Drink

Rwandan Farmers coffee

Admin — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 09:45:54 +0000

If you love your coffee fix and want to get ethical about your consumption of it, Rwandan Farmers coffee bears a clutch of credentials worth looking at. First things first, this rounded ground coffee sees 100% of its gross profits go straight back to the coffee farmers. It means that the farmers can actually sustain what they do and nurture the direct relationship they have with the supermarkets.

As well as being Fair Trade, Rwandan Farmers coffee also offsets its carbon footprint through a programme of tree planting. The farmers plant shading trees around the coffee, which in turn enhances the quality of the coffee and increases nitrogen in the soils.

So for a cup of coffee that satisfies your caffeine fix, strikes a fair deal for coffee farmers and works to improve the environment, don’t look any further.

Rwandan Farmers coffee is available from Sainsbury’s priced at £2.89. The brand is held in trust for Rwandan coffee cooperatives by the Clinton Hunter Development Initiative (CHDI) and all the brand's profits go back to the farmers for health, education and coffee investment.

Montana Marlborough Reserve Pinot Noir

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 10:13:31 +0000

This full-bodied number from Montana’s Spring collection, offers up a red wine of substance, without too much of a heavy punch. Flavours of blackcurrant and cherry pervade this Pinot Noir, and with its soft, ripe tannins, it makes for the perfect accompaniment to chicken and lamb dishes, not to mention a medium-rare hunk of roast beef. This Pinot Noir has been matured for 4 – 6 months in a selection of new and 1-year old oak, and gives out a hint of spice along with its fruity flavour.

Priced at £10.49, available at Tesco, Waitrose, Oddbins and Majestic

Gourmet ground coffee

Thu, 21 Jun 2007 15:30:13 +0000

Cafédirect have been on the Fairtrade scene since they started up in 1991. It is now the UK’s largest 100% Fairtrade hot drinks company and is proof that Fairtrade doesn’t mean compromising on flavour.

Cafédirect’s gourmet range of ground coffee is testament to their passion about high quality Fairtrade produce. The range of gourmet blends vary in strength, and come equipped with a potency rating on the front of each packet, so you can choose whether to flirt mildly with a cup of coffee, or go for a full-on, full-mouthed caffeine hit. Blends include Organic Machu Picchu from Peru, Organic Palenque from Mexico and Kilimanjaro from Tanzania, each with their own distinctive colourings.

The iLoveMyGrub team sampled Kilimanjaro – a fruity coffee with vanilla notes darting about, in between flavours of blackcurrant and tart blackberry. We also got our mouths round a cup of Machu Picchu – four on the potency scale and satisfyingly deep in flavour, tasting richly of chocolate and subtly nutty. There’s no need to frequent coffee houses when it can taste this good at home.

Cocodirect

Mon, 23 Apr 2007 11:10:59 +0000

Hot chocolate - it's a tricky thing. When you have a longing for a large mug of hot chocolate, that tastes indulgently rich, dark and creamy - it's always frustratingly disappointing to get a mug full of powdered sweetness with very little nod towards the rich flavour of cocoa that your taste buds have been hankering for.

How brilliant then, that Cafédirect have come up with Cocodirect - a hot chocolate drink that tastes as it should: richly intense, with a chocolaty flavour that's full of depth. If you want to be particularly indulgent, then load up three or four heaped teaspoons of this drinking chocolate into your favourite mug, add a little full fat milk to make a paste, pour a lot of hot full fat milk into said mug to make up your chocolate drink and simply stir, sip and savour.

Cafédirect is the UK's largest Fairtrade hot drinks company and works closely with producers in developing countries to ensure that they obtain a fair and stable price for their crops. So whilst you're sipping your delectable mug of hot chocolate, you can be even more content in knowing that Cafédirect will put 86% of their operating profits back into tailor-made support and training initiatives for their growers. Drink up.

Percol Honduras Coffee

Wed, 04 Apr 2007 14:17:10 +0000

Percol have released Honduras just in time for Easter. The coffee, which has a real depth of flavour and some lovely chocolaty overtones, is best paired with a slice of cake or a handful of chocolates.

Percol pride themselves on producing Fairtrade coffee which ensures that coffee growers get the best deals for their harvests and buyers can be safe in the knowledge that their purchase is making a positive impact on the lives of coffee growers.

Percol's range also bears detailed tasting notes on every packet of coffee describing the taste, smell and strength of the product. Each packet lists the country and area of origin along with interesting snippets of information about the provenance of the bean that has been used, including the situation of the soil, climate and plant variety.