Congratulations Jody and Jazzy K!
This is a sponsored post for Woolworths
Coffee lovers usually fall somewhere on the spectrum of coffee types – from a steaming mug of instant, to a top-of-the shelf cat-poo $15-dollars-a-cup brew. Me? Well I’m nowhere near the top of the chain, but I do appreciate a good, strong, full-flavoured cup of joe from time to time (while also hanging out with the instant drinkers. I’m sorry! It’s a nostalgia thing).
I remember a friend’s parents spent a small fortune one year to buy themselves an espresso machine for their home. I marvelled at its shiny prettiness, before thinking it was never going to be something I could afford for myself. I did buy my caffeine-craving husband an espresso machine for his birthday several years ago, and that poor thing has been hammered daily (often several times a day) until it now groans in protest when we so much as even look at it sideways.
Everywhere I look, people have moved into the future with the pod-type coffee machines – no mess, perfect portions every time, freshness sealed right in those little capsules, etc. I wasn’t really into them – too much packaging, and the pods were only available online. That’s hardly convenient. What if you’re in a severe coffee emergency? You couldn’t just run to the shop and grab a bag.
Well, times have changed. The coffee machines of the future are here, and they want to be in your kitchen. Pods are here and they’re in you’re supermarket. Woolworths have stepped into the coffee game with the Caffitaly Coffee System and a range of coffee capsules to go with it. They have everything from decaf to Colombian Espresso, and there are also Lavazza and Gloria Jeans brand capsules available. I still think there’ s too much packaging for the individual pods though, and I look forward to there being a recycling program similar to other brands of coffee capsules.
If you’re into making cafe-quality coffee at home without the hassle and the high cost, well you’ve come to the right place. I like to make a coffee in a reusable cup before I head out, and the times I do buy a coffee out and about, I’ve been known to wince at the price! You might want to buy a Caffitaly to make your own coffee in your own home, or pop it in a Christmas stocking for a coffee-loving loved one (they are currently half-price at $49 – bargain). You might also want to enter our competition to win one of two machines for yourself!
I found the machine super-simple to use, and that there were a variety of coffee strengths and flavours available at Woolies. I was of course skeptical of the Woolworths-brand coffee, but it held its own. Nice and strong with a good flavour.
I also saw that Twinings had tea pods for the machine, and you’d better believe I tested that with my stringent tea tests. If you’re meant to brew tea for three minutes, how does it compare coming through a 30-second coffee pod machine?
Not bad, actually. Not as hot as I’d like, but the flavour was certainly strong enough. Not bad at all.
Now to the fun part for you guys: two winners will each receive a Caffitaly Coffee System worth $99.
For entry, you must leave a comment telling me your earliest coffee memory. I remember at seven years old when my nana was making me a cup of tea, I asked for a coffee (I wanted to be like my mum). My nana very cheekily told me that coffee kills little kids and I could only have tea. I’m not sure when I was brave enough to put her theory to the test, but I was an established coffee drinker by the time my little brother was born when I was 10. Sure it had about 25 teaspoons of sugar in it, but it was delicious nonetheless!
Two winners will be chosen on Saturday, December 28 at noon, on the basis of their comment. They will be notified by email and named on this post. Australian residents only, please.
Good luck! May the coffee be with you.
Robyn (@slightly_deep) says
My earliest coffee memory, is probably making coffe cake with my mum. I remember I was about 5 or so? And we were mixing good old school instant-coffee flavoured cake. Mum had just dissolved the coffee into some hot water to add to the batter, when she turned her back and I took a big swig of it, then promptly spat it back out. I remember being stunned that grown-ups drank such foul stuff! It took me a long time to want to try coffee again 🙂
Jazzy K says
eeek I remember my first taste of coffee .- can’t believe I ever tasted it again really. See my dad used to take a thermos of sweet black tea to work every day – and my treat was to drink the luke warm left overs … so I thought all thermos held tea … tried a cup out of the next door neighbours thermo pot one day – you know those ones we all used to get out for parties … well the neighbours were Italian … and what came out was not tea but strong black espresso coffee – no sugar, no milk – it was yuk!!!
