Tried the Kahwa and it was spectacular. No essences, Only pure extracts and whole ingredients. Such a pleasure to see the tea leaves, along with whole rose petals, cardamom, saffron,... read more almond and cinnamon. And the aroma when I cut open the packet was heaven. Really lovely with pure subtle notes. Doesn’t get cleaner than this.

When the pack arrived, I was at my sceptical best. Motley what? I had visions of 80s heavy metal having leached through, with some hedonistic additives and an androgynous mix... read more mishmash of various blends. What lay there? Should I even bother? Was this going to be a hook-up that I would regret and want to blank out? The track-record had not been great. My last experiment with a-rak-u was a disaster; the kum-ba-konum flirtation with peaberry made me do the unthinkable and add milk (un-frothed) to calm my palate. But even that did not stand muster, and most of it went to the favourite nimbu-tree that I have unloaded previous guilt trips on - convincing myself that it was only for the residual nitrogen. The first experiment was to see what the beans looked like. Was this (yet) another version of bits and browns packaged in a fancy pack that cost more than the contents? Past the first hurdle - next into the grinder (manual). A good forearm workout convinced me that the beans hadn’t been roasted to brittle death, label notwithstanding. Next the brew. Following James’ cue - one part ground coffee to 15 parts water in the aero press, and alongside one part ground coffee to 10 parts water in the Moka pot. This one on an induction stove. Brewing done, strange things happened as I waited for it to cool to room temperature - the aroma was maddening. The wait was long. The guilt piled up. Why was I straying from the time tested Baarbara, the Halli Berri, the ever dependable Plantation AAA - all faithful mistresses of many years now, who’d unfailingly got me to perform, cognitively that is, every single time? Wait over - ruminating done - time to move on. Surprisingly, the cooled aero press liquor was smooth. A hint of bitterness, so the caffeine was surely there! The Moka was smooth with enough bitterness, and a sufficiently syrupy liquor. I did not have to run looking for milk. Nor some plant extract. Nor sugar or honey or stevia or one of those nasty other chemicals. After a half hour; still bright and cheerful; feeling sufficiently caffeinated, having imbibed the defence chemical of the coffee plant, it was time for some hard evaluation. Some things added up: - The name: Motley. Why? Hmm. Why not? What's in a name, as the bard said? They could have called it something like “Fresh, Artisanal, mostly Organic, Roasted to your tastes; better when ground by you”. But that would be terribly long and a horrible sounding acronym, “FAMORYT - BWGBY”. - Maybe that’s what they meant by Motley Brew. - The grinder when they devise one - would be Motley Grind! That’s something that needs urgent work on. We definitely need a desi version, "HARI'sOwn"? To replace the two that are now retired, with worn out handles. Try Motely. It is unpretentious. Indian roasted bean coffee. That you must grind and brew. Using plain tap water - not fancy bottled stuff. I just hope they do not become too popular. Then, like everyone else - they’ll end up passing on the bits and browns as the bean, and have customers listen to endless renditions of Dr. Feelgood.

First of all the inspired name. Brilliant. The packaging is top class. And most importantly the product is as advertised. If you are a coffee lover i guarantee , you... read more won't be disappointed. The flavour ,the aroma are just the fix that a coffee addict wants. Super stuff.