[For the Love of ‘Fee] Melitta Estate Whole Bean Hazelnut Creme Coffee

‘For the Love of ‘Fee’ is one coffee-lover’s attempt to machete through the tangle of coffee beans and brews to find an awesome cup of coffee. Juan Valdez follows ME! 🙂

Deets

• Melitta Estate Whole Bean Hazelnut Crème Coffee
• Bought August 8, 2014, at WalMart, Hoover Park Drive location, Stouffville, ON; $16 for a 2 lb bag of beans.
• The beans were ground using a Cuisinart burr mill, to a medium grind.
• Percolated using a Cuisinart brand electric percolator, cold water from the fridge and basket paper filter inside the coffee ground reservoir to prevent grounds from getting into the brewed coffee.
  

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A History Lesson

Melitta is a brand synonymous with coffee. This company is over 100 years old and sells coffee, coffee makers, accessories and filters. It was started by German housewife, Melitta Bentz, who invented the paper coffee filter (she held the patent). She was always trying to find better ways of making coffee so that the grounds would not end up in the brewed coffee. She was also trying to find a way to brew a single cup of coffee at one time. Eventually, her methods were developed into the drip coffee makers we are familiar with today. There’s your mini history lesson for the day, guys and dolls…and you haven’t even had your first coffee yet! 🙂

My experience with Melitta coffee is scant at best. I would always pass on it at the store since it isn’t cheap, and for the most part, the Melitta coffee that is sold in store here where I live comes in whole beans, which is useless to anyone without a coffee mill. The latter problem has been diffused at my house for almost two years now since I got my burr mill; I can now grind to my heart’s content. But, yeah, I recognize this isn’t cheap coffee. However, coffee is something I enjoy, like good food. In my house, we don’t mind spending a bit more on decent consumables.

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Description

So, like the title of this post suggests, I purchased the Melitta Estate Hazelnut Coffee in whole beans. The package is a large blue foil bag with a black swirly pattern on it. The packaging says this coffee is a medium roast and in italics it says: “Packaged hot from the roaster.” I can’t help but notice that “Cream” is spelled “crème” with an accent grave. These German guys are pulling out the Français!

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First Impressions

Opening the bag, I was not hit with a fragrance of coffee at all – nothing resembling coffee, actually. It smelled like I was sticking my face into a vat of burnt hard liquor. I could smell nothing but alcohol! It wasn’t until I pulled away that I got a faint aroma of Hazelnut. If I were to base the review on that smell alone, I would fail this coffee.

The whole beans themselves appear burnt – darker than how regular coffee beans look. They felt a bit oily to the touch, which is not unusual in my experience with flavoured coffee.

Grinding the coffee beans yielded better results in the fragrance department – the alcoholic smell dissipated, and the aroma of roasted coffee finally presented itself with a pleasant tang of roasted hazelnut. Unlike its whole counterpart, the ground coffee looks a bit lighter than the traditional Colombian medium-ground coffee I am used to drinking.

How it smells and tastes

Upon percolating the ground coffee, the smell of roasted hazelnut filled my kitchen. It smelled delicious! The taste? A smooth blend of Colombian with a nice aftertaste of hazelnut; a very nice compliment. Mmm! Now, I think some baked goods are in order! Banana bread or muffins! Coffee House time chez Sarca!

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Worth the Price?

Yes, I will definitely be buying this again. I am unsure if Melitta Estate Whole Bean Hazelnut Crème Coffee is sold pre-ground anywhere, but I definitely recommend this coffee!

9/10