Just when you learn to love something, they stop making it.

Dr Croubie · Nov 21, 2015

And it's not even film this time.
Woolworths (in Australia) no longer make Woolworth's Homebrand Instant Coffee (powdered in a 200g tin). With ingredients listed as "100% Instant Coffee derived from coffee beans", it was always going to taste like shite (I never tried drinking it but the smell was bad enough), but it made for beautiful caffenol.

Now the choice is between Woolworth's Homebrand Granulated Instant Coffee in a jar (ingredients: "Instant coffee drived from 100% Arabica coffee beans") and Coles Smart Buy coffee powder in a 200g tin (ingredients: "Instant coffee powder").
Given that even the picture on the front of the Coles tin is making me nauseous by just looking at it and imagining the taste, it's probably going to be the winner for caffenol.
It seems that Woolies are trying to go more 'upmarket' by changing to granules, a glass jar, and writing 'arabica' all over it, but they've probably lost my business...

summicron1 · Nov 21, 2015

if you really think that stuff is made from arabica beans, ur drinking something and it ain't coffee. Or it's arabica beans that had mold on them or were otherwise rejected for real coffee.

Generic/house brand coffee is sourced wherever it is cheapest. Be glad it is good for something.

Old-N-Feeble · Nov 21, 2015

Just when you learn to love something, they stop making it.

Yeah... I remember after my first year of marriage.

OptiKen · Nov 21, 2015

Kodachrome

pdeeh · Nov 21, 2015

They stopped making Woolworths altogether in my country ...

afriman · Nov 21, 2015

Just as a matter of (mild) interest: Woolworths UK, Woolworths Australia and Woolworths South Africa are three entirely different entities. The South African Woolworths is a hugely popular chain of retail stores, modelled on Marks and Spencer: http://www.woolworths.co.za. They even sell some Marks and Spencer products.

In Australia, Woolworths is a large supermarket/grocery chain, while Woolworths in the UK was a somewhat down-market chain of stores selling a wide range of "budget" products.

In their respective countries, all three are/were colloquially known as "Woolies".

removed account4 · Nov 21, 2015

it seems caffenol can be made of arabica as well as robusta, roasted as well as green ..
and the only reason to use rotgut coffee is because it is so cheap ...
I'm guessing whatever coffee you buy and want to use will work ok

that said, I was extremely bummed out when I ran out of " el gringo" found in a grocery store
in France. it worked amazingly well with film.

480sparky · Nov 21, 2015

"New and Improved" is usually "Crappy and Lousy".

MattKing · Nov 21, 2015

480sparky said:
"New and Improved" is usually "Crappy and Lousy".

TMY-2 being a clear exception!

bsdunek · Nov 21, 2015

480sparky said:
"New and Improved" is usually "Crappy and Lousy".

It always seems it's to make it cheaper - so it doesn't work as well or last as long. They don't make a lot of my favorite things anymore, either.

LarsAC · Nov 21, 2015

Arabica in Caffenol gives too much grain anyway. Robusta has finer grain and better acutance.

Lars
(SCNR)

removed account4 · Nov 21, 2015

LarsAC said:
Arabica in Caffenol gives too much grain anyway. Robusta has finer grain and better acutance.

Lars
(SCNR)

thanks lars ...
to be honest I didn't think arabica worked ( it never worked for me ) but rienhold at one
of th coffee blogs coaxed images out of his. I only use robusta .. I used to use junk supermarket house brand
befo I started roasting my own ...

Vaughn · Nov 21, 2015

I doubt if Woolsworth ever made any coffee. What probably happened is their supplier changed, went out of business, or something like that. The "new and improved" is often just the next cheapest thing a supplier had to replace the old stuff that is no longer available.

hoffy · Nov 22, 2015

Dr Croubie said:
And it's not even film this time.
Woolworths (in Australia) no longer make Woolworth's Homebrand Instant Coffee (powdered in a 200g tin). With ingredients listed as "100% Instant Coffee derived from coffee beans", it was always going to taste like shite (I never tried drinking it but the smell was bad enough), but it made for beautiful caffenol.

