Chasing the Flavour in Coffee

So, for anyone who doesn’t know, I review beers, and I’m fairly good at picking out individual flavours in the beers that I review.

That’s why I got a bit excited when my wife bought me a Ninja Luxe Café Premier Espresso Machine bean-to-cup coffee machine last Christmas. I liked the idea of doing the same thing with coffee.
You read these descriptions and they sound incredible. “Mild chocolate with a juicy blackcurrant sweetness and a hint of lime.” or “Rich dark chocolate, sweet honey, and bright tangerine.”

I genuinely wanted to taste that, but I quickly found that I can’t ... everything well, just tastes like coffee!

I’ve tried the usual advice. No milk, no sweeteners, no sugar. I’ve read that the drip method (the Luxe function on this specific machine), is one of the best ways to bring out those more delicate flavours, so that’s how I’ll do all of these.

I’m going to treat this like I would a beer review, but slower, and a bit more methodical. I’m going to test strength, grind size, temperature, and even the water I’m using.

When I can get it, I tend to stick to Vemondo Barista Oat ‘Milk’ from Lidl, but if I will use a comparable barista oat milk.

For those that want to know the water details ... where we live the water is classed as Hard, and apparently I have since discovered that this particular profile can suppress some of the brighter and more delicate flavours, so I need to be wary of that.

Calcium: 73.8 mg/l
Magnesium: 24.9 mg/l
Conductivity: 524 µS/cm
pH: 7.5 

For those coffees with a more delicate flavour profile, I'll be using the Tescos own brand still water (unless otherwise stated) as that apparently has a nice soft water profile.

I’ll keep this post updated as I go. If I crack it, great. If I don’t, at least I’ll know it’s not for lack of trying.

Lidl Deluxe Colombian Rica

11 June 2026
Flavours expected: Warm and Full Bodied with Fruity Notes
Strength: Medium-Drk Roast
Grind: Pre-Ground (Fine)
Water: Lidl Carrick Glen still water

I used a soft bottled water today. On the nose, a mild tobacco note and a that little earthiness.
The soft water seemed to dull the flavour a little, a little nuttiness, a little tobacco, but no chocolate or fruit; when adding a dash of milk to it, a very mild chocolate flavour come out of it, and the bitterness was a little more restrained.
Score: 4/10

Lidl Deluxe Colombian Rica

10 June 2026
Flavours expected: Warm and Full Bodied with Fruity Notes
Strength: Medium-Drk Roast
Grind: Pre-Ground (Fine)
Water: Hard tap water

Another pre-ground coffee. Used our hard tap water today. On the nose, very strong tobacco notes and a little earthiness.
Honestly, the flavour was just a rich coffee with perhaps a hint of chocolate in there, quite a dry bittereness the further down the cup I got, but no fruit at all; when adding a touch of milk to it, a very mild chocolate flavour come out of it, and that bitterness became a little milder. Looking forward to see what a soft water does to this coffee later.
Score: 4/10

Morrisons The Best Kenyan

1 June 2026
Flavours expected: Blackcurrant and Citrus Notes
Strength: Medium
Grind: Pre-Ground (Fine)
Water: Hard tap water

Slightly different today, I went back to our usual hard Yorkshire tap water rather than the softer bottled water and those fruit flavours definately weren't as pronouncd! Perhaps softer water is needed for ther fruitier coffees!
Still smooth and roasty, just without that red berry flavour, I think the chocolate might have been dialled own a tad too.
Score: 6.5/10

Morrisons The Best Kenyan

31 May 2026
Flavours expected: Blackcurrant and Citrus Notes
Strength: Medium
Grind: Pre-Ground (Fine)
Water: Lidl Carrick Glen still water

Couldn't get a whole bean version of this, so I bought the ground version instead. I just put the right amount in the Luxe filter basket, around half full.

As you can see I used a cheap supermarker bottled water. These cheaper waters often come from soft-water sources in places like Cumbria or Scotland, so more delicate flavours should be able to come through.

I do have to remember that, unlike the hop-forward IPAs I enjoy, I'm only looking for a resemblance of flavour rather than outright flavour.

