Coffee Conundrum (Lyons One Cup Fresh Ground Coffee)

Member Name: mattygroves10

Product:	Lyons One Cup Fresh Ground Coffee
Date:	08/11/08 (338 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Quick and covenient with a reasonably convincing fresh brewed taste

Disadvantages: Brown sludge on the bottom, enormous amoeba like bag

Whilst I like coffee, I'd hardly consider myself a coffee aficionado. I love the smell of freshly brewed coffee, yet I am content to drink good quality instant. Still, freshly brewed coffee at home is a treat.

I'd heard about Lyons one-cup coffee bags. It turns out you can get a free sample (in fact, two free samples - there are two bags in the free sample pack - click here to get your own: http://www.coffeeperfection.com/our-coffee.php). I'm a sucker for free samples, so I filled in the e-form, and many weeks later (and I mean lots - maybe six weeks), these dropped through my letterbox.

Each bag was enclosed in a foil envelope (presumably for freshness). Lyons helpfully give me advice on what they are 'perfect' for (I love that - as if I need to be told when the time is right for a one-cup coffee bag - if I'm 'at work', or 'just you' or 'in a rush' or, my personal favourite, 'use anywhere.') on the front, and tell my how to use these bad boys on the back.

You bung the very large bag (the bags are round, and about double the size of a typical tea bag - the completely cover the bottom of the mug, and then some) in a mug, pour boiling water over it, and wait between 3 - 5 minutes - I split the difference and set my timer (yes, I'm weird that way) for 4 minutes. The instructions tell me that 'the coffee bag releases a rich coffee colour almost immediately' this, I suppose, is true.

After four minutes, I took the coffee bag out of the mug. This is a bit more of an effort than you might think, as the bag is so big. It drapes over the spoon like a giant amoeba, desperately attempting to ooze off. I let as much liquid drip out (I was reluctant to squeeze the bag too much, as coffee powder tends to be finer than tea leaves, so wanted to avoid sludge), and threw the bag out.

You really can smell the fresh coffee aroma (gawd, marketing speak has indeed infected me) immediately upon opening the bag, and continue once the water is poured. Once the bag was fished out, I could taste my cup of coffee (which had cooled sufficiently to sip). I use one sweetener and a splash of skimmed milk.

Coffee made using Lyons one-cup bag tastes of...coffee. It's nice. It does taste more like freshly brewed coffee than Nescafe Gold Blend instant. It has a slightly (and not unpleasant) bitter bite. After four minutes, it's reasonably strong (though I rather wish I'd left it for the full five minutes). It is, in short, a reasonably good cup of coffee. Until the end. And this is the downside.

Normally, when making coffee in a coffee maker or in a French press, the very fine coffee powder is left in the filter or the cafetiere. Because with these bags, you are making your coffee directly in the cup, the bitter sludge is left in your cup, thus making the last couple of mouthfuls extremely bitter - undrinkably so. Indeed, the last quarter of your cup of coffee becomes increasingly gloopy and bitter. I'd imagine this would be worse if you left the bag in for longer than I did, and if you squeezed the bag upon removal.

Are these bags a perfect replacement for fresh ground coffee? No. Are they an adequate replacement for instant? Yes, if you like your coffee a bit bitterer than instant - a bit more 'freshly ground' tasting. If you don't mind leaving the last couple of mouthfuls in the cup, and if you don't mind the slight mess that can result from the massive proportions of the bag itself, these bags may well be a good choice.

As of this writing, you can buy these bags online from Fresh Coffee: http://www.fresh-coffee.co.uk/shop/coffee-bags-fro m-lyons.html (gosh, there's a website for everything these days) at £2.95 for 125g - 18 bags. The same quantity costs £1.55 at Sainsbury's (now there's a no brainer for you - I know where I'd buy these suckers).

I don't think I'll be rushing out to buy these. They are ... ok. They're just nothing special. If you like fresh ground coffee, you will probably like the coffee made with these bags, though not quite so much as you like 'real' coffee. If you are generally satisfied with instant coffee, you will probably want to stick with instant. Your call.

Summary: A novel way of making brewed coffee that works...more or less.