occasions, that can be great, of course. However, a really good Prosecco, Cava or English sparkling white wine certainly beats a mediocre champagne in our book. And it’s usually far more affordable, too.

In recent years, the British public has become much more comfortable shopping in discount high street shops – the likes of Primark, TK Maxx and the different pound shop chains. The same can be said of doing the weekly food shop – and two of these Proseccos are from Aldi & Lidl, whose reputations for an interesting range of products and value for money are now well established.

We can personally vouch for all three of these bottles of supermarket prosecco – sampled, of course, entirely in the name of public service!

Of the trio, we enjoyed the Morrisons bottle the most; crisp and dry with a lovely pear flavour. In fact, it came top in this year’s Good Housekeeping ‘Best Prosecco’ review.

Allini Prosecco Spumante, extra dry: £5.99, Lidl
An easy-drinking prosecco with lovely fresh pear aromas and full of fizz.
Organic Prosecco: £7.99, Aldi (Sweetness: 1)
Pear and green apple are followed by aromas of acacia flowers and honeycomb.
Grown with no pesticides or herbicides used in the vineyard, the grapes are predominately hand picked and gently pressed to ensure only the highest quality of juice is used. The winery is also committed to using renewable energy wherever possible.
The Best Valdobbiadene Prosecco, 75cl: £8.00, Morrisons (Sweetness: 2)
Apple blossom aromas with vibrant green apple and pear flavours.

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Prices & links correct at time of publication.