Now the choice is between Woolworth's Homebrand Granulated Instant Coffee in a jar (ingredients: "Instant coffee drived from 100% Arabica coffee beans") and Coles Smart Buy coffee powder in a 200g tin (ingredients: "Instant coffee powder").
Given that even the picture on the front of the Coles tin is making me nauseous by just looking at it and imagining the taste, it's probably going to be the winner for caffenol.
It seems that Woolies are trying to go more 'upmarket' by changing to granules, a glass jar, and writing 'arabica' all over it, but they've probably lost my business...

Have you tried International Roast? Surely that has to be the worse instant coffee ever, so therefore it must be perfect for Caffonal.

Or you could buy the baggies of Caffonal mix that Totals were selling - only $10 from memory (YIKES!)

removed account4 · Nov 22, 2015

hoffy said:
Have you tried International Roast? Surely that has to be the worse instant coffee ever, so therefore it must be perfect for Caffonal.

Or you could buy the baggies of Caffonal mix that Totals were selling - only $10 from memory (YIKES!)

yikes is right !

and people told me $7/pound was "too expensive"

ColColt · Nov 22, 2015

I can identify with this. Woolworth's hasn't been here for a good 40 years...or McClellans for that matter. All I have to do is start to liking something at the grocery store and you can be sure in three months it's gone. That's happened over and over.

I miss Agfapan 400 more than grocery store items, however.

hoffy · Nov 22, 2015

jnanian said:
yikes is right !

and people told me $7/pound was "too expensive"

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

http://www.labeauratoire.com/caffenol/cc.html

A hipster and his money are very easily parted (I have actually bought film from this guy before....maybe I am the hipster?)

Truzi · Nov 22, 2015

We had a Woolworths in a local mall until 1994. I do miss it, but don't remember coffee - or anything other than the toy department.

Pioneer · Nov 22, 2015

John is absolutely right. Roast your own!

Or better yet...let John roast it and then buy it.

Oxleyroad · Nov 22, 2015

Dr,

Woollies was my preferred brand because it was cheapest and their store was walking distance to my old home. I had luck with Coles as well as International roast but he latter was always so much more pricey than the other two. I didn't like Coles' packaging as at the time they had 200gm in a plastic bag. Woollies depending on place of manufacture was either a jar or a tin. It might have changed since I left.

ColColt · Nov 22, 2015

Most of the big downtown stores where I grew up have been gone for decades such as Woolworth's, McClellans, S.H. Kress, Ivey's but Belk's and Sears seem to have survived.

removed account4 · Nov 22, 2015

hoffy said:
(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

http://www.labeauratoire.com/caffenol/cc.html

A hipster and his money are very easily parted (I have actually bought film from this guy before....maybe I am the hipster?)

hey, thanks hoffy !

i must have missed yoru post in may
i do know of the labeauratoire folks, ...
makes me wonder how much is in the bag
( makes how much that is )
its great they are able to package it and make it foolproof
so many people have trouble sourcing the right ingredients !

===

thanks dan !

i've got some left from my last roast too
john

wblynch · Nov 23, 2015

I saw a Woolworths in Puerto Vallarta Mexico last week. I wanted to go in but was with a group of others who weren't interested.

Fr. Mark · Nov 23, 2015

Probably wrong thread, but does the coffee in caffenol really do the developing or is it the vitamin c? I have developed paper in Vit C plus carbonate and water.

pdeeh · Nov 23, 2015

Fr. Mark said:
Probably wrong thread, but does the coffee in caffenol really do the developing or is it the vitamin c?r.

It appears that the ascorbic acid is superadditive with whatever it is in the coffee that is also a developing agent.
Nb I say appears, and nb nobody really knows what the developing agent(s) is(are) in coffee ... Though caffeic acid is a current favourite candidate.
It is possible to develop flim in coffee (+ alkali) alone, but the developing times seem very long and the results very low contrast

Just when you learn to love something, they stop making it.

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