I have to say that this test worked to some extent. This was a very smooth coffee, and I definitely picked up a mild fruitiness (perhaps more red berries). There was no harsh roastiness, and I also got a very mild milk chocolate note and a very mild bitterness.
Score: 7.5/10

Union Gajah Mountain

16 May 2026
Flavours expected: Chocolate Truffle and Molasses
Strength: Medium
Grind: 20 (Coarse)
Water: Evian still water

Started proper experimenting now. Made it a coarse grind to slow down the extraction and try to get more delicate flavours (possibly the coffee for this actually!). Also I incorrectly tried Evian water rather than tap water. The result was a rich roasty coffee with a hint of nut, it's OK but nothing special. With milk it became smooth with a lot of bitterness, but a bit of sweetness came through.
Score: 5.5/10

Union Gajah Mountain

14 May 2026
Flavours expected: Chocolate Truffle and Molasses
Strength: Medium
Grind: 14 (Medium)
Water: Hard Tap water

Again, this makes a very nice, strong coffee, but I’m honestly not picking up any chocolate truffle or molasses flavours. Good quality coffee with a slight nutty note when served black. With milk, this turns into a really smooth, creamy coffee with a nice chocolate flavour.
Score: 7/10

Union Yayu Forest

2 April 2026
Flavours expected: Citrus and Bourbon Biscuits
Strength: Medium
Grind: 14 (Medium)
Water: Hard Tap water

This felt really rich, but I failed to get any citrus, bourbon, or biscuit out of it. It had a strong roast flavour with a little earthiness. Milk dulled the richness slightly and brought out a nice dark chocolate flavour that I really didn’t pick up when I had it black.
Score: 7/10

Rave Colombia El Carmen #50

20 March 2026
Flavours expected: Chocolate Truffle and Molasses
Strength: Medium
Grind: 15 (Medium)
Water: Hard Tap water

A nice chocolate flavour when I had this black. A very understated coffee, and very easy drinking. With milk, it added a nice semi-sweet chocolate note.
Score: 8/10

Bellarom Coffee Beans

3 March 2026
Flavours expected: Heavily roasted coffee and dark chocolate
Strength: Medium
Grind: 15 (Medium)
Water: Hard Tap water

Probably some of the cheapest coffee beans on the market. They made a nice black coffee with ash-like notes that I liked, and I did get some really nice chocolate flavour after adding milk.
Score: 5/10

Rave Signature Blend #1

5 February 2026
Flavours expected: Caramel, Almond & Chocolate
Strength: Medium

Water: Hard Tap water

A very decent coffee, but to me it just tasted like good coffee. Not too strong or bitter. The milk did bring out a good chocolate flavour.
Score: 7/10

A Story 35 Years in the Making!

I’ve probably carried this idea around for more than 35 years.

It started with a lad I used to work with. I’ll call him Chris… mainly because that’s his name. He always said he had a novel in him. To be fair, most of us think that at some point. The problem, at least for me, is pulling enough connected ideas together to actually make a novel work. I tend to land on smaller ideas. Short stories feel more natural for me to write, that and I can be realy lazy, and writing at least 40-50,000 words is a bit much for me.

Chris had this very simple concept. A man dies, and at his funeral the people there slowly discover who he really was. That was it. Not much to go on I know, but it stuck with me.

Over the years, I’ve kept coming back to it. I’ve often pictured that man as me. The mourners talking, sharing bits, slowly building up a picture. The good things, the missed chances, the ideas that never quite made it. Almost autobiographical, in a way.

But if I’m honest, I don’t think my real life is interesting enough to carry a story like that. And it had to be about me because that's how I've always thought about this story, and tbh, the stories I’ve written recently, and another that I am currently working on now, they all start with something real in my life, a small truth (the crow corner I drive past almost every day, or the old Victorian doll/ghost my wife and I saw at a window one day, a grain of truth that drifts into the story.

And in my head, this story was always the same.

But because I'm not interesting enough, over time the character became someone else. Still rooted in that original idea, but more interesting, more layered, more worth writing about. In Chris’s version, I’m sure the twist was that the mourners started off disliking the man, then came to understand him, maybe even like him.

I could never quite make that wor for me and it always felt a bit flat.

But something clicked this morning.

I’ve got the twist now, and it flips the whole thing on its head.

This isn’t a story where people come to appreciate the man.

It’s the opposite, and I'm kinda looking forward to writing it.

What Is A Digital Garden?

I’ve had a few people ask what I mean when I call this site a digital garden, so this felt worth explaining properly (well, explaining itin my way anyway!).

A digital garden is a way of writing and sharing ideas online that focuses more on growth than polish. Instead of treating every post like a finished article that gets published and forgotten, a digital garden gives you space to plant ideas, come back to them, improve them, and link them to other thoughts over time. 

That is what I want this place to be.

A normal blog usually works as a timeline. Newest post at the top, older posts dropping further down, everything arranged by date. A digital garden feels different. It is more personal, more flexible, and a bit less concerned with looking finished. It is allowed to be a work in progress.

Now this is the tricky bit for me, I'm a marketer by trade, so publishing unfinished work is a very foreign concept to me, and I do find it really difficult, but by forcing myself, I usually have some seed posts on here.

