The subtleties of choosing the perfect coffee - a review of the best brands

The range of coffee products is incredibly large. Therefore, choosing the best coffee is difficult even for experts. Every year new brands appear on the market offering single varieties, blends, and instant products. It’s worth figuring out what criteria to consider when purchasing and studying the list of trusted brands. Thanks to this, you will be able to purchase quality products.

How to choose the right coffee

By following a number of tips for choosing coffee products, you will be able to make a successful purchase. Attention is paid to the following points:

• package. No defects are allowed. The coffee must be sealed airtight. In addition, the manufacturer is obliged to indicate comprehensive information about the product on the packaging;
• best before date. There are no difficulties with the soluble version. You just need to make sure it hasn't expired. When purchasing natural beans, you also need to take into account the date of roasting and grinding. The less time has passed from this moment, the tastier and more aromatic the drink will be;
• manufacturer . Preference is given to proven brands.

When purchasing a soluble product, attention is paid to granules. Ideally they should be the same size. You should not buy excessively dark ones. Most likely, they are overcooked, and the drink will be bitter and have an unpleasant burnt aroma.

When choosing whole beans, large grains are preferred. The presence of stains and all kinds of defects is unacceptable. In addition, to choose good coffee, take into account the country where the coffee fruit is grown. Depending on where the plantations are located, the taste of the drink will differ significantly:

• Brazilian. They are distinguished by their strength, pleasant tart taste with a nutty undertone;
• Colombian Characterized by the presence of unobtrusive sourness, velvety, balanced taste;
• Costa Rican . A drink based on such grains has a pleasant dense aroma;
• Guatemalan. They are distinguished by the presence of a taste of flowers and spices;
• Indian . Characterized by increased strength. The drink has strong notes of chocolate;
• Kenyan. The varieties are distinguished by high acidity and a fascinating berry aftertaste;
• Ethiopian. The beans are characterized by a pleasant berry flavor and maximum strength.

There are two main varieties of beans – Arabica and Robusta

The first type produces relatively weak coffee with pronounced sourness. To reduce the acidity level and make the drink more rich, blends are created based on Arabica and Robusta. The taste and aroma qualities of the product directly depend on the percentage of these varieties in blends. The more robusta it contains, the worse the characteristics of the resulting drink.

Coffee Brand Comparison Chart

For a more clear comparison of the brands presented above, we use a comparison table.

Ratings on the topic: Rating of the 10 best walk-behind tractors: reviews, cost and characteristics

Model	Country of Origin	Compound	Expiration date (months)	Weight (g)	Price, rub)
Kimbo	Italy	Arabica	12	500	from 650 to 1,999
Illy	America	Arabica	36	600	from 999 to 3,199
Diemme	Italy	Arabica	16	450	from 799 to 1,899
Danesi	Italy	Arabica	24	250	from 1,199 to 2,999
Jardin	Russia	Arabica	18	500	from 219 to 449
Paulig	Russia	Arabica, Robusta	24	450	from 319 to 499
Live coffee	Russia	Arabica	12	200	from 219 to 599

Coffee rating

It is worth highlighting a number of the world's most popular coffee brands that have earned the trust of coffee lovers. Knowing which brands produce quality products will make the choice much easier.

In beans

True gourmets prefer to purchase natural bean coffee products. To choose good coffee, you should study the rating of the best manufacturers:

• Jardin. Domestic brand. The grains are grown in Indonesia, Guatemala, Colombia and Ethiopia. The products are presented in a wide range. Everyone can choose the appropriate option for themselves, taking into account the strength and degree of roasting;
• Paulig . Produced in Finland. The products have earned popularity due to careful selection of beans and high-quality roasting. When using it, you can get tasty and aromatic coffee;
• Kimbo . Italian brand. The fruits are fried evenly, do not become sour or bitter. The drink is invigorating and has excellent taste;
• Lavazza . Also shipped from Italy. It has a mild taste and moderate strength. Enjoys enormous popularity in Russia;
• Black card . Domestic coffee products, for the production of which beans grown on plantations in South America are used;
• Malongo . French brand. This brand produces a huge amount of coffee with a piquant taste. The drink has fruit, vanilla, chocolate and even caramel shades.

Lavazza

Malongo

Paulig

Black card

Jardin

Kimbo

Soluble

Coffee producers produce instant products in several forms:

• granulated;
• sublimated;
• powdery.

