Caffeine - My Best Friend

Throughout my life many things have changed, nothing tends to stay the same does it? As I've got older friends have come and gone, more often than I'd like really but for quite a few years one of my friends has remained a constant in my life, his name is caffeine. Infact I would go as far to say that caffeine has become my very best friend :)

My mate caffeine has changed somewhat over the years, funnily enough, thinking about it, he seemed to change at the same times as I did, I suppose he was just moving with the times.

I remember when I met caffeine, I was sixteen years old, caffeine introduced himself as a lovely bottle of cherry coke, we got talking and we soon started meeting up twice a day, he liked to keep me company at lunch times. I would say he made me happy, my mum would say he made me hyper.

As I turned eighteen, caffeine morphed into red bull, on occasion he came along with his friend vodka, I happened to like his friend a lot!! Caffeine was there for the drunken highs and the hangover lows, aaa the memories.

Philips Senseo Coffee Machine Review

I don't know about you but since I became a mother, I have been come more dependent on coffee to keep me awake during the day, teething has a lot to answer for!!! I tend to have normal instant coffee out of a jar, so when I was given the chance to review a "proper" coffee machine, I was like a kid at Christmas.

I've looked around for coffee machines in the past and I have found that Argos stock a large range of coffee machines which you can buy here. I am reviewing the Philips Senseo HD7825.

Inside the box you receive the coffee machine itself, a removeable water tank, two podholders, a removable drip tray and an instruction manual. I have to say it looks good, the black colouring and chrome finishings fit in very nicely with my other kitchen appliances and it didn't look cheap or plasticky. The Senseo is fairly compact so won't take up too much space on your kitchen worktop either.

The thing that really made this machine stand out to me was the fact that you can make 2 cups of coffee at the same time, a lot of the other coffee machines I have looked at only allow you to make one cup of coffee at a time and this can sometimes prove time consuming. Making more than one drink is done by using the podholders as pictured below. The podholders are clearly marked with a cup sign on, one with 1 cup and the other with 2 cups on so no worries about getting them mixed up at all. 

Making the coffee is extremely easy. Turn the machine on, wait for the red light to stop blinking. Place a coffee pad into the podholder, close the lid, press the one/two cup button and the Senseo coffee machine does the rest for you. There is an adjustable spout to accomodate any size cup too. It takes around 30 seconds to make 1 cup of coffee and under 60 seconds to make 2 cups of coffee, very speedy. I love that the coffee comes out at a temperature where it is ready to drink rather than having to wait for what seems like forever for it to cool down.

One other handy thing that Senseo has is a calc indicator which lets you know when the machine needs descaling.

There were a couple of things that I found for myself a bit annoying. Before every use you have to flush through the system, it only takes a couple of minutes but it would be nice to not have to do every time you switch the machine on. Secondly not everyone likes black coffee but unless you buy their milk blend you will need to add your own milk if this is how you take your coffee.

Overall the Philips Senseo coffee machine with a RRP of £100 is great for coffee lovers. Not overly expensive if you plan on using it on a daily basis and it couldn't be simpler to use. I can also confirm that the coffee it produces really is delicious!!!

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*This post was written in collabaration with Argos*

Beanies Coffee Review

I'm sure a lot of you are like me and need that daily cup of coffee in the morning to be able to function properly!!

So when the lovely people at Beanies contacted me and asked if I would like to review their coffee, the answer was an enormous yes!!!

Beanies are a company that produce flavoured coffee. The company has been going since 2009 and they claim that the secret is in the blend and remember it is all about the flavour but not improving the coffee flavour, no adding a bit of variety and va va voom.
Using the finest raw materials, their coffee brings you a twist on the normal cup of coffee and to my delight, it is low in calories too.

Producing both instant and premium roast coffee, there is something for everyone in their range. I was sent a couple of jars of their instant coffee for my taste buds to tackle.

I received a jar of the french vanilla flavour and a jar of the rich hazelnut flavour. If these don't appeal to you, you can also get : amaretto almond, caramel, cinnamon & hazelnut, double chocolate and irish cream.

I love the packaging, the bright colours draw you in and the fun bean design makes you really look and start reading what is inside of the jar.

Now this was a review that Daddy Hazelden was more than happy to help with, he too loves his cup of coffee in the morning. We differ on how we take our coffee though, he will drink his with milk and two sugars, I however will drink my black with one sugar, what is it they say, opposites attract!!

Upon opening the jar, you are instantly met with a heavenly smell, this was the same for both the vanilla and hazelnut. You only need one teaspoonful per cup, so the small jar will last you quite a while, depending on how many cups of coffee you have in a day.

It is extremely easy to make, just add boiled water and then sugar and milk if this is something you like.  I can see you all looking at my picture and thinking that coffee looks really appealing right about now.

The flavour was just as good as the smell. What I really loved was that the flavourings weren't overpowering, you got the taste of coffee first and then the taste of vanilla/hazelnut as more of an after taste. Also the flavourings weren't overly sweet. It definitely helped make the start of my days positive.

Daddy Hazelden and I both agreed that the french vanilla was the better flavour out of the two however I wouldn't hesistate to recommend the pair of them.

With prices starting from just £2.50, you can purchase the coffee online or you can buy their wonderful coffee from Sainsburys, who stock an exclusive range of Beanies. Next on my list to try is irish cream and amaretto almond mmmmmm, what flavour will you be tasting first??

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Disclaimer : This coffee was sent to me free of charge for reviewing purposes however all thoughts and opinions are my own.