WillowBrew Coffee Merchants

What do you do if you move to another country and battle to find a comparable coffee to the coffee that you are used to drinking daily? Well if you are Santo and Silvana Mengoli you join forces with the entrepreneurial Dewkaran family and import genuine Italian coffee.

Newly launched in December 2018, WillowBrew Coffee Merchants imports Coffè Mokarabia (established 1951 in Milan) capsules, beans and ground coffee.

WillowBrew Coffee Merchants sent me the following coffee to try : 100g sample coffee bean packs of Moka, Extra Bar and President, 250g packs of ground coffee in Aroma Classico and Selezione Oro and a few samples sachets of Espresso.

We do not own a fancy coffee machine and do all our coffee brewing using the French Press, AeroPress or Moka Pot. Actually the Moka Pot is a very new addition to our coffee brewing and we were very pleasantly surprised at how good coffee tastes when made in the Moka Pot.

The first coffee tested was the Espresso and after trying it with all 3 brewing methods I found that the best flavour and intensity was produced when made in the Moka Pot. I did have to make it more than once as on the first attempt I discovered that I had not used enough of the Espresso and the coffee was rather bland. This was my first time in trying out Espresso at home as we use a more course grind of coffee for regular coffee making.

I coarsely ground up the Moka, Extra Bar and President coffee beans for testing. The Moka is an easy drinking coffee that can be enjoyed throughout the day. The best brewing method was the Moka Pot although the AeroPress came a close 2^nd. I actually enjoyed drinking this coffee black which surprised me as I am not a fan of black coffee.

Extra Bar is also an easy drinking coffee suitable to be enjoyed throughout the day, except that it has a lot more complex flavours. I tested it black and with a little bit of milk added. The best brewing method was the French Press followed by the AeroPress. I enjoyed the coffee more with the milk added.

President is 100% Arabica coffee from Central and South America and is WillowBrew’s premium brand; it was my favourite of all the coffees tested. I tried it black and with some milk added and the brewing method that brought the best out of the coffee was the Moka Pot, followed closely by the AeroPress. This coffee can be enjoyed either black or with some milk added.

I haven’t had a pre-ground coffee in ages so I was very interested to try the Selezione Oro and the Aroma Classico. Both coffees are vacuum packed and I find it fascinating how they go from a hard as brick state to soft and pliable just by making a small cut. The coffees are a much finer grind than we use but they are not as finely ground as the Espresso.

The Selezione Oro is a blended selection of a high percentage of Arabica coffee and the AeroPress brewing method brought out the best in the coffee. Surprisingly the French Press made a stronger coffee. I tasted the coffee black and with some milk and I prefer it with the milk added.

Aroma Classico is made from a selection of the best origins of Arabica and Robusta coffee. All 3 brewing methods were much the same but the Moka Pot made the coffee “smoother”. I preferred the coffee with milk added.