To choose the most delicious coffee, you should give preference to proven brands. The following are popular in Russia:

• Carte Noire. Sublimated products are produced under this brand. The drink has a pleasant, pronounced aroma; characteristic coffee notes with a faintly noticeable bitterness are clearly visible in it;
• Egoiste . In addition to the freeze-dried product, a mixture of instant coffee and ground coffee is also produced. The granules are smooth and light. The drink is strong, balanced, with a pleasant aroma and chocolate aftertaste;
• Bushido . Among the range of products, granules containing gold deserve special attention. The granules are large and dissolve well. Coffee has a rich aroma and refined taste;
• Jardin . Domestic brand. The taste is rich, with unobtrusive bitterness and sourness. The aroma is deep, pronounced;
• Jacobs Monarch . Medium strength drink. The smell is rich, and the taste is sour, but pleasant. The product line includes a mixture of ground coffee and instant coffee.

Jacobs Monarch

Bushido

Carte Noire

Egoiste

Ground

To choose the best ground coffee, you should study the rating of the best manufacturers:

• Hausbrandt . Produced in Italy and is of high quality. This is real coffee, which is suitable for true connoisseurs of coffee drinks. It has unique taste and unsurpassed aroma;
• Jardin . This product is characterized by an excellent taste with almond-chocolate bitterness and a relatively high strength. Several blend options are presented. Thanks to this, it will be possible to choose a blend that suits personal preferences;
• Kimbo. Made using traditional Italian technology. Therefore it is considered one of the best. The unique aroma and exquisite taste do not leave any coffee lover indifferent;
• Live coffee . It is relatively inexpensive, but at the same time it is characterized by excellent taste;
• Illy . An Italian brand that produces high-quality coffee products. The drink contains fruity tones and has a long chocolate aftertaste. The only drawback is the high price.

Hausbrandt

Illy

Kimbo

Live coffee

In capsules

The TOP of the best coffee produced in capsules includes the following brands:

• Tassimo . A high-quality product produced for coffee machines of the same brand. There is a large assortment of capsules. Regardless of the chosen option, you will be able to get the perfect combination of aroma and taste;
• Nescafe . With the help of capsules of this brand you can prepare not only espresso, but also latte and cappuccino. The packages are divided into a couple of parts. One contains a coffee product, and the other contains milk. The line also includes flavored varieties. There are 20 varieties produced under this brand;
• Nespresso . There are 4 types of capsules available. There is even a decaffeinated version. The coffee is rich, dense, incredibly aromatic.

Tassimo

Nespresso

Nescafe

Best Ground Coffee Brands

Today's world moves at incredible speed. A person does not have enough time to sleep, let alone prepare drinks and food. Ground coffee is an ideal and quick option to quench your caffeine cravings. Our experts have selected the best brands in this category and ranked the best.

Illy

Rating: 5.0

Illy is a young company in its industry and has been delivering coffee for over 90 years. The birthplace of the brand is the city of Trieste in Italy. The original idea was to create the best coffee in the world. Our experts believe that the company has succeeded in this, so Illy deserves to be in first place in the rating. Previously, the brand was called illycaffè, but after modernization and changes in production technologies, we now have a short name – illy.

The ground coffee recipe is unique in its cycle. The production uses 100 percent Arabica, a blend of which consists of 9 varieties of coffee from the regions of Costa Rica, Guatemala, Brazil, and Jamaica. The Illy product has a delicate, velvety taste with a distinct chocolate, berry or caramel aroma, which is a company specialty. Packaging is carried out in specialized metal containers in the form of cans or pods - individual packets of already compressed coffee, which simplifies the method of preparing the drink.

Advantages

1. convenient packaging in individual pods;
2. variety of tastes and varieties;
3. degree of coffee roasting for every taste.

Flaws

1. high price even for 125 grams of goods in a tin can.

Malongo

Rating: 4.9

Malongo is a leading French brand that has been delighting consumers for just under 90 years. The company has a dominant position in the global ground coffee market. For this reason, we included it in the ranking of the best brands. Malongo was originally a small roaster that produced typical coffee drinks with a refined taste. Developing technology and recipes over time, the brand was chosen as the official manufacturer of coffee drinks for the royal court. Then the company was bought by the Belgian coffee manufacturer Rombouts, which marked the beginning of the intensive development of the enterprise.

Today, Malongo, together with the Belgian monopolist, are a competing enterprise, producing tons of ground coffee every day. The company specializes in three types: for brewing in a Turk, for a French press and a coffee machine. The main focus of the brand is the supply of large blends to restaurants, hotels and caffeine chains. However, the company does not forget about connoisseurs and produces small batches of small-packed varieties with a unique design (pods).

Advantages

1. global recognition;
2. packaging in pods;
3. unique royal recipe.

Flaws

1. not detected.

