Beanies Coffee

As you’ll probably remember from my June Lust List, I decided that it was about time that I treated myself to another purchase from Beanies Coffee - and got myself a jar of their latest flavour – Cookie Dough. 

I was getting super excited when Beanies started to create a buzz about their new flavour, as I always do.  However I got a little too bit excited when I thought that it was going to be a Cherry Bakewell flavour, alas it wasn’t meant to be this time.  But if you’re reading this Head Bean – I would LOVE Cherry Bakewell for your next flavour! *wink wink* *nudge nudge*  I have to say though, when I spied that Cookie Dough was the new flavour, the excitement arose inside me once again - and without disappointment too!
Beanies always feel generous over the bank holiday weekends and usually have a competition on or even better, a great deal.  Last week was no exception, when they were offering three jars of coffee of your choosing and either a travel mug or an actual mug for just £10 including delivery!  
£10 INCLUDING DELIVERY!  
Even better yet, they promised to include an extra wee gift in with your parcel, which really sold it to me.  Purchased on Friday the 27^th and delivered by Thursday the 2^nd – I have been enjoying all three of the lovely flavours that Head Bean has been creating with his minions over the years - and my super cute tea towel!

Wow – like holy mother of wow!  The second you open up your jar of Cookie Dough, you are met with the most delicious scent of creamy goodness.  I know I say this about all of the Beanies coffees, but I really just can’t help it.  They know how to make a fantastic smelling and tasty brew!  Although it doesn’t smell the same as a freshly baked batch of cookies – it really does give you the urge to fetch a cookie from the cupboard!  Since I’m currently still ditching the dairy, I’ve been making my coffees with almond and coconut milk, which you might think may take the cookie dough taste away – but I think it actually enhances it, as these milks are not particularly strong in taste!  To be enjoyed in the morning, afternoon or evening – Cookie Dough is perfect for giving me that instant caffeine hit, whilst subtly soothing my need for a sugar hit too!  Like nearly every single time Beanies realease a new flavour, I think it’s safe to say that this is one that will become a staple in my Beanies orders – I’ve raved about it so much that both my mum and dad have tried and fallen in love with it too, which is great for Beanies but sad for me as my stash is now becoming low again!  You know what they say though – sharing is caring!  I also picked out another two of my personal favourites; Chocolate Orange and Coconut Delight!  

Beanies flavoured coffees contain less than 2 calories per cup, they’re sugar free and each flavour tastes absolutely delicious.  For people who are trying to be good and avoiding sugary snacks, I find that these coffees give just enough flavour to try and control my constant sweet tooth.  Although I will be honest, there is nothing than I enjoy more than a choccy biccy with my cuppa coffee some days!  Every single flavour is also suitable for both vegetarians and vegans – which is amazing because you’d be surprised by what kind of random animal products manufactures throw into their products these days.  What I love the most about Beanies is that they are not even unreasonably priced.  Each jar costs just £2.50, and they recommend that you only need 1 teaspoon worth of coffee per brew, meaning that each jar will last you a decent length of time!  Beanies online almost always have some sort or promotion on be it free delivery or a free mug when you purchase 6 jars – making it even better value for money.  However if you’re desperate to try out these amazing coffees sooner rather than later, some Sainsburys stock Chocolate Orange, Irish Cream, Cinder Toffee and Almond Amaretto – so you’ve plenty to choose from if you really cannot wait.

So thank you Beanies, you’ve blown me away with another fantastic flavour and convinced me once again that I'm going to have to make another purchase again sooner rather than later.  Happy Lauren, not so happy bank balance.

Have you tried out any of the Beanies range yet?   What’s your favourite?

Until the next one,

Littles Flavored Coffee

We all know that I’m mad about coffee.  It’s my fuel – I need it.  So when it was brought to my attention that Holland and Barret were going to be stocking Littles coffee, I was over the moon!  My parents treated me to a lovely selection of their coffees over Christmas and they were absolutely delightful.  As there is not a Waitross in Aberdeen, I’ve had no way of picking up any new flavours to try out, other than ordering online.  Nobody likes to wait for things to come in the post, so being able to restock every time I’m in town is something to smile about.

I’ve always been a lover of flavoured coffees – Beanies having always been my favourite.  However I’m very pleased to report that Littles are a very strong contender for first place now.

