Green Unroasted Indonesia Sulawesi Kalossi, 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…

Great value if you know what you’re doing.

I’ve purchased a variety of beans from this vendor and have always been pleased with their products. The reason I rate this 4 stars and not 5 is because it’s my least favorite of their products (however I have purchased it more than once due to the low price).

Coffee roasting is never a set it and forget it task and nothing makes that more clear than these Brazil Santos beans. That said, with a little care it’s possible to get a very good roast out of this product. I’ve had the best results by slowly drying the beans at very low temperature over about 4 minutes. Once the beans are a pale yellow, I kick up the heat. I’ve found that too much heat early in the roast results in a very uneven roast (these beans are less forgiving than other varieties in my experience).

At the very first sign of first crack, I reduce the heat again. At low heat, I aim for about 8 minutes between first crack and second crack. I prefer these beans at either city or full city roast. There is…

Click to Editorial Reviews