Coffee Cup

Hello hello and happy new year!
The cup of the day is the Australian Skyberry - a brew I've had the pleasure to encounter before but this time available in my local supermarket. It seems 2014 may see the dawn of civilized drinks, either that or it was an overflowing seasonal specialty. Nonetheless it has been prepared, as have I, and together we will get acquainted.

The first warning sign is that it was one of a selection of ground coffees in the finest range - The Skyberry was in good company with an Ethiopian Sidamo and some South American thing, so i'm hopeful that the drink reaches me in prime condition.

The second warning sign - as if buying ground coffee isn't problematic enough - is that the Best Before is months in the future.  This rather stretches the definition of "best". Technically, it'll be worse after the smugly printed so by process of elimination better before it, but "best" before it implies some objective yardstick by which you can measure the coffee and if you want to get specific about "Best" before rather than "better" before then your process should be counted not on a calender, but by a wristwatch.

Nonetheless, in a hopeless sea of optimism and toxic cocktail of stubbornness and thirst I purchased my beloved Skyberry. Preparation was a two-shot black americano, slightly strong. And I figured I'd take my time to decide on sugar or biscuit accompaniment - My coffee-shop goto at the moment is to dunk a spoon to leave a few drops of coffee on it and set it aside on a saucer, about half full of brown sugar. Once the drink is complete, take the sugar as required for a sweet sugar rush. Its a strange ritual, but counteracts the occasional bitter aftertaste of some high street blends.

Well, as can only be expected, the poor drink was doomed before it passed my lips. It can only be a christmas gimmick to pad the shelves and was as stale as a new-year Turkey sandwich. I managed about a finger or so, but its flat stale taste suffocated the taste buds with a dry ash finish. It wasn't terrible, but I own an instant coffee that's less unpleasant and there didn't seem to be a reason to continue any longer than needed to finish this write-up.

So I bring you the disappointment that was supermarket ground coffee, defined by their remarkable ability to start with something delicious and completely ruin it. To continue the theme, next week I'll be playing SimCity!

I am Roger in Technology, thanks for reading.