Caffè Camardo packetI guess I’m a neophile. Spotting a packet of Caffè Camardo “espresso crema” for the first time at one of my local emporia, I decided to give it a whirl.

Well, it’s deep brown, finely ground, vaccuum packed. Tick, tick, tick: basic criteria met. Beyond that, we’re into hand-waving territory.

Tasted pretty decent, I thought. Not an out-and-out ripoff.

What, you wanted the whole “shy but intriguing bouquet, teasing your correspondent’s generous proboscis with a frisson of blackberries and a sizzle of fresh ordure, building to a crescendo of wry perfection, resplendent in wafts of earthy delight, with a chorus of overripe cherry, young elephant and central Marrakesh” treatment?

Not the best espresso that’s passed my lips, but it’s a lot better than some of the would-be leading brands in the quality coffee market (though that’s not saying much).

They have a website, too. It’s also pretty decent, for a Flash-only (grumble) unsemantic (grumble) invalid (grumble) inaccessible (grumble) framed (grumble) piece of brochureware. Please ignore that bit if you have no idea what I’m talking about.

Beware the strange farting sounds in the navigation, and do catch the “When the phone rings in our repair department…” section – it’s quite amusing. Who can complain about a movie that ends with “WE ARE THE AVANT GARDE! OUR PRODUCTS AND OUR MACHINES ARE TECHNOLOGICALY ADVANCED!” (sic)?

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 (that’s for the coffee, not the website).

Coffee sampled in early May 2005.

(for those with a technical bent, this review is in the hReview microformat – one of the first steps towards the Semantic Web…)