good evening, fellow baristas,

after taking in the scent of some well-bruised bananas, i came to the realization of how wonderful a banana note would taste in coffee. i was wondering if anyone here had any particular suggestions of coffee with banana notes, whether it be a specific roast from a specific roaster or a general region. i prefer medium roasts, but i am open to any profile.

thank you for any suggestions you may share.

You just missed it! Peregrine's Papa New Guinea: "Banana Puddin', Pumpkin Ale, Spice Cake" were the flavor notes. It took me more than a few shots to get it dialed in for tasting the banana but it was there!

From ChatGPT:

Some coffees that are known to have banana flavor notes include those from the Sidamo and Yirgacheffe regions of Ethiopia, as well as some Central American coffees from countries such as Honduras and Costa Rica. These flavor notes are often described as being fruity, sweet and reminiscent of ripe banana. The specific varieties of coffee that can exhibit these flavor notes include Bourbon, Typica, and Caturra. Additionally, some natural processed coffees have a distinct banana note.

Yemeni beans. The one I've had was a coffee in the past from Yemen that stood out as one with banana flavor. Search this site for "banana" and also Google Yemen coffees and check the notes.

I've seen some Guatemalan coffees with an advertised Banana note. It is on my list to roast and try. There was one from Royal that seemed interesting:

https://royalcoffee.com/product/3427097000018715002/

I thought perhaps it would manifest more as a mouth feel thing, so it is interesting to hear members say that it is an actual flavor.

Recent discussion about this: Banana taste in Yemens

Google site search can help, but it's easier for searching green coffees since there's fewer places to search. Searching Sweet Maria's yields a lot of archived coffees that are no longer available. It also gives you an idea of the cultivars and origins that are more likely to have these notes.

site:sweetmarias.com "banana"
site:haceacoffee.com "banana"
etc.

I have a monthly subscription to Atlas Coffee. I did have a Bolivian La Pas from them that advised tasting notes of Banana and Custard. What I got from it was a note of Banana Custard. It was more like a custard that had banana flavoring, rather than a true fresh banana taste, if that makes sense. Even so, it was a delicious coffee that was very easy to dial in. Since Atlas do a monthly roast of different coffees each month, it is not available for purchase anymore. However, if it does show up again, I'll be sure to post a link here.

Don't judge me because it's decaf but it is a great coffee with strong banana notes

Black Acres:
Colombia La Serrania Peebies Decaf SCP

Tasting Notes: Graham crackers, Bananas, S'mores

I love it, it's my favorite decaf for both lattes and espresso

Prodigal just dropped new coffees, and one of them is described as having a banana note: https://getprodigal.com/products/la-cru ... -anaerobic