I'm a slow starter in the morning time. I'm always up early enough, (early riser) but in order to get the old brain cells functioning in some sort of logical and coherent fashion, I immediately require a fast infusion of some liquid caffeine.

One morning recently I discovered I was out of my favourite 'Kenco Purely Colombian' brew, as it hadn't been available when the local supermarket had delivered our online order the day before. Instead they had substituted it with a brand from Nestle, 'Nescafe Alta Rica'.

Ah well, needs must, and as I was busy on the computer that morning I badly needed my fix of caffeine. Having had some bad experiences in the past with Nescafe Colombian coffee, it was therefore with some trepidation that I broke the seal on the jar of Alta Rica. My senses were immediately assaulted (well, my sense of smell anyways) by the almost overpowering aroma of strong coffee. So strong was the smell that my wife actually commented on it some hours later when she herself got out of bed. (It was still hanging about the kitchen!!)

Alta Rica is yet another Latin American aribica blend from Nestle, the makers of Nescafe. Seemingly, they "dark roast" the coffee beans, (whatever that means) which supposedly increases both the aroma and intensity of the coffee. They even have the word "Intense" on the label on front of the black jar that they package the coffee in, just so we all know for sure that it's strong.

And believe me, this coffee is *STRONG*. In the same way that the aroma assaulted my sense of smell when I first cracked open the jar, the taste jumped up and literally hammered my taste buds as soon as it touched my lips. I'd brewed my mug in my usual fashion, with two and a half teaspoons of coffee, and three and a half spoons of sugar. With my customary blend, Kenco Colombian, this makes a perfect mug of coffee. Strong and sweet, just the way I like it. With Nescafe Alta Rica the same mixture makes a brew so strong that you run the risk of caffeine poisoning!

When I'm busy writing at the old computer, I drink copious amounts of coffee. Between the hours of 5 AM and 8.30 AM, I suppose I had somewhere in the region of about 5 mugs of Alta Rica. At about that time a friend of my wife arrived to run her into town for some retail therapy. I hadn't actually realised the effect that the coffee had had on me until I went into the kitchen to make her a wee cuppa. This stuff is rocket fuel! I was so high on the caffeine that my head was buzzing like a nest of angry wasps! Not exactly unpleasant as such, but certainly not a feeling that you'd want to be walking around with all day.

So the million dollar question. Did I actually like Alta Rica?
Well, yeah, it was tasty right enough. Strong without being bitter, and it slipped down the old throat with ease. Maybe not quite as pleasant as my favourite Kenco Colombian, but certainly a blend that I would buy again as an acceptable substitute. Mind you, I think I would be toning down the quantity of coffee I put in my mug just a tad!

A look at my receipt from the supermarket reveals that I was charged Euro5.25 for a 100g jar, which is on a par with the price of Kenco.

A good tasty coffee (if not quite five stars) but certainly not for anyone who likes their coffee mild and mellow.

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Copyright KenJ

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Originally posted at Ciao under my Ciao username "the mad cabbie". Edited and updated for posting here at dooyoo.

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