I first came across this excellent coffee in Costco, of all places. I bought it on impulse, thinking it’s a heck of a lot of coffee to wade through if I didn’t like it. It was, shall we say, an acquired taste. Suffice to say I’ve just bought a second bag!
The all-important taste
This coffee wasn’t quite what I expected and, at the start, I wasn’t sure if I would like it. How wrong I was, it really has grown on me.
The taste seems reminiscent of an old fashioned cafe, perhaps a little smokey with some classy music. Maybe go a little further and imagine a smokey bar, dimly lit in a basement with someone smoking a cigar and Tom Waits crooning in the corner, perhaps with a saxophone and a piano tinkling away. Yes that’s it, it’s very atmospheric.
There’s more. You get a lovely rich, warming feeling which prompts another cup and you then savour it well. I absolutely love this feeling which I only seem to get from a really, really nice coffee.
The pack’s description talks of the tasting notes of sweet dark berry, dark chocolate and the hint of jasmine. I never seem to get these! However there’s no doubt the taste is a complicated mixture of flavours and they are right in saying it is full bodied with a medium roast.
The Parkrun bunch
My regular blog readers will know there’s generally a group of us friends who take part in a local Parkrun on Saturday mornings and we come back to our house for coffee afterwards (temporarily on hold – Coronavirus). We had just started the SF Bay Rainforest Blend before the runs were put on hold, along with almost everything here in the UK.
I reckon everyone likes it. I think it was Rosie who even asked if we could give her some the ground coffee to enjoy at her home another time.
Buying some more
Coming towards the end of the 908g pack made me feel a bit jumpy, I needed to get some more. With the Coronavirus in full swing, we aren’t in the market for visiting Costco, so I easily found the UK distributor who stocked the Rainforest Blend, plus several other SF Bay coffees.
A 908g pack of coffee beans costs £9.99 plus P&P, so the cost is fair. What makes it even fairer is knowing the company has a definite ethical edge in supporting the growers and their living conditions.
I am now kicking myself as I see on the UK website I could have claimed 20% off my first order. Drat! Never mind, not the end of the world.
Next time I might be tempted by trying out the Welsh Blend, yes the Welsh Blend! Seems a bit unlikely, we don’t naturally associate Wales with sophisticated coffees but why not? The blurb says “A unique blend of Central American Coffees roasted to a Light roast to give it a flavorful and full bodied brown spice and chocolate creamy finish” which I must admit sounds quite tempting.
My only reservation is the size of the packs – 908g is quite large if you don’t know what you’re getting- a shame you can’t buy a smaller sample. The entrepreneur in me would be addressing that if I had a coffee business.
Anyway, back to ordering. I called the UK company in Wales to ask if they had stocks and were still trading, given the current circumstances. Sure they had stocks, yes they were still trading, although the post might be a little slower than normal. In the end my order arrived very promptly, so that was great.
Here’s SF Bay Coffee website in Wales – click here
Here’s the Twitter feed for SF Bay Coffee in the US – click here
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