Disappointment

dfk41

Am I the only one who regularly receives beans and is regularly unimpressed by them? I mean, some of the packaging is beautiful, but we are not buying packaging. Some of the stories about the farmers, the co-ops etc etc are lovely……yet the roasted product is sadly lacking! It makes me question how much the average client actually understands about coffee and taste with their eyes. A few years ago, super tasters were few and far between,,,,,,now it seems they hang around on street corners loitering

MWJB

dfk41 You are not the only one.

LMSC

dfk41 It happens more often than we can imagine, irrespective of the price. A lack of information on roast degree or a few lines description of coffee taste will be helpful. But, some of the big roasters will neither listen nor care. One well known roaster said they can’t add these details for 1% of the coffee drinkers and they wouldn’t mind losing them.

Furthermore, there is no guarantee the brews will reflect the notes on the bag. :-)

JonWoo187

dfk41 Taste will always be subjective and I personally don’t care what the self-entitled super tasters claim to taste, smell, etc. Not being satisfied with commercial roasted coffee is all the more reason to roast it yourself. Been at it 8 yrs now and never plan to buy roasted coffee again, especially for the garbage that is more about packaging, monthly subscription commitment, etc. Actually glad to see more coffee related businesses close shop as that gives more green to the rest of us that can really make it shine.

HarveyMushman

It’s one of the main reasons I started and still roast at home. I actually just bought 2kg from two different roasters as I knew I’d be getting through them quickly when I was getting to grips with the Philos, I won’t say who, and both are mediocre at best. One barely has any flavour at all.

Granted it’s a challenge to consistently roast commercial size batches but that’s not much consolation when you spend £40 on a bag of average coffee.

I think there’s sometimes an element of your own palate improving too. I look back at some of the darker roasted blends I used to think were great and actually they were probably not fantastic.

Igm45

For me it’s largely a matter of taste, I know what regions/processes I particularly enjoy and what to avoid.

That said the majority of the beans I buy are ‘daily drivers’ not special or mind blowingly good.

MediumRoastSteam

Same here - one of the reasons I tend to stick to what I know… Because, every time I venture out… 90% of the time it ends up in disappointments.

But taste is subjective, so what might be a good one for some, might be a bad one for me - and vice-versa.

MWJB

MediumRoastSteam Preference is subjective, taste (as in flavour perception) to a degree, but less so?

How many people would confuse cheese & chive tortilla chips for blazing hot in a blind test?

Apart from being to your preference, how often does the coffee live up to the full tasting notes?

For me, a little over half the time I broadly get one or two, less than 20% of the time they hit the nail on the head.

MediumRoastSteam

MWJB - I agree. I think I can count in my fingers the number of memorable coffees I had and those that I truly enjoyed. Tasting notes… I hardly hit them, but I tend to put those to UIEP - User incapability of extracting properly.

I’m going to give Darkwoods a go. Any coffee recommended that’s not in the “Dark Woods reserve” category?

Jcheney

MediumRoastSteam

Django coffee - Extrawelt

I had it as a filter and it was superb. They only recently started stocking it again. I have a kilo on order, hopefully it’s a consistent taster.

It was my most memorable cup of coffee that I have made: a complex cup that was fun to drink because of the complexity.

For reference, I liked it more than Darkwoods beans (haven’t splurged on their special reserve though)

Also: Django has a forum discount

LMSC

MediumRoastSteam I’m going to give Darkwoods a go. Any coffee recommended that’s not in the “Dark Woods reserve” category?

Please take a look at these and see if some of them are to your linkings.
https://shop.darkwoodscoffee.co.uk/collections/coffee/light+producer

dfk41

LMSC It is not just notes on the bag though. I could name endless roasters who quite frankly should not be roasting. We as consumers seem to be more impressed with the packaging, the fancy tins and bags than we are with the contents. How can you open a roastery, with little or no experience then start a marketing campaign to sell your goods when you have absolutely no idea what you are really doing? Equally as much though I think if you find that bean which is bang on, then we should share it. I appreciate that I am right at the very beginning of my brewed journey, but I am sure part of my issues are the beans.

With the help of others, I have named a bean and we have coarsened, tightened, played with volume to the point that the extraction is right……….anyway, thanks to those who have contributed. To those who have not, then I presume the addition of milk is covering tracks. Interestingly, this last bean I could not get any noticeable tasting notes (they suggested Papya and Raspberry tart, pretty distinctive) from, when pulled as an espresso with milk added was quite acceptable……it is a strange world at times

LMSC

dfk41 I am sure part of my issues are the beans.

Absolutely! IMO, I would put grinder and beans above espresso machine in the order of importance.

MediumRoastSteam

Jcheney Django coffee - Extrawelt

I had many coffees from Django - but never this one. I shall order some! Thank you!

ST30B

Jcheney As stated many times, taste is subjective. I bought a kilo of Extrawelt last yr on recommendation and really didn’t like it. 🤣😩
I’ve been burnt a couple of times buying from Django now so that’s a roaster off the list.

Each to their own, I just don’t think it’s for me.
It was actually the last kilo purchase I’ve made, just too much of a gamble now so I’ve got a few subscriptions on the go and I’m enjoying the sampling a few.

dfk41

MediumRoastSteam All eyes are now firmly on you!

