Beanies Gingerbread Flavour Instant Coffee - 50g

Flavoured instant coffee has a firm spot in the British cupboard, usually wedged between the hot chocolate and the tea that only comes out for visitors. When the gingerbread jar turns up, everyone knows the clocks have gone back and Christmas is close.

People in Canada go looking for this one because it is tied to a particular feeling: a cold afternoon, the tree up, the telly on, a mug that tastes like the season. A plain coffee does not do that. This does.

It comes as a 50g jar of instant coffee. A teaspoon in a mug, hot water on top, milk if you like it, and it is ready before the adverts finish. Keep the lid screwed on and it sits happily in the cupboard, which is just as well, because the jar tends to get rationed through December.

Beanies is known for its long line of flavoured instant coffees, so this is the festive member of a big family. It goes down very well next to a mince pie, or with a biscuit for dunking on Boxing Day when nobody is cooking anything.