Beans - Hayes Valley Espresso

Perfect

Received my free sample in the mail today. Not the worse coffee I've ever had but close. Beans were so đry and looked bleached. Very brittle. After grinding there were strange, dry particles of what appeared to be husks all thru the coffee. (?) I brewed some up in my coffee bar. Smelled bad, tasted worse. This coffee oddly smells like an ashtray. Tasted like my dad's canned coffee. Undrinkable. Dumped it and brewed some Starbucks/Amora blend. Amora is the best subscription coffee I've found but super pricey. Worth it. Their beans come oily and w/a wonderful aroma. One of the best coffees I've ever tasted. Starbucks is my go to brand. So skip Blue Bottle. You get what you pay for...

Purchased some directly from Blue Bottle Coffee to try out. Made some for 4 of my more coffee savy friends and it got thumbs down. Upon opening the package, the aroma reminded me of cigarettes. I attributed this to the roasted beans being quickly packaged and maybe needed a few days to breathe. After a week, it still smells burned. I let a few others smell it and received the similar feedback (Ashtray?) Found the blend to be very acidic in nature (less smooth) which immediately attacks the front of your tongue. It does not have a smooth after taste, and I did not get the hit of chocolate claimed on the packaging. I will say that I am not a fan of Starbucks beans, and these remind me of Starbucks roast, so I am biased. For the price, I was expecting something special, but found it to be just ok, or less. Keep in mind that I enjoy Robusta beans in my blend, which some people do not enjoy. My feedback is based on my own personal tastes, and that of my friends to whom I tried to serve this to. The feedback I received was (This is not your usual coffee, what happened? Please go back)

These are the ONLY beans to use according to my coffee barista daughter. Bought these for her and she said to tell you: that these are the best beans out there. If you are a Starbies person you won’t get it. Their beans are burned and that’s where the bitter taste comes from. Blue Bottle has properly roasted beans that taste smooth.