well I must say my tastes and love of coffee have changed since then … currently my daily coffee regime is a Vietnamese iced coffee … and when I go out a short black with a touch of pouring cream is a fav … so VeggieMama I would love to win one of these amazing pod machines!!! 🙂 ps Happy Christmas 🙂
Kelly Demicoli says
The first coffee I drank I would have been 15. I was on school camp and some of our friends went missing while orienteering. I drank the coffee (it was bloody awful, lol) with 4 sugars to keep awake. Luckily our friends were rescued by helicopter. These days I only drink high quality coffee with way less sugar.
Karina Wong says
I hated coffee – to me, it tasted like bitter dirt water. Then I discovered mocha, and slowly weaned myself off the chocolate powder when I started craving more of a coffee taste and now I can’t get enough of the strong brown stuff!
Amanda says
My earliest coffee memory was heading to our local cafe and eating all the cappuccino foam off the top of Mum’s coffee- yum!
Anita says
My earliest memory of coffe is about 5 years old, waking up in the mornings to the smell of coffee and the sound of my Daddy sipping his mug of coffee before work…. I still LOVE that smell 🙂
Diana O says
Running through the hallway at Nan’s house & crashing into my Grandpa, making him spill his hot coffee all over me. It was hot, and it hurt, but the smell was delightful, a mixture of coffee and cinnamon how he loved drinking it.
Di says
As a child, desperately wanting to taste Dad’s short black. Him insisting I wouldn’t like it, and me adamant that I would. And he was right, it was strong, sour and disgusting to little me! Let’s just say things have changed a lot since then!
Joan Seed says
Having my first coffee at 13 with my big sister, felt so grown up. I later moved here and havent seen my sister since, but recently, thanks to Skype, we had our first cup of coffee together in 30 years – cheers!!
Ariel Rich says
I remember Mum drinking coffee with friends when I was very small. It has forever connected the smell of coffee beans with good company, friendship and laughter.
Elly Sutherland says
O.K. Technically this doesn’t qualify as *my* earliest coffee memory- I used to hate the stuff with a passion until my daughter took a barrista’s course and fed me numerous cups in the quest to make the perfect cup. It is, However, the earliest memory for every other person in my house (4 children; ranging from 21 down to 14) and the running coffee story that will forever be told regularly at family functions.
When my now 17 yo son was a rather precocious 4 year old, the family took a holiday to Ballarat. We’d just crossed the border into Victoria, and stopped at the Driver Reviver station for a break. The van had run out of tea, so I sat down to swallow a cup of coffee; at that stage, an extremely rare occurrence.
Eventually we packed up the car and headed on our merry way, only to glance in the rear vision mirror to see the much loved red and blue lights flashing behind me. I pulled over, got out the car to speak with the nice man in the uniform, got back in the car and discovered my eldest 2 children in helpless fits of laughter.
Apparently, as I exited the car Master 4 clapped his hand across his forehead and exclaimed in a pained voice “Oh No!!!! Mum’s been drinking COFFEEEEEE! We’re all going to jaill!!” He had combined his limited knowledge of drugs, the “Don’t drink and drive” adds and his morbid fear of policemen and assumed that I was to be arrested for sure.
DanniiBeauty says
My earliest coffee memory was when I was about 10years old and one afternoon my mum made herself a coffee and then went out to hang up some clothes on the clothesline. As it was cooling down on the kitchen bench, I sneakily went to take a sip and taste coffee for the first time. I did not like it at all. I drank two glasses of water after that just to get the taste out of my mouth. And luckily I wasn’t caught out.
LadyTiffany OfGlencoe says
I was about 3 and mum put her cup of coffee down to answer the phone…I drank over half a mug and boy was I active for the rest of the day…remember it tasting so sweet and milky too…
Helga Grenkowitz says
In my younger years I did not like the taste of coffee at all. I was already in my twenties when I started drinking coffee; first to join my boyfriend and then suddenly I started liking the taste. And now I would really miss it if I would not have my daily coffee break. I like my coffee creamy with lots of milk and also a little bit sugar to take away the bitterness.
