Aldi's K-Cup - Fair Trade Colombian Blend Review

Well, I was a little harsh on one of Aldi's coffees.  If you think saying it was better to cut off your tongue with rusty scissors rather than drinking it was harsh.

Let it not be said that I am not a glutton for punishment - here is yet another review - this time of one of their K-Cup coffees - coffee made to use in your Keurig brewer.

I love my Keurig - it lets me have a decent cup of coffee at work, so I don't drink the office swill.  And since the office coffee is free (and I am cheap), you really should believe me that it is swill.

My usual blend is Newman's Special Blend, which is an "extra bold" roast, and I usually put three of my land o' lakes half and half's into it.  But at $5.99 for 12 K cups, the Aldi's blend met my criteria for K-cups - I want to pay less than 50 cents per cup.  So, what the heck.

First off, it is a "blend", so I don't know exactly how much "columbian" coffee is in it - all, or just a whisper.   However, I don't care that much - it is all about the taste.

Second, for those that care, it is fair trade certified.  Nice, but if it tastes like crap, really, who cares?

So - what do you get?

Labeled a "medium" roast, I would almost agree.  Seemed to be a light to medium roast.  The taste is good, not harsh, but definitely not too strong.  Good if you drink it black.  I did not have cream, but I am not sure if I would use it - seems like it is not strong enough to hold up to it.  But as black coffee - good.

Moderate scent - doesn't knock you over or impress that much

Seems a little thin in color.

Overall - I will buy it again at sub $6 a box of 12.  Decent coffee.  Good price.  If you like a light to medium roast black cup of coffee, I think this will pass your test.

If you want a lot of K-cup reviews, try here - this guys has to much money on his hands, but hey, good for us.

Aldi's Coffee Review Part Deux - Donut Store Blend

After the last fiasco with Aldi's Coffee, where I threw out the cat poop after one cup, I tried a different blend  - Aldi's Donut Store Blend, Whole Bean.  It's a good thing I bought them at the same time, because the first try was so awful.

So - Donut Store Blend.  A pale to medium roast - quite variable between beans.  I ground in our burr grinder fairly fine, then brewed in our drip brewer.  While it is a blonde roast, if  you use enough, it still brews strong.  Daughter #3 liked it well enough black, but it had enough body to taste decent with cream.  Daughter #1's response was a shrug - eh, ok.

So - overall, a decent brew for the cost ($4.99 for 12 oz whole beans).  Not my favorite, but drinkable.

Worst Coffee Ever

So bad it makes Folgers seem like fresh roasted Sidamo

So bad you would rather drink tea

So bad you would just as soon cut your tongue out with rusty scissors

I love Aldi's.  Cheap.  Good food (for the most part).  So shoot me, I tried one of their coffees.

So I went for the ground, Specially Selected Dark Roasted Ground Espresso

So incredibly awful.

So if you are thinking about buying some of this, remember the immortal words of Nancy Reagan

Aldi Wine Review - 2008 Vina Decana Tempranillo

Vina Decana Tempranillo - a $4.99 wine from Aldi's

Made in Spain, there are a ton of online reviews of this wine.  Cheap Wine Finder sings it's praises, as do other.

Dry wine.  Some tannins, limited oak.  Some fruit, but not a lot

Plum, blueberry color - dark.  Not real fruity on the nose.  Fair bit of tannins

Gets better with a little air in it.  Fair to decent wine, at the price.  Better with food.  Better the second day

Aldi's Grate Red 2011 - get it, Grate...

Photo stolen from Cheap Wine Finder 

I like Aldi's.  Low prices, generally good food products.  Never really tried their wine, as much of their stuff (Winking Owl) gets a really bad rap.

However, they have been adding more wine's, and those wines have been getting decent reviews.  So, I decided to go for it - Aldi's Grate Red, Vintage 2011.  Part of the gimmick is that it is advertised as "An Italian wine perfect for anything grilled".  A Toscana Rosso (that's red wine from the Tuscany Region for you heathens) has no listed grapes on it - it is surely a blend, likely with  Sangiovese  grapes as the primary.  Aldi claims it to be a medium dry, full bodied red wine.  With that....

Grate Red is a cheap ($4.99) bottle of red wine that is light in color (think Pinot, kind of like cherry juice), dry, with soft fruit, decent body (not thin) and not much tannins.  Not much nose, very slight alcohol  but none really on the tongue.  It does go great with steak (which is what I had it with), and I think it would be great with burgers or grilled chicken.

If your looking for a bottle of red wine for grilled foods, this is a winner at $4.99.  If your having a lot of friends over and would rather spend more on the steak than the wine, I would definitely go for it. It won't impress anyone as a great wine, but it might impress those who appreciate a good wine that is inexpensive.  Pretty much as advertised - you will not be disappointed in spending $5 on this wine.

Aldi's Greek Yogurt - the Review

Yogurt companies decided the next big battle ground is Greek Yogurt.  Basically thickened (by draining) yogurt, good greek yogurt is thicker, creamier and more healthy for you - basically twice the protein and half the carbs.

So everyone is getting into the the game - Yoplait, Dannon as well as of course all the others.  So I was interested to see when Aldi's came out with their own greek yogurt.  Since the retail price (at .89 cents) is far cheaper than the non sale price of all other Greek Yogurts, I had to try it.  It is even cheaper than most on sale greek yogurts.

The deal with Aldi's is that some of the products they label are better than others, some the equal, and some, not so good.  So, which is the Greek Yogurt?

Better than others.  I have tried both of the above (Pineapple and Peach) and they were the equal of others, better than some.  Smooth textured, thick and not too sweet.  Some brands (yes Yoplait, I am talking about you) just make their yogurts kid sweet.  Blech.  Others, not sweet enough.  I think Aldi's gets it just right.  The yogurt tastes like yogurt and the fruit mixture on the bottom is just enough - enough fruit and enough sweet.  Plus, being nonfat, it is just plain good eats.

Links to other reviews include Aldi Mom and My Word.  They both share my opinion.