Green Unroasted Estate Java, Whole Bean Coffee, 5-Pound Bag

Poor quality control

I bought 5 lbs of this instead of my usual order from Sweet Maria’s. I had some of each on hand to compare, and right away I saw that the Coffee Bean Direct beans were full of misshapen beans and even a few stones. When it came to roasting, it was much more difficult to get an even roast in my iRoast2. When I drank the first few cups, the difference was even more striking. I will be pawning this off on my relatives who don’t know better, and ordering a replacement from Sweet Marias.

As bad as this review is, there is nothing horrible about the beans, but with an equally priced and far supperior competitor out there, there is no reason to buy this one.

Beans Crawling With Bugs

I’m fairly new to home roasting, and was very excited to find unroasted beans on Amazon. I usually procure my beans through Sweet Maria’s, but I like the speed and convenience of the Amazon purchasing process. I ordered a 5lb bag of unroasted Sumatra Mandheling beans and they arrived the following day.

It was late in the evening before I got around to opening the bag. As soon as I cut the top off of the vacuum sealed bag, I noticed that the beans didn’t look quite right. They looked sort of “mealy”, as though something had been eating them, and they smelled off. As my eyes focused a bit better, I quickly saw the cause of the problem. Bugs. Little reddish-brown beetle-like bugs, crawling all over the beans. UGH! I took a few pictures to document the problem, closed the bag, wrapped it in a couple plastic grocery bags, and stuck it in the freezer.

The following morning I called Coffee Bean Direct to report the insect infestation. Though the person I spoke to was…

Very nice taste, easy to roast and well packaged

I just started home roasting and this was my first purchase of green coffee. I am a coffee enthusiast, and living in a small town, home roasting is the only way to get fresh roasted coffee as the stores just don’t sell inventory fast enough.

My first batch of this coffee was great tasting with nice body and earthy flavor I would expect from Sumatran. It was packaged well and I received it in 3 business days.

From past experience with store bought Sumatran, I like a city plus or maybe full city roast rather than the very dark vienna or french roast the stores seem to like. Roasted to city plus or full city, this product produces a flavor that is full and earthy, but not over the top like a dark roasted Sumatran can be. Lighter than city plus will taste grassy like most coffee. Just my preference and your experience will tell you what works for you.

I read some home roasting how-to articles on the web and tried to roast using an air popper to a city…

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