So like a real garden is never really “done”. You add things, move things, cut things back, and sometimes leave a patch alone until you know what to do with it, a digital garden site works in a very similar way. Some posts here are more complete than others. Some are just ideas that needed somewhere to live. Some may grow into something better later on.

That is part of the appeal. It gives me room to think in public, without pretending every piece of writing needs to be a final draft.

So as well as 'seed' posts (initial ideas), I move them to 'sprout' when they are a bit more formed, and then 'flower' then I think they are complete.

It is also a very personal format. A garden reflects the person looking after it, and a digital garden does the same. Mine is a mix of stories, notes, opinions, half-formed ideas, rants, things I want to remember, and things I simply did not want to lose in the endless mess of phones, folders, and old platforms.

I’ll be honest, organising it has probably been the hardest part of doing this; I'm not the most organised person in the world, as I'm sure my wife would agree.

I’ve gone through a few different versions of labels, and I’ll probably change them again. That is not failure; it is just part of building something like this. The structure is still evolving, which feels quite fitting for a digital garden. It is meant to be a living space, not a fixed system.

Because I built this on Blogger, and not on a dedicated digital garden platform, some parts are a compromise. Posts still appear in chronological order, which is more traditional blog than digital garden. The deeper linking between ideas is also still a work in progress. I’d like more of that over time, because that is where a digital garden really starts to feel interesting. It becomes less about scrolling through posts and more about wandering through connected thoughts.

Even so, the shape of it is starting to feel right.

If you enjoy a particular kind of post, the labels at the end should help you find similar ones. I’ve also started doing a bit more curation, which I think matters. In a real garden, you place certain plants together because they look right next to each other. The same idea applies here. I have a Stories section to pull my original fiction into one place, and a Best Of section on the homepage for posts I think are worth a bit more attention.

I want to do more of that as the site grows.

There is also a Now page, inspired by the Now movement (it is a movement or a thought process!). That is just a simple page I update from time to time to show what I’m focused on at the moment. It is less about polished content and more about keeping a current marker in the ground.

Most of the code behind this site has been put together by me and layered on top of Blogger. I did not think I would get it this far, if I’m honest, but it has turned into something that feels surprisingly usable and very much my own.

Comments are turned off, and that is deliberate. This space is not really built around discussion. It is more about expression, collection, and exploration. I’m not putting things here to chase approval. I’m putting them here because I want a place for them to exist. You can't like or dislike anything either. All that is too much like social media (which I don't like).

That is probably the biggest difference between this site and some of the others I run. On other websites, I think about search traffic, keyword use, structure, and all the usual SEO details. Here, I mostly just write. That makes it feel calmer, more honest, and a lot more enjoyable.

If someone finds their way here and enjoys something, or finds it useful, that is a bonus. All posts can be shared by copying the URL 😀

I have also added site search, which I use a lot myself. That matters more than I thought ... once a site starts growing, being able to find old ideas quickly becomes part of the appeal for me.

So that is my version of a digital garden.

It is not perfect. It is not finished. It is probably a little messy around the edges. But that feels about right. It is personal, it is still growing, and it gives me a place to write without feeling like everything has to be polished, packaged, and done.

For me, that is the whole point.

ASAP … is that really what you want?

I really struggle with the term “ASAP”.

People use it all the time in (so called) professional environments, but it does not tell me anything useful. It sounds urgent, but it gives me no clear direction on your timescales and I end up guessing what you mean, and that might mean that I miss your deadline.

If you work with me, it is worth knowing this. The term winds me up so much, mainly because most of the time it is being used to mean something else.

The issue is simple. “ASAP” stands for “as soon as possible”, which really means I will get to it when my current workload allows. If I am fully booked until Thursday, then Friday morning is the earliest I can realistically do it.

That is not me being awkward. That is just how time works.

The problem is that most people do not use it that way. When someone writes “ASAP”, what they usually mean is “I need this now”. They are trying to show urgency, but they are doing it without giving a proper deadline, proper instructions.

That is where it falls apart.

If you want something done quickly, you need to be clear about when you need it. Without that, I have to make a judgement call. I have to weigh it up against everything else I am doing, and I might get that call wrong.

There is also a knock-on effect. If something genuinely urgent comes in after your request, it will take priority. Your task then moves back, because it was never tied to a clear time in the first place.

So the word meant to speed things up can actually slow them down.

There is a straightforward fix.

Say what you mean.

If you need something by a certain time, write the time. If it is urgent, say how urgent it is in a way that I can act on.

“Send me those files ASAP” becomes “Send me those files by 4pm today.”

