Just got my 1st pound of Blue Jaguar to try along with my standard 5lbs of RedBird Espresso. I have now tried both side-by-side and the comments made above by members who have tried both are right on point! The BJ is more chocolately with a wonderful rich taste - works best in milk, I think. It is certainly different than RedBird Espresso - somewhat richer and sweeter in milk with a lovely lingering aftertaste - rather more like a desert coffee at lunch than a morning eye-opener.

Right now it is tasting rather powerfully and distinctly - so I am not ready to make a major switch from RedBird, but BJ is clearly a wonderful blend to have on the occasion when a cappuccino or latte is called for.

I'll continue to use up the pound, alternating with RedBird Espresso and post if my opinion changes in any way. Thanks to the posters above for their accurate and generous opinions.

My morning's Blue Jaguar Cappuccino:

So I finally circled around to Full Bloom again. I took 6oz out and used immediately (frozen 2 days after roast, and then two weeks in the freezer), and I didn't enjoy it. I got bitter chocolate, tobacco and cigar ash at 91C. HOWEVER I also get this from Redbird and Blue Jaguar (which is why I stay away from both). It makes me wonder if it's the roast profile they use OR possibly if Full Bloom is a component of those blends? I'm no expert.

So I took the final 6oz out and let it sit a least a week. Bitter chocolate and tobacco dialed way back, and I'm getting some wine, but this isn't a coffee I'll likely return to. I'm not getting honey or fruit. I'm going to try 93C tomorrow to see if it changes for the better. I don't think so since I'm not getting acidity/sourness at 91C, but it's worth a try. My dose is 15g in the La Spaziale 53mm basket yielding 25-30g of espresso in about 30s.

So that's my $.02 FWIW. YMMV.

LukeFlynn wrote:I was able to pull a very good shot this morning, I think it's finally hit it's peak extraction window.

17.2g in
36g out
30ish seconds

Sweet Blue, correct? Can you describe the taste?

Got mine today and looking for reference points to see if I can compare to my shot... doing only espresso. Ohh, and very nice of them to include a piece of chocolate... wife was quick to grab it and disappear with it





Thank you!!

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Yes, Sweet Blue.

It's very chocolatey in milk.

It's dominated by roasty characteristics in straight shots.

I think the description on redbird's site is pretty spot-on. Spicy dark chocolate bar. Sweet, dark chocolate, baking spice.

I bought the Sweet Blue several times when Jeff was still roasting. One 5 lb bag (5/15) was sweet milk chocolate in a straight shot. Next bag (8/15) was more dark chocolate but still very nice as a straight shot. Roasts were a nice Full City (medium) with no unpleasant roast flavors.

jfrescki wrote:I think the description on redbird's site is pretty spot-on. Spicy dark chocolate bar. Sweet, dark chocolate, baking spice.

Made an espresso this morning with the Sweet Blue. Definitely a dark chocolate... not sure I can say sweet... I need to test different doses and grind settings... the one this morning was 15 grams, tamped, 22 gram extraction, 53mm pf. Grinder setting on my Breville 870 was at 4. It was too fine...need to test at 5 as the flow was not correct (very slow flow...under extraction?? I still got the 22 grams but man! was it slow).

What I noticed is that it tasted better once it cooled down than right hot out of the pull.

I will try again this afternoon with a coarser grind setting and see... and then maybe up the dose to 17 and extract again...

But it is my kind of espresso y how much body and creamy it comes out. Just need to play with the settings to see if I can compare with what others have mentioned.

The lack of more Breville 870 owners in this forum that I can compare shots with is going to drive me to an earlier than planned upgrade I hate not being able to compare a pull like some of you guys are doing...

Had to take the grinder up to 7... 15.5 grams in and 25 grams out. Love the taste of this coffee. I will share the video in a minute. I think that I can lower the grind to 6 and it should flow better...but this one was good. Wife and father-in-law loved it.

And again, first sip hot was not as good as the sip after it had cooled down a bit. Not sure how to describe it...higher acidity hot, much lower just a few degrees cooler... don't get me wrong, great taste, rich and full dark chocolate for sure...

I still put two grams of sugar after tasting it... but that is just me until I keep going down to no sugar... I wonder if I let it cool down more if the taste would be such that no sugar would be needed...

Either way, this is one on the list to order again....

I will grind at setting 6 to see if I can slow down the pull...