Caracolillo

Rating: 4.8

The geographical location of the brand is Cuba. One of the reasons why our experts included the company in the rating of the best ground coffee is the unique beans used for its preparation, which are shaped like seashells and have the appropriate name - caracoliyo. This answers the question regarding the brand name. Caracolillo coffee is scarce as the beans are grown in the mountainous Sierra del Rosario region and are only harvested once a year! The second unique feature is the preparation technology, which adds 100% Arabica to a rare variety of beans, thereby creating a unique soft and absorbing taste with a chocolate aftertaste.

Packaging is carried out in packaging of two weight categories: 230 grams and 1 kilogram. The container used is different in that it is not a tight vacuum, but rather looks soft, but retains its taste and aromatic properties for a long time due to the special manufacturing technology.

Advantages

1. acceptable price-quality ratio;
2. chocolate aftertaste;
3. unique type of grains used;
4. long lasting aroma.

Flaws

1. inaccessibility.

Julius Meinl

Rating: 4.7

Our experts could not help but include a tea and coffee brand from the regions of Austria in the rating. It can also be called Viennese coffee. Julius Meinl blends use both Arabica and Robusta to make ground coffee. The combination of bean varieties during the production of coffee powder produces a special type of drink, which gives rise to a unique aroma. The company has been operating on the world market for more than a hundred years and produces a large number of types of ground coffee.

A special feature is the subtle approach to the degree of roasting. For connoisseurs of delicate taste, a light degree (light) is used, which does not dry out the grains. And those who prefer a tart taste are invited to try dark roasting, which results in a rich and bright taste. Compact vacuum packaging helps preserve the aromatic properties of the product for a long time and transfer it to the consumer even after hundreds of days. The advantage of the brand is that it has its own tableware for festive or ordinary coffee ceremonies.

Advantages

1. light and dark roast;
2. a high-level combination of robusta and arabica;
3. durable and convenient packaging;
4. optimal selection of prices for the consumer.

Flaws

1. There is no container in the form of cans, it can only be purchased separately.

Diemme

Rating: 4.6

The brand belongs by its geographical location to the regions of Italy. Diemme is an elite and premium ground blend that is used to prepare coffee drinks in high-end retail chains due to the high price when purchasing goods. However, the indicated price is justified and Diemme deserves to take a place in the ranking of the best coffee brands.

To make ground coffee, beans collected from leading plantations in Central and South America and some African countries are used. The unique taste combines a unique bitterness and a long aftertaste, as well as pleasant fruity and floral notes. The brand gained recognition due to its unique grinding, which makes it possible to achieve the ideal consistency of the resulting powder.

Advantages

1. refined and unique taste;
2. Arabica beans supplied from various countries;
3. long aftertaste;
4. presence of fruity and floral flavors.

Flaws

1. disproportionately high price category.

Manuel

Rating: 4.5

The brand geographically belongs to the regions of Italy. Manuel uses proven and high-quality Arabica beans in its production, which in the right ratio allows you to create a wide range of different coffee blends. At the end, the consumer is given a different choice of product, indicating the conditions and specifics of use. Like the competitors discussed earlier, in its production the brand uses grains supplied from various regions of Central and South America, as well as some areas of Africa.

The advantage of the company is the targeted division of powders obtained from recycled raw materials into home and professional ones. When preparing coffee drinks yourself in a Turkish coffee pot, the ideal option for you is homemade powder, which will reveal a subtle aroma when interacting with fire. If you are using a product for a coffee machine, you need to pay attention to professional powders, which are produced by the Manuel brand using a technology different from home technology. The company is characterized by a pleasant fruity taste, which is transmitted when the drink is properly prepared.

Advantages

1. different degrees of roasting and grinding;
2. Arabica beans supplied from various countries;
3. choice of fruit flavor;
4. optimal packaging.

Flaws

1. high price category.

Which coffee to choose

When choosing coffee products, it is extremely important to consider how the drink will be brewed. Only taking this criterion into account will you be able to make a successful purchase.

For coffee machine

Choosing coffee for a coffee shop or brewing in a coffee machine at home is not difficult. If the unit is equipped with a coffee grinder, preference is given to whole beans. In this case, you should take into account the degree of roasting. The longer the beans are subjected to heat treatment, the stronger the drink based on them will be.

If the coffee machine does not have a bean grinding function, the choice is made with natural coffee powder.

Typically an espresso blend is used. Thanks to its use, it is possible to obtain a drink that is as similar as possible to the one served in Italian cafes.

