A Coffee For Sharing (Kenco Rappor)

Member Name: Squiggles

Product:	Kenco Rappor
Date:	13/04/02 (285 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Smooth rich taste, Economically priced, No bitter aftertaste

Disadvantages: The decaff version loses a little of the rich full-bodied flavour

There can’t be anybody who hasn’t heard the name Kenco, it is probably the biggest name to be associated with coffee and they have a long history dating back to the early 1920s.

As the name suggests, Kenco is a Kenyan coffee producer who introduced their range of coffee beans to the UK in 1923, by opening up a coffee shop in Sloane Square, London. Shortly afterwards, they introduced a mail-order service (John Gardner (London) Ltd) so that local hotels and restaurants could order direct.

The company expanded and many top hotels and restaurants around the country were soon buying their beans. During the Second World War, tea was in limited supply but the supply of coffee beans wasn’t affected and coffee soon became the most popular hot drink amongst British consumers.

In the 1960s, the company changed it’s name to the Kenco Coffee Company, and in 1987, was purchased by General Foods and became the biggest company providing ground coffee in the UK. General Foods are now known as Kraft Foods.

Kenco have produced a number of instants and freeze dried instant coffees, with the Rappor range introduced in 1999. It is available in jars of either ordinary, decaffeinated or stick packs for individual use.

I was first introduced to the Rappor range when a friend sent it to me as part of a ‘miss you’ gift! Because she had moved away, we weren’t able to enjoy our usual coffee get togethers so she sent me a jar of the decaff along with a big pack of chocolate biscuits and asked me to think of her as I got stuck in! :O) At 11am each morning, I’d pop the kettle on, make myself a huge mug of steaming hot Rappor and sit and nibble on choccie bics whilst waiting for the phone to ring. As regular as clockwork, Sue would call and we could still enjoy our coffees together! :O)

Taste wise, Rappor is one of the most full flavoured decaff coffees I have tried. It’s very smooth an
d rich, with no bitter aftertaste and is almost as good as the real thing! It even smells gorgeous still intact in the jar, a lovely deep and rich fragrance, with just a hint of burnt toast.

I drink my coffee black, and it’s just strong enough to give me a good coffee hit without being too bitter. I’ve found it a little too mild if I do add milk, but that’s probably because it’s decaffeinated and you do tend to lose a little flavour as well as the caffeine! I would imagine that the ordinary version is a little stronger with milk. The taste is very smooth with just about the right amount of richness, and is much smoother than say the Nescafe equivalent. I’ve always found that to be very bitter with an awful aftertaste that lingers for ages.

The granules are very soft, almost powder but they dissolve beautifully and very quickly. You don’t get any of those annoying blobby bits floating around at the top of your cup. Well, not with black coffee anyway!

The packaging is simple but effective, the decaff version comes in a clear jar with a dark rich green wrapper, the ordinary is identical expect the wrapper is red. The name ‘Rappor’ was chosen to suggest that the coffee is intended to be shared by two, even the illustration on the front shows two mugs with steam billowing, forming the shape of two faces. In fact, the message on the jar is ‘Get together with Kenco Rappor’.

Price wise, expect to pay just under £2 for the 100g decaff size and about £1.65 for caffeine included. The 200g jar is much better value, averaging around £3.25. A pack of 20 of the Rappor ‘sticks’ will set you back around £2.60 (for a total of 100g of coffee, very expensive method!)

If you need any coffee advice, you can call the Kenco Coffee Line (the number is on the jar) or even email them at kenco.coffeeline@kjs.com. They also have a website with some interesting facts and more
about their history which can be viewed at http://www.kraftfoods.co.uk/

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