A *real* eye-opener (Taylors Hot Lava Java Coffee)

Member Name: sickboyedd

Product:	Taylors Hot Lava Java Coffee
Date:	28/08/01 (318 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Strong, Bursting with caffeine, Wakes you up

Disadvantages: May be overpowering, especially for those not used to drinking coffee

I'll admit it now that I'm a bit of a coffee addict, moving from coffee icecream to instant in my youth, then going full blown filter now I'm older. I just love the earthiness, as well as the caffeine buzz, that you get from a nice coffee.

With the Taylors Hot Java Lava, I expected a strong tasting, slightly bitter flavour, as with most other Javas I've tried. Boy, how right I was!

After making it, the coffee oozes darkness, the smell is almost overwhelming. The beans seemed to have been packed with flavour to critical mass, and exploded it out into the mug. It smells extremely rich and strong, with tinges of caffeine, if anything, coming through.

On tasting, you're hit with a sledgehammer of flavours, the lava bit of the name is justified as the coffee tastes like it came from a volcano. It tastes slightly burnt, with a rich and mildly bitter flavour.

I cannot reiterate enough how strong it tastes, especially in regards to it's caffeine content. It's above red bull in this regard. After a cup-full, my head knew it had just had coffee, I felt energised for over an hour.

I've left it ambivalent as to whether this caffeine content combined with it's strong flavour is a good idea or not. On a morning, when groggy eyed and needing to be woken up, it's an ideal coffee to have. The coffee will wake up your mouth, the caffeine will do the rest.
For casual drinking, say after work, this caffeine and flavour may prove to be its' downfall. It's just a little too overpowering, with one cupful pushing you near to caffeine overload. My friend, who doesn't really drink caffeinated drinks, told me that she felt strange afterwards, and developed a headache.

Overall then, great on a morning if you need a real waker-upper, or if you need to stay awake. Best suited for seasoned coffee drinkers who want to confront the darker side of coffee before returning to nicer tasting b
eans.

Summary: