Overview
- M&S Gold Instant Coffee and Waitrose Gold Roast earned joint Best Buy status with 70% scores, with M&S priced at £7.25 for 200g and Waitrose at £3.70 for 100g.
- Aldi’s Barissimo/Alcafé Gold Roast was picked as Great Value at £2.65 for 200g, praised for aroma and bitterness though tasters wanted a stronger flavour.
- Nescafé Gold Blend and Kenco performed strongly just behind the winners, with Nescafé missing Best Buy by one point; both sell at around £8.35 for ~190–195g.
- Which? reported Lidl’s Bellarom Gold at the bottom with 61%, with fewer than half of tasters satisfied with its flavour or bitterness.
- Tests covered 12 gold‑roast instants in blind booths, generating 800+ brews, with overall scores weighted by 50% flavour, 30% appearance, 10% aroma and 10% mouthfeel; M&S was one of only two Fairtrade options.