Jutty Gingell says
My earliest memory of coffee is permanently burnt into my brain. I must have been 6 or 7 years old, and like all children of that age, completely obsessed with ice cream. I could devour any flavour at any time, day or night. Or so I thought. My parents must have had some sort of dinner party on that evening, because there was a new type of tub in the freezer – one we hadn’t bought before. ‘Coffee flavoured’ it whispered to me, in its soft, siren call. I recall taking a huge spoonful and putting it straight in my mouth. I also recall spitting it straight back out when instead of the sweet chocolate, strawberry or vanilla flavours I was used to, I suffered the bitterness of coffee ice cream. I’m pretty sure it has scarred me to this day – I love coffee, can’t do coffee ice cream.
Michele @ The Hills are Alive says
Oh I LOVE LOVE LOVE coffee icecream. I even sprinkle instant coffee on my icecream for a hit.
Jutty Gingell says
I’ve added Milo to chocolate ice cream, so who am I to judge?
Michele @ The Hills are Alive says
My lovely Great-Gran always (always) had percolated coffee on the stovetop you know the glass thingamajig where it bubbles and spits spurts it way out as it heats up and the smell just hits you when you walk in the door. And her coffee was always mixed in with condensed milk, never milk and sugar. So now the smell of perc coffee, a tin of condensed milk, or seeing the glass percolators or those funny orange 70s coffee mugs in op shops makes me think of her and miss her immensely even though its been over 30 years since she died. I would have been around 10 also when my coffee (and condensed milk) habit started. Have given up on the condensed milk now but cant go a day without my coffee hit.
Kasey Evans says
My earliest would have been when I was in playgroup & my mother would chat with the other parents whilst having a cup of coffee. I decided to take a sip to see what it was like, it was awful as she has it with no sugar & just a dash of milk. From then on I was always a tea drinker until I was 19 & moved in with my boyfriend. He was a coffee drinker so I was hooked when I discovered how nice it tasted with the right amount of milk & sugar added.
Margie says
Charles and Lady Di!! Love the mug. After my grandma died I inherited a Charles and Di plate, I only eat cake off it..
My earliest memory of coffee is my parents sharing plunger coffee over breakfast, I loved pushing the plunger down. They also shared it after dinner. If I was to have coffee after dinner I would be awake ALL night. I have a no coffee after midday rule. But oh how I love it.
Jody Taylor says
My nan use to let me drink the coffee bottom ( that’s what we called it) the last little bit in her cup , she told me it would put hair on my chest, it sounded so exciting then even though I am a female. I am 42 now and I never ever drink the bottom of my coffee just in case
marypreston says
My earliest coffee drinking memory was actually as a grown up. (I grew up in a tea drinking household.) I went out shopping with friends, and as you do, we stopped for a coffee in a coffee house. I had a frothy, smooth cappuccino. I was hooked. Good coffee and company will do that to you.
CathF says
My earliest coffee memory is making my mum a cup of coffee for breakfast on mothers day. I was young about 6/7 and was directed by my brother who told me to put 5 teaspoons of coffee and 5 teaspoons of sugar in the cup. I still remember my mums face when she had a sip. Needless to say my coffee making has improved
Rebekah Ballingall says
Until I Met my Husband I had never had a TRUE coffee, he made me a coffee that woke me up and make me smile, making my day and world better
Maria Pennisi says
I’m Italian and for breakfast when I was a child, mum would serve me a bowl of warm milk mixed with a little espresso coffee in which I would dip slices of toast. Delicious.
Carla Da Costa says
My earliest memory of coffee, is my Father’s coffee breath in the morning, kissing us goodbye to school. Sounds awful, but it brings back fond memories!
April P says
At 17, l started working in a restaurant, they had a cappuccino machine and l was always offered one, they made very good coffee, l was hooked.
