Blue Bottle Coffee Review + Free Trial Offer – July 2016

Blue Bottle Coffee is a whole-bean coffee subscription with multiple options to suit your coffee needs. Generally you’ll get 12 oz of beans every other week for $17, or double your bag for an extra $11. They also offer half bag and triple bag subscriptions. The prices vary by a buck or so on your coffee selections.

My most recent arrival was Burundi Kayanza Karurisi.  I have the Origins subscription, but it’s easy to switch between the 3 types (Origins, Blend, Espresso) or one of the 8 specialty subscriptions available, as well as change the frequency and amount of coffee you receive in each shipment.  Each is produced from high-quality beans — it’s just a matter of what your taste preference is.  I like the variety of flavor notes and combinations that I get with the Origins subscription — including the delightful “rough edges” of the single-origin brews.   Currently, I prepare my beans with a Baratza Virtuoso burr grinder and make my coffee Americano-style with an Aeropress.  

Every bag includes the date on which it was roasted — this one was prepared on June 28, 2016.

Blue Bottle Coffee‘s notes do a great job of laying out the growing conditions and peculiarities of each coffee.  More than any other coffee subscription, Blue Bottle tries to capture the feel and essence of its coffees rather than declaring flavor notes with absolute authority.  They are fairly accurate with both identifying the specific notes and conveying a sense of the taste.

True to the Blue Bottle tasting notes, I found the Burundi Kayanza Karurisi to have very distinct red apple flavor like a very ripe red delicious.  It even exhibits a slight dryness that creates a mouthfeel evoking the mealiness of an overripe red delicious.  The body is light, smooth, and caramely, but not sweet.  There is a touch of sourness and bitter, like the peel of a red delicious — this coffee bears an uncanny resemblance to the fruit.  Visually, this single-origin displayed a remarkable variation in color and tone from bean to bean.

One of the things I love about Blue Bottle is the vast variety of coffee I can try.  This bean, for example, has such a spot on resemblance to a red delicious apple that I feel it’s a must try, even if  I wouldn’t choose it as my forever coffee.  I can whole heartedly enjoy the peculiarities and nuances of each selection knowing that my next delivery will whisk me away to an equally wonderful and surprising flavor destination.

Visit Blue Bottle Coffee to find out more or to subscribe. Get a free trial when you use this link!