I finally went local...

DennyCrane

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Oct 30, 2011
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Cloverdale, BC
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I know Starbucks is more-or-less looked down on by many who frequent these forums, but I gotta say I love their french roast! I go through about a pound of it every week and a half. At the advice of many of you, I decided to try some beans from a local roaster in my area. I was hoping to stop by a shop and ask some questions (and maybe even try a sample), but most I found seem to be warehouses that only accept online orders.

Anyways, I decided to give 49th Parallel Coffee Roasters a try. They had 12oz of their organic french roast available for $14 + shipping. So for $21.31 all-in, my order was placed. And to my pleasant surprise, it arrived today (just one day later)! In total it only cost $2.20 more than Starbucks, but keep in mind I only got 12oz instead of 16oz with Starbucks. Side note, but I noticed a lot of local roasters sell in 12oz bags? I thought coffee was typically sold by the pound?

Okay, so I got home today, cleaned out my grinder, and loaded up the hopper with my new beans. First thing I notice is that they aren't nearly as oily as the Starbucks beans I've become accustomed to, and secondly they are much lighter in colour; almost like I would expect a medium roast to look like (this is considered a dark roast).

So I grind up enough to make one large mug of coffee in my french press. As you can see from the picture below, there is a lot of green pieces of the bean which I've never experienced before:

IMG-20120308-00070.jpg


Is this normal for freshly roasted coffee? Anyways, I downed the whole cup in about 5 minutes, and my first impression was that it was very smooth. It wasn't nearly as bold as I am used to, but it definitely had a nice flavor to it. I'll have to see how I feel about it after finishing the bag (seeing as it didn't even fill the hopper, I'm assuming it will only last me about 5 days).

I realize many of you probably don't have much appreciation for the "tar" that I get out of my Starbucks beans, but I actually really like that extra bold taste. With that being said, I'm going to give this a chance, and maybe even explore some french roasts from some other local roasters when I'm done with this bag. I welcome your comments, as well as suggestions if you have any. Go easy on me though, as I'm a total n00b with this.
 

ThePress

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Mar 10, 2012
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Hi folks! This is my first post at this forum.

Denny, I am so glad I came across your post because I have recently experienced something similar, and I have been looking for feedback.

I have been a coffee drinker for 25 years and, over that time, I have purchased my whole beans almost exclusively from Starbucks. I had always been more than satisfied, until recently.

The Italian Roast beans I used to purchase from Starbucks were billed as a "dark" roast, and that is what they were...so dark, in fact, as to look almost black. And they were always very oily...sometimes so oily that they almost clumped together.

These beans produced, by far, the most satisfying cups of coffee (French pressed) I have ever enjoyed; very smooth, rich, deep, full-bodied and intense. I judged other coffees against these beans.

Recently, Starbucks changed to a Fair Trade group and presented a whole new line of coffees which, in my opinion, were so inferior and disappointing, that I quit buying from Starbucks and became a Peetnik.

Peet's Italian Roast whole beans are not dark at all, at least not in color. Instead of appearing almost black, they are brown, and much less oily than the old Starbucks beans. And, disappointingly, they do not have the deep, bold intensity that I have come to expect from a dark roast.

So now I am wondering...is "dark" out? Is bold and intense ni longer fashionable? We have seen Starbucks recently introduce a Blonde roast, and when I go to places like Coffee Review, the highly touted coffees seem now to be medium roasted. Where can I go for a real dark roast?
 

PinkRose

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Feb 28, 2008
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~ You may want to consider trying another local roaster. From he looks of the photo that you posted, it definately wasn't French roasted coffee. However, if you prefer the Starbucks coffee, there is no harm in getting what you like. There are a lot of people on this Forum who like Starbucks coffee (but many of them won't admit it).

Rose
 
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