# james hoffman on Channel 4 right now 20:08



## Phobic (Aug 17, 2016)

channel 4 tried and tasted


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## Phobic (Aug 17, 2016)

well it's confirmed, Jay Rayner has no taste buds.

James Hoffmann blind picked the best bean and even nailed the origin...


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## Jon (Dec 3, 2010)

Phobic said:


> well it's confirmed, Jay Rayner has no taste buds.
> 
> James Hoffmann blind picked the best bean and even nailed the origin...


Yirgacheffe quite easy to identify but Jesus; what are the rest of them doing in their lives?!


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## Phobic (Aug 17, 2016)

Jon said:


> Yirgacheffe quite easy to identify but Jesus; what are the rest of them doing in their lives?!


snorting Nescafe I think


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## spune (Oct 3, 2011)

I was well impressed with James! Surprise surprise that Lazazza won... The most popular coffee wins a taste test? Surprise surprise!


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## Jon (Dec 3, 2010)

spune said:


> I was well impressed with James! Surprise surprise that Lazazza won... The most popular coffee wins a taste test? Surprise surprise!


Well it tastes like "coffee" don't it!?


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## Phobic (Aug 17, 2016)

which of these coffee's tastes most like the crap you drink everyday, and the winner is.....LaShatzza


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## Jon (Dec 3, 2010)

Jon said:


> Well it tastes like "coffee" don't it!?


Six sugars later. Winner.


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## Split Shot (Sep 24, 2016)

Thanks for the 'heads up', that was funny and the result not a surprise.

A good friend of mine who loves her coffee insists on a builder's mug of Lavazza (pre-ground of course) boiled hard out a Moka pot in the morning. It's weapons grade stuff!!


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## nomilknosugar (May 9, 2017)

Visiting friends in Italy was interesting - they clearly love their coffee and appreciate an excellent espresso. However, those are exclusively had in the café. But at home? Not an espresso machine in sight, the pick-me-up in the morning is a kick-in-the-teeth moka (Illy, of course).

I suppose with a decent shot on every corner, you don't have to try.


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## 4085 (Nov 23, 2012)

sometimes, we are all such snobs! I regularly drink Illy decaf as do one or two others. It makes no pretence at being refined, but if you are after a certain taste, you cannot beat it!


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## filthynines (May 2, 2016)

I remember the MD of Illy once made a pretence of it being refined on a TV programme. He announced that - like champagne - Illy should not be everywhere because it dilutes the brand and the luxury. Seems that has gone out of the window.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

We test things to see what the actual results are, rather to ensure the results align with our personal bias. A bunch of people who we can assume have had coffee before picked a best selling coffee in a blind test. That's what happened, if we all postulate, theorise ...& make up our own version of events it gets easier to see the emporer's clothes 

Even James Hoffmann said that the Yirg was "rather light". Being able to identify its characteristics doesn't naturally make it best tasting.

I have really enjoyed some Union roasts (wholebean) but found them covering quite a range of light - dark, even when stamped as "light" on the bag. I have a love/hate relationship with Yirgs, some are stunning, but just as equally you can end up with bilious tea. For me, these are often the biggest gamble when buying "artisan" roasted beans. Illy's Yirg, for example, isn't blown into the weeds by all artisan roasts.

But to be honest, I wouldn't have drunk any of them. The Lavazza (red is the basic quality level) is vacuum packed, the only one that seems to have any attempt to preserve it, there could just be an outside chance they might know what they are doing?


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## Phobic (Aug 17, 2016)

MWJB said:


> there could just be an outside chance they might know what they are doing?


they were clearly ill informed and don't know what they were doing, they were being asked to subjectively decide which was "best" based on their own perception, expectation and experience (or lack of) when compared to what they're use to every day - cheap commodity coffee for the masses (maybe even robusta?!).

that doesn't make their answer wrong though....

it was a test for the masses, if that gets more people drinking better coffee, even if that's the mass market or commodity stuff, then that's a good thing.


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## igm45 (Mar 5, 2017)

Phobic said:


> that doesn't make their answer wrong though....
> 
> it was a test for the masses, if that gets more people drinking better coffee, even if that's the mass market or commodity stuff, then that's a good thing.


Whilst I am yet to watch the program I get the gist of what has happened.

I think Phobic hits the nail on the head here. This was for the masses and the results were to be expected. We all spend a lot of time and effort to get if right and develop our palletes as a result.

Blind tests often come up with similar results, they did one with Aldi wine too. Can you imagine the outrage of a sommelier?


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Phobic said:


> they were clearly ill informed and don't know what they were doing, they were being asked to subjectively decide which was "best" based on their own perception, expectation and experience (or lack of) when compared to what they're use to every day - cheap commodity coffee for the masses (maybe even robusta?!).
> 
> that doesn't make their answer wrong though....
> 
> it was a test for the masses, if that gets more people drinking better coffee, even if that's the mass market or commodity stuff, then that's a good thing.


You don't need to be informed to determine what tastes nice. You just need to taste it. Being a blind test there was no information given in order to derive an expectation. It was a simple task, the trouble with such seemingly simple tasks is that if people feel knowledgeable, this can hinder the simple task as they get carried way with tangents.

If the idea of the exercise was to match their daily cup, guess the origin, or determine potential of the raw ingredient, then the result might have been different.

As to knowing what they were doing, they were drinking out of cups. It's not that hard.


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## Phobic (Aug 17, 2016)

Agree with all of that Mark except the they know what they were doing bit









Just because my dear old mother can drive a car to the local shops doesn't mean she's right about picking the car of the year:- Mercedes F1 car, new mini, M3, or Renault twingo.

she'd pick the mini all day long because it's the best for her.


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## Split Shot (Sep 24, 2016)

Another consideration is how well/badly the brews were made. Just looking at the screen, some of those coffees looked like dishwater to me, weak and maybe under-extracted too. James Hoffman was very specific in referring to "the raw material" when commenting... not the quality of the cup. Did the chef know how to make coffee at all??

A key aspect of coffee designed for the mass market is that it needs to be easy use. Maybe Lavazza nails it on that front? Fair play to them if that's the case.


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## nomilknosugar (May 9, 2017)

Lavazza makes a good moka, no doubt about it. Chuck in a bit of sugar and/or milk and it kick starts the day just fine. I an espresso machine it does its job, too, unless you've decided to take a special interest in coffee, like the lot of us here in our caffeine-fuelled echo chamber.

I nearly wrote "it's the best selling coffee after all", then I remembered other best selling things in the UK, and stopped myself. I mean, look at Richmond sausages! Or beers. Or any of the best selling "newspapers". Really, looking at the best selling anything is enough to sink into despair and deep depression! What is wrong with people?


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