Haha, that tasting review you just gave is great. And what to expect from Peets or Starbucks.

+1

Roast pictorials aren't just for style points!

I want to add that I didn't review these coffees to be snarky. I love reading Kevin Knox's contrarian viewpoints on his blog and his writing convinced me that an accomplished second wave roaster with "tremendous fidelity to green coffee and roasting standards" and best practices such as nitrogen-flushed packaging could truly offer a delicious contrast to what is commonly available from younger companies.

However, these top shelf offerings from Peet's did not in my opinion meet the quality standards he talks about.
(Post edited for clarity, so the scope of my criticism is not misunderstood.)

I have to admit, I do like a good deep dark roast every now and again. Something about it and cream in a french press isn't bad.

To be fair though, we should give a limited offering a test to see if it differs from the continuous/large lot coffee you bought.

portamento wrote:....However, these top shelf offerings from Peet's were a huge disappointment and do not show a commitment to quality in my opinion.

How is that reflective of a company's commitment to quality? They're serving what their target demographic wants from them and from the obvious, they're doing quite well at it. It's fine if it doesn't agree with your particular preferences, but I don't see how you can then interpret that as a blanket statement about their "commitment to quality".

TomC wrote:They're serving what their target demographic wants from them and from the obvious, they're doing quite well at it. It's fine if it doesn't agree with your particular preferences, but I don't see how you can then interpret that as a blanket statement about their "commitment to quality".

Not a blanket statement. Just contributing one person's anecdotal experience to the discussion. It's not meant to be conclusive; I mainly wanted to share some pictures and tasting notes with the group.

Wouldn't you agree that there are objective quality indicators that can be observed in (green and roasted) coffee that transcend personal preference?

Intrepid510 wrote:To be fair though, we should give a limited offering a test to see if it differs from the continuous/large lot coffee you bought.

I bought one of their limited offerings, the Ethiopian Queen. They only roast it once a week. It looked almost exactly like the photos posted above, somewhat oily and with charred spots here and there. I am not a trained coffee taster but the dominant character is clearly one of roast.

It's not terrible. I'm drinking it, brewed in my Brikka. I wouldn't drink it if it were really bad. I have thrown away many expensive bags of coffee from third wave roasters that were horribly under roasted. This coffee is okay. Burned coffee just isn't my thing.

Lots of people like American processed cheese, that may be their preference. Taste is subjective after all. But amongst those who know cheese well there is a consensus.

I am coming back to this because I have recently moved to an area where it's hard to get fresh roasted coffee. There are a few shops that sell from 3rd wave roasters but their hours leave something to be desired, plus I am not too fond of their chosen roasters. So I have been drinking a lot of Peet's because I have been able to find it consistently within 2 weeks of roasting. I have figured a few things out with the stuff.

The main thing that I have taken away is that you need to grind a little coarser than you would with most 3rd wave stuff, I think this is probably due to the fact that since it's roasted so much it's easier to extract. So I have been grinding for my Bonavita auto, somewhere in the range of a french press. By doing this it gets rid of a lot of the ash that gets pick up by grinding finer.

I have just been drinking like Dickenson's blend and the Gaia blends, and they are good well rounded coffees. Dickenson's is chocolate, caramel, and spice the Gaia is little deep dark fruit taste when brewed well. Overall, I think the bad reputation that these coffee's have is a little unfounded and might have a bit more to do with barista error.

I had a tasty shot at the Queen Anne Hill location in Seattle a few years ago - I've forgetten which blend they had. But I really regretted the purchase of a shot in Central Square Cambridge MA in March this year. I'll try the Garuda blend sometime and see if I still like it, but I will try it at home.

Whatever works for you is all that really matters. That limited offering Peet's coffee I mail ordered and said wasn't all that bad? About two days after posting that last summer I realized I was lying to myself. I threw those beans in the compost bin.