Sometimes there’s nothing better than to wake up to the aroma of freshly brewed coffee. Even though I’m not a massive coffee drinker, when I do drink coffee, I prefer filtered ground bean varieties.
Hope & Glory Coffee Co.* recently got in touch and asked me if I’d like to review two of their ground bean blends and I couldn’t resist.
Who are Hope and Glory?
Hope & Glory are a British speciality coffee company. They roast all of their beans up in rural North Lincolnshire on their very own micro roaster. It’s good to know they’re a British brand carrying out the process here in the UK.
They roast an array of speciality coffees in a variety of forms, from Espresso blends, ground and whole bean options. They might be at the higher end of the coffee market but they do carefully select their beans from places all over the globe to provide unique flavours and blends. Hope & Glory also offer free postage and package their products to ensure freshness. If you’re true a coffee lover, you’ll know that it’s not worth skimping on quality and taste for the sake of saving a few quid.
The coffee tasting
I take my coffee mostly with soya milk and a very small dusting of sugar so I don’t overpower the coffee’s unique flavour. I imagine I probably take my coffee a lot lighter than most people but I’m also a fan of milky tea which has translated into how I take my coffee too.
It was good to see that Hope & Glory’s coffees passed the ‘mixing with soya’ test first off – many coffees usually separate with soya milk which looks really unpleasant and doesn’t taste particularly great.
Hope & Glory sent me two blends from their coffee collection. Here are my tasting notes.
The Blenheim Espresso Blend
The Blenheim Espresso Blend is their first ever espresso blend produced on their micro roaster at their new roastery in Blenheim North.
This is considered to be their most popular blend; I’m guessing that’s because of the striking mix of flavours, with coffee coming from Brazil, Kenya and Sumatra. The tasting notes describe the flavour as having a “plum jam acidity and butterscotch sweetness with a big ol’spoonful of melted cocoa”. It’s definitely a very distinctive blend and I could really taste the high cocoa content. It was bold and packed a punch first thing in the morning, so if you need to wake up and wake up fast, this one most certainly does the trick.
Score: 8/10
Kenya Gathongo
I find that coffee tasting is a lot like wine tasting: you’re always looking for the flavours described on the label. With the Kenya Gathongo blend, the tasting notes describe a sugared shortbread sweetness combined with winey forest fruit acidity”, which to me sounds a lot like a red wine. I was looking forward to this as I tend to like bolder flavours in wine, beer and ale.
I wasn’t disappointed with this blend. It was incredibly refreshing with a strong combination of flavours. I found it filling as well as satisfying – but I probably couldn’t drink more than one mug.
The coffee bean origins come from Meru, Easter Slopes of Mount Kenya, Nyambene Hills Central Province. Apparently, the high altitude of where these beans are from creates the zingy, fruity flavours.
Score: 9/10
If you love coffee you could try…
If you’re interested in trying Hope & Glory’s coffee there is a wide range of blends to chose from and prices range from £6.50 to £7.15 for 260g of either ground or wholebean.
Or, if you’re feeling adventurous and like to receive treats in the post, you could try their coffee club subscription. Choose from either a fortnightly or monthly subscription from £6.30 per bag.
*disclaimer – Hope & Glory gifted me two bags of ground coffee. All views are my own.
