Cudié Chocolates

Want to know one of our simple pleasures in life? Chocolate. We can’t get enough of it at The Amazing Blog! Who cares if you had a healthy breakfast, or which strict New Year diet you’re following, it would be rude not to indulge in a few sweet treats once in a while. We recently discovered Cudié, a company that have produced family made chocolate since 1946. Based in Vilafranca del Penedes, Spain, all recipes are a family secret - with a plethora of products, from pralines, to Marconi almonds, premium chocolates and catanies (a combination of nuts and chocolate, signature to Cudié). We therefore couldn’t wait to try the brand - all in the name of research of course!

Among the range of sweet treats, Cudié offer collections of assorted delicatessen chocolates. We tried their Mediterranean Tiles chocolate box, consisting of 6 delicious and gourmet chocolates - perfect as an evening treat, with a cup of tea (or glass of red wine). These chocolates come encased in a stylish black box, with a vibrant pink sleeve. Each chocolate is delicately decorated, with rose, coffee, salt, orange, cinnamon and hazelnut flavours to choose from. Our favourites were the coffee and cinnamon flavours. The coffee had a surprising depth of flavour, and we were thankful that it didn't have the stereotypically bitter flavour often prevalent in other coffee chocolates. The cinnamon flavour was also an interesting one, adding a bit of spice and warmth, and definitely one we weren’t expecting to like so much.

To buy a box of 6 Cudié chocolates for yourself, then click here. You will find the box available for 3,91€. Additionally, you can also buy boxes of 18 or 36 chocolates, we will certainly be purchasing a larger box next time! Click here to see the full range of Mediterranean Tiles.

Africology Coffee and Rose Diffuser

Who doesn’t love entering into a beautifully scented room? Here, at The Amazing Blog, we have a weakness for reed diffusers as they are safer and more versatile than candles. At this time of year, we want a room fragrance that has both warmth and freshness, this is where one of our favourite beauty and lifestyle brands Africology never fails us. Our regular readers will remember our post on their Rose Body Balm where we commented on their African heritage and how they capture the key flora and fauna of Africa in their ingredients.

Africology has as range of five different fragranced Atmosphere Reed Diffuser sets. We tried the Coffee and Rose diffuser, which for us was absolutely delightful. From its simple, elegant packaging to its sophisticated tawny glass bottle design, it offers soft warm top floral notes combined with the rather interesting and more robust coffee ones, making it a more weighty fragrance and perfect for that heady romantic evening ambience. Apart from its elegant design that will complement any décor, this diffuser is long-lasting; we had ours on the go for at least 3 months!

This diffuser is made from only 100% natural oils. It is very simple and easy to use, just open the bottle and place the diffuser reeds into the bottle until the reeds are fully coated with liquid. Wait about 5 minutes and take the reeds out and insert the opposite dry end of the reeds back into the diffuser. To enhance your home with this long-lasting and evocative fragrance, purchase the Africology Coffee and Rose Room Diffuser here for £45.00. Or at their newly opened London store here.

Winky Lux Coffee Collection

We always need new make-up,  even if our make-up drawer is overflowing. Collectively we've lost count of how many mascaras we own (what an admission!) We at The Amazing Blog know how hard it is to resist new and exciting products, and recently we've fallen for some new products from Winky Lux. You may well remember their adorable Lip Pill Kit that we wrote about here. Based in New York City, Winky Lux is always up-to-date with the latest make-up trends and best of all, they make them affordable. Their newest innovation: coffee-scented make-up!

Both the Coffee Bronzer and Coffee Palette products have a slight waft of a coffee fragrance when you open the palettes.  We have to say the scent on the Bronzer is much more subtle than that of the Eyeshadows, but they're still a fun gimmick. We also like the cute packaging,  with the toffee-coloured boxes,  illustrated with flowers, and cups of coffee. The Bronzer is in an elegant gold casing compact and comes in two shades Mocha and Latte. We tried the deeper Mocha colour, which doubled as a contour powder for us. It has a buttery consistency and because it is matte, it's easy to wear and gives a soft bronzed look. It also comes with a mirror, making it easy to apply on-the-go.  

