Show me the coffee!!! (Lyons One Cup Fresh Ground Coffee)

Member Name: hypno06

Product:	Lyons One Cup Fresh Ground Coffee
Date:	19/03/09 (212 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A decent tasting caffeine fix, wherever you are in the world.

Disadvantages: 5 mins to brew! I'm gasping!!

Anyone who has ever spent more than about 5 minutes with me will know that I like my coffee. More than that, I need my coffee. I drink far too much of the stuff, but me and decent coffee go hand in hand quite nicely throughout the course of the day.

I love "real" coffee - the stuff that is freshly ground, and preferably served by a tall dark handsome barista........but reality means that the majority of the time I make do with the most decent instant that I can find.

I was first introduced to coffee bags back in the early 1980s - I had an Aunt and Uncle that used them. Of course I had come across tea-bags, but coffee bags just seemed a little strange - no one else I knew used them, and so as a 12 or 13 year old, I looked forward to visiting this particular Aunt and Uncle, so I could have coffee bags!

Over the years, the coffee bags went by the wayside, to be replaced by cafetieres and other coffee making gadgets, and I didn't give the coffee bags much thought. From time to time I would mention them to others, but no one seemed to have heard of them, and I did start to wonder whether I had imagined them in the first place!

Then, a couple of years ago I went on holiday with a friend - we went self catering, and were on a definite budget, and so we took as much food from home as we could manage to pack in order that we could avoid the high prices in the resort "Spar". We both agreed that decent coffee was one thing we needed to rely on, so my friend said that she would provide the coffee for the trip.

What she brought with her was Lyons coffee bags! After being transported back to the early 80s for a few moments, and gushing about how I had loved visiting my Aunt and Uncle because of their weird coffee bags, I came back to the present time (it's ok, my friend knows I am slightly strange, so she wasn't panicking about spending a week with me!), and now that I am reacquainted with them, I have used them from time to time and will continue to do so.

Basically, you buy a box of 18 bags (you can get decaf or normal) for between £1.50 and £2 - they are available from most larger supermarkets. In the box, there are 18 individually wrapped coffee bags - like tea bags, but with coffee in.

Simply open the individual packet and place the coffee bag in your mug, pour on boiling water, and wait. This is the only problem for me - for best results you have to wait for your coffee to "brew" for between 3 and 5 minutes, depending on how strong you want it. So it certainly isn't "instant" in that sense of the word. Remove the bag, add milk and sugar to taste and sit back and enjoy.

The coffee itself is perfectly drinkable - medium roasted and certainly with the taste of freshly ground coffee rather than freeze dried instant. If you leave it too long before you take the bag out of the cup, you will possibly find some coffee residue at the bottom of the mug, but then you would do so with coffee from the cafetiere, so I don't let this put me off.

It is not exceptional, though - and for me the main benefit is that I can pop one or two of these sachets in my bag, and never have to worry about being able to get half decent coffee - as long as I can get some boiling water, I can do the rest, without having to lug a jar of Kenco around. They are especially good for holidays, as coffee is a personal thing, and if you are staying in a hotel that serves really rank coffee, it can spoil your day, so to be able to whip out a coffee bag keeps you sane! Also, when I go and watch the children do their various sporting events around the country, I can often get hot water out of a vending machine, so take my coffee bag and a mug, and am able to partake of my favorite tipple without having to pay an extortionate amount for vending machine rubbish.

So.....to sum up, these are not as good as the real stuff, and they don't generally come with a tall dark handsome barista.....but they are perfectly acceptable, and if you are out and about, or on holiday, they can give you the coffee kick that you need!

For more information you can visit www.coffeeperfection.com and I believe you can ask for a free sample to try!

Summary: Don't forget to send off for your freebie!