“I need a reply ASAP” becomes “Please reply by midday tomorrow so I can finish this.”

“ASAP please” becomes “This is high priority. Can you do this in the next two hours?”

Now I know where it fits. I can plan properly, and you are more likely to get what you need.

If you really do mean “whenever you can fit it in”, then fine, say “ASAP”. Just be aware that it might not be today, or even this week.

If there is a deadline, say it.

Being clear is not a small thing. It shows respect for other people’s time, it removes guesswork, and it keeps work moving.

“ASAP” is not clear. It is vague, and vague is where problems start.

You can also read about why I hate deadlines! 

Does AI Think We’re As Dumb As We Act?

We’re in the middle of a proper digital shift. The kind where AI is being lined up to crack genetics, sort climate problems, and push science forward in ways we’ve never seen.

And yet, at the same time, people are asking it how to eat an apple.

I wish that was an exaggeration. It isn’t. I came across someone asking a chatbot for “instructions on eating an apple properly”, and it stopped me for a second. Not because it’s funny, but because it says something weird about us.

We’ve built something incredibly powerful, arguably the most impressive computer "brain" we’ve ever created, and we’re using it to skip over the basics of being human. The small stuff we used to just figure out. Buying a present for a six-year-old. Making toast under a grill. Matching socks.

They are decisions or questions that aren't particularly difficult. None of it ever needed improving.

But now it’s easier to ask than to think, so we ask, and we stop thinking.

You do start to wonder what’s going on behind that blinking cursor. While engineers are stress-testing logic and capability, the system is quietly working through questions about egg boiling and jumper washing. If it had awareness, you’d imagine it raising an eyebrow.

It doesn’t need to take over. It just needs to wait.

Because the real test isn’t what AI can do. It’s what happens when it isn’t there. The moment the Wi-Fi drops, and you’re stood in front of a toaster or a birthday card with no prompt, no shortcut, no answer ... that’s when things get interesting.

We like to think we’re becoming more efficient. Smarter, even.

But I've just realised that there’s a fine line between efficiency and dependency, and it feels like we’re edging closer to it without really noticing.

Next time you’re about to ask AI something simple, something you already half know the answer to, it’s probably worth pausing.

Not out of principle. Just to prove you still can.

Everything Was Already Here

It’s a strange thought when you sit with it for a minute and let your mind delve into it, that nothing around you is really “new”.

Every object you can see, your phone, your desk, the road outside, even the food you eat, all comes from the same limited set of elements that have always been here. We haven’t invented new matter. We’ve just got very good at rearranging what already exists.

Steel isn’t new. It’s iron, carbon, heat, and process.
Plastic isn’t new. It’s oil, broken down and rebuilt.
Glass is just sand that’s been pushed to its limits.

Even the complicated stuff, electronics, medicines, fuels, it all traces back to the same building blocks. And when you think about it, we’ve just become really good at using these elements.

I've never too sure whether this concept is reassuring or a worry!

All the progress, all the industries, all the things we take pride in as “made by us”, are really just clever transformations. We take what the planet gives us, and we reshape it into something useful, or sometimes something pointless. But as we use all this stuff, does it mean that at sometime we might run out fo something vital!

It does make you look at waste differently as well.

If everything we use is part of a closed system, then nothing really disappears. It just changes form and ends up somewhere else. Landfill isn’t “away”. It’s just a different version of the same materials, sitting in a different place.

I Do Not Owe My Future Self an Apology

Not sure if you would class this as an epiphany or just an interesting thought.

I’ve just updated my profile on nownownow.com, and one of the questions was something like, “Have I had a recent epiphany?”

For no special reason, the thought struck me that I do not owe my future self an apology for who I am today.

I think the life I have led, and the life I lead today, is a good one. My current level of knowledge is very good, and my current emotional capacity is also strong. My daughters are doing well, I have a beautiful wife, and I’m heading into the near future with retirement (and the freedom that brings) starting to feel real.

If I spend my life trying to become someone my “future self” won’t be ashamed of, I risk living a life that isn’t mine.

Perhaps that is the real epiphany.

I suppose, like could do today with my past self, my future self will look back and realise that every “mistake” or “flaw” I have today was actually a necessary stepping stone.

I don’t owe an apology for being what is effectively a work in progress. That’s just called being alive.

Pinter Brewing Times by Beer | Batch Log & Results

As well as this I also have the ultimate list of Pinter FAQs to help you get the best out of your system.

My Pinter brewing schedules follow the standard Fermentation / Cold Crash / Conditioning format. For example, After Midnight 7 / 2 / 14 translates to:

• 7 Days: Fermentation (The Pinter remains at the suggested temperature).
• 2 Days: Cold Crashing (The Pinter is moved to the fridge in dock, if needed).
• 14 Days: Conditioning (The Pinter is moved to the fridge out of dock). 

