Cafepod | Supercharger Espresso

Strength 12! Supercharger! Powerful coffee?

What do they say?

"We power our Supercharger Espresso with a full roast and dense Robusta beans, so you unleash the potential of your day"

The no-nonsense version, please?

There's no ambiguity with what Cafepod were aiming for here. This is their unhinged mate; the one you invite to parties only to see him do something daft, isn't it?

Well, kind of. The tasting notes on the box suggest "spiced and roasted chestnuts", but I don't get that at all. Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad coffee. Whether by design or not, Cafepod have created a pod that tastes a fair bit like many of the official Nespresso capsules I received with my machine. The initial flavour is strong and pleasing, but then - and I'm aware this is starting to sound pretentious - the middle taste and after taste just isn't there. There's a little bit of chocolatiness but otherwise very little.

Supercharged reading - drink this coffee to devour three NatGeo issues at a time

The closest I can compare it to is when I was a kid and always thought the head on a pint of Guinness would taste lovely and creamy, only for it to taste a little bitter and disappointing.

The packaging also tells us that this has been roasted until it is "dark and bold". If I read that, I want to taste that. This doesn't quite live up to its own hype in that regard. With a bit of sugar added, such coffees should be almost syrupy. Again, I was let down. Dare I say it, this supercharged espresso was a little watery.

Should I buy it?

• Absolutely!

• Yeah, why not?

• Worth a punt, but don't put yourself out.

• Only if the alternative is dishwater. In fact, try the dishwater first, anyway.

What did Bruno McSwan-Neck, Editor-at-Large of The Coffee Courier say about it?

Firstly, I'd like to congratulate the reviewer above for starting to take this seriously. Now, getting back to this so-called Supercharger Espresso, I can only express my gratitude for the fact that, somewhere out there, there is a finite amount of this coffee available. The blend was clearly performed by some kind of work-experience lad or lass on a Friday afternoon, lacking both supervision and even the most rudimentary of blending nous.

What has occurred as a result is a coffee that is as ghastly to drink as it is to countenance requesting at one's local provisioner. I mean, Supercharger Espresso? Really? As a regular cyclist and keen perambulator I'm obviously neither American nor fond of that country's penchant for noisy, inefficient automobiles, thank you very much. Naming a coffee after what sounds like Dodge or Chevrolet's latest offering is an unpardonably crass offence, and ought to be punishable by a trip to Orlando or some other saccharine hellhole. Pass the sherry, please.