Kaldi Coffee Farm, Japan has quite a number of interesting coffees, so I tried some of the more interesting flavoured dripped coffees they had. The packaging is very attractive and would probably make for good gifts too. Nonetheless, the flavours might be artificial - the ingredients list only states "coffee beans" and "flavouring".
Vanilla Macadamia Flavoured Drip Coffee
This was the first one I tried. The brewing experience was amazing and very impressive, because the sweet nutty vanilla coffee aroma filled the entire kitchen. It was absolutely lovely to smell and I didn't immediately add milk or drink it because I spent some time just having my fill sniffing it.
I added milk before my first sip because I haven't learned to appreciate coffee black so far. But perhaps it might not be a good idea, because despite the deceptively strong aroma, the coffee flavour was much less intense than expected (although it might be expected of drip coffees, and I am comparing to espressos or thick instant coffees). This is despite the fact that I used freshly boiled water, wet the grounds first for the bloom, and poured the coffee through the coffee grounds a number of times, and even tried to leave the coffee grounds partially submerged and soaking in the coffee (within the filter paper) for quite some time. I even added less than the normal amount of milk - usually I like 3/4 or half the cup to be milk, latte style. But this time, I think only 1/4 of the cup was milk. Overall, I would compare the intensity to that of mildly brewed teas.
If you don't mind the lack of intensity, the flavour was like a typical Colombian- Brazil blend (which is where they said they got the beans) with slight fruity notes, overlaid with a slight hint of mellow vanilla nuttiness. I thought it went well with the milk overall. It is decent in flavour but very average and not something I would think of remembering to try again.
I would have preferred a less fruity blend, perhaps pure Brazil or Brazil plus Vietnam/Indonesia.
There's a chance that I wasn't patient enough or skilled enough with the brewing process, but if it requires so much skill to get right, then I might as well pay a barista to make a good cup for me.
Chocolate Vanilla Flavoured Drip Coffee
I liked this even less than the Vanilla Macadamia flavour. I brewed and consumed it in similar style with milk. It was similar in terms of the (lack of) intensity.
What was different was that the vanilla aroma was less prominent while brewing, and I didn't really notice any chocolate aroma. The chocolate notes were difficult to notice but present, in that it was overall slightly darker compared to the bright macadamia nuttiness.
Furthermore, they seemed to use the exact same blend of beans for this, which was fruity because of the Colombian beans, and which I felt paired even worse with chocolate-vanilla combination, which I thought would have done better with something dark and nutty. (The origin of the beans is the printed text in the largest white rectangle on the sachet, and you can see that apart from the date, all the other text is exactly the same as for the Vanilla Macadamia sachet.)
I'm a little surprised that they used the exact same blend, at least on paper, because most Japanese coffee brands I know adjust the blend to match the recipe exactly. This includes % Arabica, Blue Bottle Coffee and even instant coffee brands like AGF which has a huge variety of blends.
Sachet contents
For those who aren't familiar with drip coffees, the contents seemed the same as other Japanese drip coffee brands I've tried, but here are the pictures for reference, just in case.
Here is the sealed filter paper directly from the packet:
Conclusion
Overall, I disliked these flavoured drip coffees because the flavours weren't strong enough for me, but the aroma was amazing.
That said, the people I know who prefer drip coffee seem to prefer black coffee, so if you like black coffee and especially drip coffee because of its subtle and mild flavour, then you may well like this. The general taste was arguably complex even if it was very subtle, because fruity notes stand out against flavours such as vanilla, macadamia and chocolate. And the amazing aroma probably carries over to the taste much better if you don't add milk. The fruitiness might also make more sense without milk.
Discover other interesting coffees
- Kopi Luwak aka Civet Cat Droppings Coffee
- Single Origin Coffee from Ywangan, Shan State, Myanmar by AGF Everblack Instant Coffee
- Americano Instant Coffee by Godi, Thailand
- Dirty Coffee from Asia - Greybox Coffee from China
- Little Butter Latte by Luckin Coffee
- Pandan Coconut Latte by Luckin Coffee
- Ondeh Ondeh Lattes
- Pistachio Oat Latte by Luckin Coffee
- Ceylon Yuan Yang with Milk vs First Crush Tea Latte by Luckin Coffee
- Hot vs Iced Pair Hug Latte - Gardenia Pear Flavoured Cafe Latte by Luckin Coffee
- Brown Sugar Plum Latte by Luckin Coffee
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