For Turks

When brewing grains in a cezve, it is better to choose grains that are literally crushed into powder. Thanks to this, you will be able to get a rich, aromatic drink. It is also possible to purchase a grain version. True, achieving such a fine degree of grinding at home is problematic.

What is the best coffee in the world?

It is simply impossible to name the best coffee in the world. Everyone's taste preferences are different. Therefore, it will not be possible to choose one single correct option. Nevertheless, the following varieties deserve attention:

• Santos;
• Bourbon;
• Bahia;
• Typica;
• Maragogyp;
• Elephant Beans;
• Costa Rica.

Among the unusual species, it is worth noting Kopi Luwak. To obtain the finished product, coffee fruits are fed to musang animals. They pass through the gastrointestinal tract of animals and are eliminated naturally. After this, the resulting grains are washed and dried.

Considering the specifics of the variety’s production, not everyone will say that this is the most delicious coffee. Although gourmets claim that the drink turns out to be delicate, multifaceted and refined.

The best brands of coffee capsules

Coffee capsules are a modern and rapidly developing industry. The coffee concentrate is packaged in aluminum polymer blocks, which are opened directly in a specialized capsule coffee machine. The preparation time for such a drink is no more than a minute, but it costs money to pay for the time, so this type of coffee is considered an expensive pleasure. Our experts have compiled a rating of the best representatives for capsule drink lovers.

Starbucks

Rating: 5.0

Everyone knows the legendary Starbucks. A self-respecting coffee connoisseur should appreciate the famous taste, which is why our experts included the brand in the ranking of the best coffee capsules. Despite the young age of the company, which has existed since 1971, the brand has gained popularity all over the world. Today, Starbucks unites 29 thousand retail outlets in 75 countries. American manufacturing has always chosen and continues to choose an effective and economical principle for business development. Even during the “third coffee wave,” Starbucks did not resort to improving the quality of beans, grinding and roasting, but focused on automation of production and was right.

The brand began producing capsule coffee immediately after the type was patented. Today the company has dozens of capsule variations: from espresso to coffee drinks with fruity-sweet flavors. The packaging features recognizable colors and specially designed logos. If you want to taste a variety of coffee drinks and be on trend while buying a legendary “Instagrammable” product, choose Starbucks.

Advantages

1. global recognition;
2. a huge “palette” of tastes;
3. speed and quality of preparation.

Flaws

1. high price category.

Nescafe

Rating: 4.9

Our experts have already noted Nescafe as a competing manufacturer and included in the ranking of the best instant coffee manufacturers, but the company was able to establish itself in the production of capsule products. Developing its production, Nescafe did not ignore the global trend and began to produce a variety of coffee capsules, which included standard espresso, Americano, Latte Macchiato, Grand Crema and other various caramel, chocolate flavors and fillings.

Among other things, the brand has created its own capsule coffee machine, which specializes in preparing such a drink and is a convenient and compact device in your kitchen. The price category is above average, despite the fact that instant coffee from Nescafe occupies a leading position in terms of cost and quality ratio.

Advantages

1. variety of tastes;
2. high level of product quality;
3. own line of coffee machines.

Flaws

1. high price category.

Tassimo

Rating: 4.8

The last place in the rating is Tassimo, which is amazing in the way it works. It is not a single coffee and coffee drinks company. Tassimo is a combined organization that includes capsules from various manufacturers: Jacobs, Carte Noire, Oreo and even cocoa from Milka.

Our experts have already given characteristics superior to the competitors under consideration, so we will evaluate the comprehensive work of Tassimo. Despite the slight variation in flavors, Tassimo has focused on classic espresso, cappuccino, and latte from various manufacturers. Whether this is a plus or a minus is up to you to decide. Another good thing is that you don’t need a coffee machine of a certain brand to make coffee from capsules. You can choose any model from the universal line. Note that the price category of the brand is superior compared to the competitors already discussed.

Advantages

1. a variety of drinks from a large number of brands;
2. there is no need to purchase a specific coffee machine;
3. The optimum ratio of price and quality.

Which coffee is better to drink?

Natural coffee is considered the best. When choosing coffee products, it is recommended to purchase this option. It is not only tastier than instant, but also healthier. The main thing is to observe moderation. Consume no more than three servings per day.

It is also worth considering the caffeine concentration. You should choose beans that are medium roasted. The drink based on them turns out to be relatively weak. In addition, the alkaloid content is affected by the duration of extraction. The less water comes into contact with coffee powder, the less natural stimulant will be in the finished drink.

Coffee lovers often find it difficult to choose coffee products. Its range is incredibly large. True, coping with this task is not as difficult as it initially seems. All you have to do is study the ratings of reputable brands and follow a number of recommendations.