Source: koffieTcacao
Text: Marc Kluijver
What is the best supermarket coffee?? KoffieTcacao magazine brought together a group of enthusiasts and experts for the first supermarket coffee test. They blindly tasted nine single origin coffees. Notably, the favorites of the enthusiasts were completely different from those of the experts. Three years later, this difference is much smaller.
The coffee market is in tremendous flux. Corona has given a boost to the number of fully automatic and semi-automatic machines in people's homes. This is also visible on the supermarket shelves. More coffee brands have emerged, and the focus is increasingly on single origin. Supermarket coffee is hot!
In addition to the big names, we now also find smaller coffee brands in the supermarket. Jumbo has even launched its own specialty coffee line: Mpanga. The coffees seem to be sold less on price and more on quality. Home drinkers also appear to be more accustomed to complex flavors than they were three years ago.
Which coffee do we test?
This year, we are only testing single origin supermarket coffee, as they have a more distinctive flavor profile than blends and are therefore easier to compare with each other. We are evaluating a total of nine coffees from six origins: a Brazil from La Place, Perla Superiore, and L’Or Espresso, a Kenya from Moyee, a Rwanda from Mpganga, Colombia from Juan Valdez Antioquia and Bochica Coffee Medium, a Bolivia from Illimani, and a Peru from Simon Lévelt.
The jury
Supermarket coffee appeals to a wide audience, so our test panel is as diverse as possible. In addition to experts, we also invite coffeeTcacao readers to participate in the test. An expert is trained to taste, while an enthusiast is not. Therefore, it is interesting to see to what extent these two groups agree with each other.
The Experts
Our experts are Dave Lagendijk, Judith Konsten, and Paul Tinhout. Dave is a coffee importer at Douque, co-owner of The Coffee Alliance, and a Q-grader. Judith Konsten is a quality manager at Mocca d'Or, a Q-grader, and a tasting panel member at the wine analysis institute Meron. Paul is a trainer at the International Tea and Coffee Academy (ITC).
Coffee lovers
The coffeeTcacao readers are Martijn Timmermans, Daniëlle Gerrits, and Frans Verbart. Martijn always drinks supermarket coffee from his fully automatic machine, at Daniëlle's home the coffee must always be bitter, and Frans drinks all sorts of things from his fully automatic machine.
We realize that the test panel is too small to make well-founded statements about the tested coffees and want to emphasize that the results are subjective. The test only reflects the findings of the selected test panel, with the aim of providing a good overview of the selection of single origin supermarket coffee.
Supermarket coffee test results 2022: MOYEEE IS THE WINNER AMONG experts and number 2 enthusiasts
The clear winner among the experts is the Moyee Single Origins Kenya. They are very pleased with the sweetness, the fresh acidity, and the complexity. Dave: “A fresh, smooth coffee with notes of cinnamon, red fruit, and a long finish.” The enthusiasts rate the coffee particularly high for its fullness of flavor and distinct character. For them, Moyee finishes in second place.
Test results supermarket coffee
Three years ago, dark roasted coffees scored the best with enthusiasts, while light roasted coffees were favored by experts. With a larger and more qualitative selection, the taste of enthusiasts seems to be becoming a bit more refined. In the top three of both groups, there are only coffees from smaller brands, except for one. It seems that the era of dark roasted coffees is coming to an end, and both enthusiasts and experts are ready for coffees with more character and a lighter roast profile.