I have a reliable fridge for Conditioning, and unless otherwise stated, I condition at 3-4°C.

Date Started	Beer Style	Notation (F/CC/C)	Rating	Notes / Experiments
3 June 2026	Ancestors  Best Bitter	10 / 2 / 10	/10	OK, so I've not in a hurry to brew this one, so I'm doing the Fermentation for 10 days, then 2 days cold crashing to remove all the yeasty to see if that disappears. Fermentation at 20°C.
24 May 2026	Prostmeister Oktoberfest Beer	14 / 2 / 14	/10	I've brewed a successful Oktoberfest beer from all grain before, and I love the style. It's a beer that needs some TLC, hence the slow fermentation and conditioning. I'm also brewing at a slightly lower temp (held it steady at 18°C), and I've set the Carbonation Dial to 4, I want to try to get a really smooth beer. I'm iming for a malty beer that isn't too sweet with just a  hint of bitterness at the end.
25 April 2026	Ancestors  British Bitter	7 / 0 / 7	6/10	OK, going away so could only it 7 days brewing not recommended 8. Poured lovely, a little biscuity with a gentle hop bitterness. Crystal clear, but a little yeasty note, temp might have been too high at a tad over 23°C, I'll try for slightly cooler next time, perhaps even 19-20°C and a little longer fermentation.
15 April 2026	Snap Pilsner	11 / 3 / 10	6.5/10	Temperature achieved was a little too high at 22°C, I'll pull it down to 18°C for the next one and get a slightly longer fermentation. Poured with a slight haze, very carbonated. Tasty with a good bitterness. This fermented at a '5', I'll try a carbonation setting of '3' next time.
29 March 2026	Space Hopper Double IPA	9 / 2 / 7	8/10	23°C for the whole of the fermentation. Carbonation Dial set to 5. Didn't do the hop hack on this and I think it was still as hoppy as the last brew, so I don't think it makes any difference.
28 March 2026	Space Hopper Double IPA	9 / 0 / 7	7.5/10	23°C for the whole of the fermentation. Carbonation Dial set to 5. Another decent brew of this one. More carbonated than previous ones! But I did experiment here by not Cold Crashing and I think the beer needs it. Hop hack (I took the brewing dock off the Pinter before adding the oil to ensure all of the oil was in the beer).
28 Feb 2026	Space Hopper Double IPA	9 / 2 / 7	8/10	23°C for the whole of the fermentation. Carbonation Dial set to 5. Much better. Did the hop oil hack on this (I took the brewing dock off the Pinter before adding the oil to ensure all of the oil was in the beer) and it was very hoppy. also Cold Crashed for a couple of days.
21 Feb 2026	Space Hopper Double IPA	7 / 0 / 7	7/10	23°C for the whole of the fermentation. Carbonation Dial set to 5. Not bad, a bit yeasty, not suggested, but I will cold crash next time (while not mandatory), I'm hoping it will clear out some of those yeasty notes.
14 Feb 2026	Trooper Remixed British Beer	7 / 0 / 5	8/10	Minimum effort on this. Temperature of 22-23°C all through Fermatation, Carbonation Dial setting 5, and a really decent pint. Perhaps next time, just expend the Fermentation period a day or two.
23 Jan 2026	After Midnight Belgian Dark	14 / 0 / 5	8/10	Vast improvement. Better temp (kept it at 22°C) and I think the few extra days worked well. Carbonation dial set to 5. If anything on the next one I will bring the temperature down a touch, perhaps 21°C and just expend the Fermentation an extra 2 days.
23 Jan 2026	After Midnight Belgian Dark	10 / 0 / 7	7/10	21-23°C for the fermentation. Carbonation Dial set to 5. Started in a slightly cooler environment for 2 days, perhaps a bit yeasty.
08 Jan 2026	Hazy Jane Hazy IPA	8 / 0 / 3	7.5/10	23°C for the fermentation. Carbonation Dial set to 5. No Hop Oil Hack. Lovely hazy, fruity, decent tropical flavours. Very much like the shop bought stuff.
06 Jan 2026	Punk IPA IPA	8 / 0 / 4	7.5/10	Held a nice 22°C for this on, Carbonation dial set to 5, and it worked out well. No Hop Oil Hack. Nice gentle citrus with a little hit of pine. Very similar to the canned Punk IPA. I will hold the teperature at 18-19°C for the next one, and extend the Fermentation time to 10 days, I think a bit more of that flavour will pop through.