My trip to Holland and Barrett consisted of a jar of the Swiss French Vanilla Infused Coffee – which is absolutely delicious.  When you open the jar you get a very strong scent of vanilla – but what I really like is that you can still smell the coffee too.  Sometimes vanilla can over power the scent of everything – but this is not the case here.  Littles – you got it perfect!  Another thing that really pleases me was that you’re not left with a bitter or over powering taste at the bottom of your mug – which again can happen with some flavoured coffees.  Littles Swiss Vanilla provides you with a lovely mug of fuel, with an amazing aroma and smooth tasting coffee from start to finish! 

Holland and Barrett currently have them priced at just £2.99 a jar – which is a really great price for such a high quality product and a decent quantity too.  You can also pick up the Swiss Chocolate Infused coffee from H&B too – which I would also highly recommend.

My favourites so far have been the Vanilla, Chocolate Orange and Café Amaretto – however I have also had the pleasure of enjoying the Chocolate Caramel and Irish Cream too.  I currently have a jar of the Havana Rum flavour – which I am currently trying to decide if I love it… or if it is just a little bit too outside of my coffee comfort zone.  Give me another mug or two to decide, I’ll let you know later my verdict!
And if you're not yet convinced by these gems, Littles use natural flavours to create their beautiful coffees - making them perfect for those of us who are trying to watch what we are putting into our bodies.  These are great for sorting out a sweet tooth too, if you're trying to be good! 

I’m really looking forward to treating myself to their Island Coconut, Maple Walnut and Spicy Cardamom flavours soon – they are a top priority on my must buy list for next month!  Who knows, I’ll maybe even treat myself to a mix and match box too!
If you fancy trying out any of the Littles range, you can find them here at: https://www.wearelittles.com/product-category/infused-instant-coffees/
With such a wide variety of flavours to choose from - I'm sure that there will be one for everyone!

Have you tried out any of the Littles range?  Let me know what your favourite is below!

Until the next one,

Dolce Gusto Coffee Machine

This Christmas past, I was very undecided as to what I wanted from my parents – and so I asked them to surprise me!  Needless to say, I was absolutely delighted when I opened up my Dolce Gusto Coffee Machine on Christmas morning. 

The machine itself is perfect in size, it’s slightly larger than a kettle, yet small enough that you can leave it sitting on the counter all of the time.  It’s really simple and totally safe – which makes me happy as I can be very clumsy sometimes.  With this machine, I’m not at all worried about scolding myself… which is always a bonus!

To use, you fill up the water tank on the back of the machine to the maximum point – which I have found gives me a decent sized drink with every make.  Next, you press the on button on the side and wait for it to turn green, which only takes about 15 seconds to do so.  Finally, you pick your pods – one drink normally takes two pods (one for the coffee/tea and one for the milk) depending on what it is that you are making.  Pop in your pod, wait for the cup to fill up about half way, swap it over for the milk pod and hey presto - you did it!  You really couldn’t get a simpler coffee machine if you tried.

Mocha anyone?

My parents spoilt me this year with a variety of different coffee pods to try out straight away, which consisted of caramel mocha, regular mocha and vanilla macchiato.  However when I went to register my machine to activate the guarantee, this qualified me for an extra £10 credit to my account.  With the free credit burning a hole in my pocket and an extra £10 cash to spare, I went ahead and ordered a variety of drinks including: 1 x caramel macchiato, 1 x mocha, 1 x vanilla macchiato, 1 x caramel mocha and 1 x chai tea latte.  Each and every single one of these drinks have been absolutely delicious. I love how professional each drink looks and tastes – even watching it brewing from the two pods is mesmerizing. 

Each box contains 8 drinks, which is pretty good value at £4 when you take into consideration the amount that you can spend on just one drink at Starbucks and Costa (… I’m still guilty of this though!)  You can pick up the pods at most major supermarkets at the moment, however if you’re looking for a large selection to choose from – I recommend ordering direct from the Dolce Gusto website, as they have all their drinks listed and delivery is free!

I’m really looking forward to trying out the other varieties of drinks available for my Dolce Gusto machine, especially the cold brewed ones, as I am yet to experiment with these.

Have you tried any of the Dolce Gusto range?

Until the next one,

Lauren x