Ethiopian Yirgacheffe Washed Grade 1 Coffee Beans (Unroasted Green Beans, 5 Pounds Whole Beans)

I'm hoping someone who knows how to brew coffee better than I do will see this and advise me. I haven't given up, but I expected a coffee that is more interesting than this turned out to be for me. I use a French press and bottled water. I have been grinding the beans using a coarse setting, about 8 on a 10-point scale. That part seems ok, no silt or grounds coming through. I have been putting about 4 tablespoons into an 8 ounce French press. So it shouldn't be turning out weak. I wait about 3 or 4 minutes to pour the coffee. I do add some hot milk and a little bit of sugar. Compared to espresso I've had in Spain, for instance, this seems weak and nondescript. I know espresso is, of course, stronger than in the French press. So maybe I should try making espresso with this. The French press is faster and easier to use. I'd love to discover the bright fruity taste I've read about with regard to this coffee. If anyone can advise me, I will try again and come back and change my rating. But right now, whether it is my fault in brewing it or what, I'm just a bit disappointed.Update: I have changed my rating to a 5 star. I practiced my brewing for a few times and something got much better. I increased the amount of coffee to water and now use as many as 6 or 8 tablespoons for 8 ounces. I let it brew for only 2 to 3 minutes. It makes a strong enough coffee to mix with hot milk for a short latte for 2 people. And it is mellow and smooth and just very pleasant with a nice aroma. I think one has to play around with the different variables to come to what you like and how to make it like that consistently. But this is an excellent coffee.

These are great beans. We ordered the light roast to try to preserve some of the subtle flavors, but I'm not sure if that worked as we had expected - the flavor notes include caramel and chocolate, and we're definitely not getting any berry or other fruit flavors. Still, we can tell that these are very high quality beans, and also very consistently sized. Nice even roast as well, so the folks at RhoadsRoast did a great job. It is noteworthy that the label they provided suggests a darker roast, more of a city roast instead of the light roast we got. The seller prepared and shipped this incredibly quickly, much faster than was quoted when we ordered, which we really appreciated. Overall, we got great, high-quality beans at a very reasonable price, roasted properly and promptly. We can't wait to order from this seller again, and might try some of their other beans or roasts.

Initially I was disappointed with this coffee after doing my first 1 lb roast. I previously tried a 1 lb roast from a different seller which I really liked but they didn't offer a 5 lb bag. I bought this and the first roast was not what I was expecting. I have since tried a second roast and this time the result was great. It would seem that even though it was the same bean from the same region the characteristics of the bean were quite different. After a bit of tinkering with my roast method I achieved the dark roast I was looking for. The aroma was completely different on the second batch. The first had what I can only describe as an earthy smell to it. While it was still a good coffee I was disappointed with it.I am happy to say now that I figured out how to roast it in my Behmor I am totally satisfied with it. I will be buying more of this down the road.

Finally. I have been on a year long quest for a high quality African bean perfectly light roasted. If you, like me, love the floral, wine and earth flavor profiles of quality light roasts along with the bigger caffeine kick, look no further. This is it. For a couple years I had a free and almost unlimited supply of freshly roasted 3 Africans from Blue Bottle. When the supply dried up, I figured it would be no problem finding something similar (or even, heaven forbid, buying from Blue Bottle). Well, it became a quest. Few roasters get light roasts right. This one does. Few markets carry light roasts and when they do the quality is poor (in my experience). Even several local custom roasters in LA, San Diego, Las Vegas and DC have disappointed. I have purchased about a dozen different "light roasted" whole beans from Amazon and another two dozen elsewhere in the past year. In all that searching, using 3 Africans as the bar setter, two coffees, in my opinion have been better. The Sidamo at Samballatte on the Strip in Vegas, and the best one I have found by a good margin -- this one. And here's the thing with me. I know the beans are important, but for what I'm looking for the roaster may be more important. So I will be trying several of RhoadsRoast offerings going forward, always seeking that perfect complex flavor, low acid, big caffeine lift off.

I like all roast levels of coffee and I am always trying new green beans of various countries and their different regionals and the same from different suppliers. After finding a few good coffees it seems to get hard to find newer one that meet my taste preferences. The packaging label recommends roasting "to medium to medium dark." I made two roastings; a medium with some darkness, roasted to the beginning of second crack and a medium dark, roasted about mid way into second crack. Brews of both roasts tasted excellent though I preferred the lighter. Their is a cleanest to their favour that I also find in medium roasts of Kilimanjaro coffees. I made my test roasts at 120 grams using a Whirley Pop stainless popper over a Bayou Classic SP10 propane cooker. I’ll next try a light to medium roast in a Nuvo Eco ceramic roaster. Immediately after roasting I like to crunch on my beans to compare their tastes; these had a surprising amount of subtle favour notes especially compared to a nice Guatemalan that had predominately an earthy taste.