MediumRoastSteam

dfk41

I’ll let you know. Free delivery too :-)

I didn’t bother with the forum discount - couldn’t find it.

Tal

MediumRoastSteam

Received the Udesa myself today, it was roasted on the 28th, so it’s 4 days rested already, so thought I’d give it a go in a v60.

It’s defo the lightest roast I’ve ever bought!

The brew ran really fast (500ml 2 cup brew in around 2min 20….), will tighten it up for the next brew. But have to say, the smell of this one is rather mad (in a surprisingly good way), the taste is good to with some of the notes present which is quite satisfying. Can taste banana for sure and a lot of fruitiness.

I’m very new to light roasts and naturals, but rather pleased with the first brew! Should get better with time too…

Wife just came downstairs, picked up her cup and said, I quote “bleh. Why does it taste like berries???”….she’s now drinking it, though doesn’t look overly impressed, she likes coffee to taste like coffee..,

drdre89

I enjoy the marketing and pretty colours

JHCCoffee

I totally agree. It is so so challenging to find beans that: a) meet my taste preferences and b) are properly roasted. I drink decaf, which most roasters do not know how to roast and stock one as an afterthought. I like a full city+ to Vienna roast. Most roast “medium” and get mislead by the exterior roast colour of decaf, which roasts to a darker colour than the actual roast level. This means that their supposed “‘medium” is actually a medium light. Or they are catering to consumer trends, who expect “notes of mango with a hint of strawberry”. It doesn’t matter if the coffee tastes good as long as the notes sound intriguing and the original seems cool. Many burn their coffee beans. Many do not ship freshly roasted beans with a specified roast date. The few I like don’t always roast consistently.

It’s tough enough to get the shot right. It’s a frustrating pain when you have to work through ½ an over priced 375g bag to get passed the flaws and get the coffee tasting decent.

I have a roaster setup and ready to go in the basement but have not had time to roast. And I am a tad nervous about it as my first try smoked out the house and peeved my wife. Will try again.

Platypus

The decaf from Django at the start of the year was the best decaf I’ve had by a mile (Colombia Argelia Decaf) A lightly roasted fruity bean that was exceptionally good, I even had to double check the bag to make sure it was a decaf.

MediumRoastSteam

Platypus The decaf from Django at the start of the year was the best decaf I’ve had by a mile (Colombia Argelia Decaf)

Indeed! I still have some of that coffee in the freezer! It’s a good decaf, but in my opinion it doesn’t match the non-decaf stuff.

dfk41

I gave up home roasting years ago. I used a 2 stage modded gene Cafe. I quickly realised that professional roasters could make a better job……of course that was then! I had been drinking Extract Sugar cane decaf and for me, it was superb. Then I ordered some and it had changed 360! They kept the same distinctive packaging but changed the country or origin and roast levels.

I do not want this to be a bash them thread but I see no harm in folks telling us of good or bad experiences in relation to tasting notes

dutchy101

dfk41 I had been drinking Extract Sugar cane decaf and for me, it was superb. Then I ordered some and it had changed 360!

You put me onto the Sugarcane decaf a few years ago and it was incredible. Since they’ve changed it its nowhere near as good

Dusk

dfk41

Some roasters sell blends that change throughout the year, I appreciate that you can’t always source exactly the same beans all the time but selling it as the same product all year round can be a bit misleading too.

whinmoor85

The last few coffees I’ve had from Dog and Hat (Three Marks Coffee Ethiopia - Shakiso & FRUKT coffee Yoiner Mosquera) have been underwhelming compared to the tasting notes. It’s not that they’re badly roasted but I couldn’t taste what was on the bag.

It wouldn’t surprise me if roasters are using stale greens but I have no way of proving it.

dfk41

whinmoor85 It still surprises me how many roasters send beans out without an apparent batch code or roasted on date. The latest from Dark Woods for example, just has a best brfore dated 6 months ahead. The do state the actual day so it is easy to work out…….but, that is not the point

dfk41

whinmoor85 It wouldn’t surprise me if roasters are using stale greens but I have no way of proving it.

That is a very interesting point…….

InfamousTuba

dutchy101

The process for the extract decaf is still sugarcane process, they have just labelled it as water and ethyl acetate but they are the same process by different names. The process isn’t labelled as sugarcane because the ethyl acetate isn’t derived from 100% sugar cane but from fruit as well

whinmoor85 It wouldn’t surprise me if roasters are using stale greens but I have no way of proving it.

You can sometimes check on the website, for instance the frukt coffee was harvested december 2022 so it is older than I would have expected (not that age of greens is always an indicator of taste).

I do find these multi roaster subscriptions can sometimes be an excuse for roasters to offload coffee that isn’t selling well, it is not always the case and you can get great exclusive lots for a great price but I have seen some coffees appear that have been for sale for a few months already

Raja123

whinmoor85 the three marks lots are washed and need pushing quite hard. That said, they also got held up in customs, which may have contributed towards some degradation.

Platypus

MediumRoastSteam
To be fair, I do set the bar of expectation much lower for decaf but I couldn’t fault this one.