The Coffee Eyeshadow Palette is covered in wonderful colourful floral illustrations, making it a decorative addition to your dressing table. We were impressed with how authentic and pleasant the coffee scent is in the eyeshadow, but more importantly, we like the strength and the lasting quality of pigments in the powders. All nine shades have a velvety texture and blend nicely on the lid. The Coffee Eyeshadow Palette is every neutral-lovers dream, with matte, satin and shimmer finishes. The colours range from light beige tones into latte browns and finally darker espresso greys. With this variety of coffee shades, we recommend keeping this versatile eye palette as a staple in your handbag, for either a subtle day or a more enhanced glamorous night-out look.

If you want a different kind of coffee fix, the Coffee Bronzer is available to purchase here for £20 and the Coffee Eyeshadow Palette is £25 here. Winky Lux is also available on ASOS, Harvey Nichols and FeelUnique.com.

Marley Coffee

If you ask me, no day is complete without 3 or 4 cups of coffee - drinking it for many years has made me value the taste of well-prepared and good quality coffee... and it's also made me develop some kind of immunity to its effects, as luckily, it doesn't disturb my sleep patterns. So you can imagine my excitement when a bag of Marley Coffee arrived at The Amazing Blog.

Gourmet brand Marley Coffee was founded by Bob Marley's son, Rohan - inspired by his father's desire to return to farming someday, and remembering his grandmother drying wild coffee berries in the sun and roasting them for her own every morning. Marley Coffee has launched in the UK with 3 premium organic blends, keeping up with his goal of producing ethical coffees, supporting communities and the environment through sustainable and ethical practices.

This new premium range consists of the One Love Organic Coffee Blend (floral notes and hints of blueberry, coca and spice), the Buffalo Soldier Organic Coffee Blend (Roasted sweet, earthy blend and smooth) and the Lively Up! Organic Coffee Blend (hints of cocoa, candied fruit and sweet caramel). A proportion of all profits from Marley Coffee UK will be given to support Kicks for Cause; a foundation that aims to build playable soccer fields for children of the coffee-producing communities around the world. Marley Coffee is also a supporter of the One Love Foundation. And as well as being ethically sound, the coffee is utterly delicious and perfect for when you need a caffeine hit - be it morning noon or night!

Marley Coffee New Premium Blends are currently available in their website priced £6.99 (including UK delivery), Amazon as well as via UK delis and independents including Selfridges with prices starting from £5.99.

Eightpointnine

As a self confessed caffeine addict I am rarely without a cup of coffee at my side. Making a cup is the first thing I do when I wake up and I depend on several more cups to get me through the work day. Although I am no coffee aficionado – the stronger the better is usually my preference – I’m often disappointed by the coffee I purchase and wish I could tweak it to my own personal taste. While the coffee available in the supermarkets may claim to be ‘hand-roasted’ and ‘artisan’ it is still mass produced and designed for a long shelf life meaning that it will often be months old before it reaches your cup. That’s why I was extremely intrigued when a colleague of mine introduced me to the newest addition to the UK coffee scene - London based personalised coffee service Eight Point Nine.

Eight Point Nine believe that fresh coffee tastes better and wanted to provide a service where people could design a coffee made specially for them and have it delivered fresh and straight to their door every week. At the click of a mouse they offer tailor-made, hand-blended, freshly ground coffee delivered weekly to your door. All their coffee is fair trade and small-batch roasted in the UK by roast-masters with over 20 years experience and long-term relationships with coffee growing communities around the world. They offer two subscription options: You can either subscribe to the grandCRU service to receive a surprise coffee delivered to your door every week (Eightpointnine will select and hand-blend a world-class roast every week to showcase the best coffees from around the world) or for a truely personal recipe you can design your very own blend. Simply use the online flavour profiling tool on the website to create your own unique blend which can be given a name of your choice and is then sent to you in a postbox-friendly parcel. Whether you like your coffee fresh, sweet, spicy, light, mellow or rich use the flavour mapping tool to describe your perfect cup. Once you’ve chosen the flavour and body you can then choose your preferred grind (espresso, filter, cafetiere or just beans) and how many deliveries you need a week (to give you an idea each bag contains over 16 cups). You can then tweak your personal blend whenever you like to suit your mood or preference.

Order your Eightpointnine coffee blend from their website here.