While I'm a complete caffeine addict, I'd never yet found an instant coffee I really enjoyed until I tried Aldi's Alcafe! I always saw instant coffee as a necessary evil when you couldn't get your hands on the real stuff but needed an emergency caffeine hit!

I'm a big fan of Aldi brands, but I never expected this coffee to be so good, it is, hand on heart, the nicest instant coffee I've ever tried. Its rich without being bitter as some instant coffees are, its got a lovely smooth creamy texture, a delicious taste and smell, no aftertaste and you don't have to use tons to get a decent strength coffee so the jar lasts a decent amount of time.

I still prefer fresh coffee if I have the time or the inclination but its really good to have found an instant alternative that I don't hate. Its undeniably a lot quicker and easier to just boil a kettle and pour than to have to faff around with the cafetiere and wait around for it to brew for the sake of one cup.

You can get Alcafe in a Fair Trade version now, which is great as you can get the bargain Aldi price but know that the growers of the coffee were paid fairly. Fair trade products are often too expensive for someone on a tight budget like me to buy on a regular basis, but Aldi makes it a little bit more possible.

The Alcafe jar is not unattractive, and there's no indication that its a budget brand. The design is a bit cheesy with majestic mountains and so on but I would be happy to give guests to my house a mug of Alcafe and even to let them see the jar!