Lauren Anastasiou says
I grew up in a tea-drinking household, and didn’t actually try coffee until my first trip overseas at the age of 23. It was a drizzly cold day in Paris, and my friend and I took refuge in a little patisserie that sold coffee. Several pastries and coffees later, I was a confirmed coffeeholic. I will always associate coffee with Paris, and just the aroma of freshly brewed coffee now can transport me back to that cosy little shop. Nowadays, a lovely cuppa is the closest I’ll ever get to being there though.
Lisa Mckenzie says
I have always been a coffee drinker ,and a herbal tea kinda chick ,it hurts my brain to remember my first coffee memory xx
Jacky Burkett says
Coffee just did not feature in my parent’s house so my first coffee experience was a school exchange trip to the USA, the coffee was so dark and bitter I could not believe people drank it willingly!
sapna says
There was a time when I used to bring my coffee plunger to every office I worked at. Now a days every office has a decent coffee machine and I use the glass as a pen holder on my desk at home, no plungers anymore.
Michelle Gray says
My first coffee moment was when I was about twenty, I went to my Aunties and she made me a coffee inside of a cup of tea, to be polite I drank it and to my surprise loved it, that was the start of a very good partnership!!
jowill says
My parents had some Italian friends, and at about age 14 I was offered a coffee at their home. I thought I would be gracious and accept, but could only manage a few sips of what seemed like dark bitter syrup. Boy, haven’t things changed……
JBMarigold says
I was about seven.
My mum urged me to try the rich smelling brew. It was DISGUSTING.
My, my… How things have changed!
Wayne Dunning says
I was 11 and my parents let me have one about 4pm on a Sunday, i stayed up until midnight playing Sega Genesis with my dad! Love at first sip.
Crystal Adams says
When I was five I used to walk the two doors up to my grandnannies place every Tuesday. We would sit down to a tea party with the special china. Grandnan would have a coffee and I would have juice in my own little cup and saucer. She would always make the most delicious cookies and cakes. I would then toddle the two doors down back home again. It was the highlight of my week.
Dianne Inwood says
I was about 8 and we we were camping. I remember it being freezing cold and we we were all sitting around the camp fire. My uncle decided to put on a pot of coffee in one of those old fashioned aluminium percolators. The coffee was fantastic and warming.
Alisia Cameron says
My earliest coffee memory is being a whipersnapper, probably 7 or 8, with my mum and grandfather at Donut King. Yes, Donut King, how fancy! 😉
My mum argued with my grandfather about stirring the froth on his cappuccino. My grandfather was an avid froth stirrer, and would even stir your cappuccino if you weren’t watching! My mum is anti-froth-stirring, and will comment if you so much as take a spoon near your cup! I can’t remember the exact conversation but it ended in a stalemate, my grandfather declaring that my mum could not comment on froth stirring habits because she didn’t take sugar in her coffee. So he bought me a cappuccino, despite my mums protest. He added sugar, left it unstirred, and asked me to taste both and give a verdict. I chose the stirred cappuccino. At 7 or 8, sugar was my friend, and unstirred – and thus, unsugared – coffee was most definitely NOT my friend. 20 years on, I still stir my froth, and make sure mum notices every time I do. It gives me a laugh, and I’m sure my grandfather has a little chuckle every time from wherever he is resting now.
alisia.e.cameron(at)gmail(dot)com
Rhonda Lockery says
I have to admit up until about 6 years ago I was a tea drinker then my sister moved to the Gold Coast and she is a huge coffee fan .I really couldn’t see what all the fuss was about with her going to Gloria Jeans daily until I went and the coffee was so good compared to the instant coffee I had occasionally she transformed the way I now enjoy my cuppa ,I got a big Coffee & nut hamper for christmas which has Gloria Jean pods
but I don’t have a coffee machine
Katrina Corbett says
That would be when I was pregnant with my first. I hated coffee but all I craved was coffee. I am now a coffee addict.