Coffee Bean Direct Six Bean Espresso, Whole Bean Coffee, Dark Roast, 5 Pound Bag (Pack of 1)

Ratings of 4+ coffees; overall rating meaningless
Since this feedback concerns at least four different Coffee Bean Direct coffees, the overall rating tells you nothing about any specific coffee. Below are recalculated ratings for the four coffees I was interested in:Six Bean Espresso, $35.21, 4.0 starsItalian Roast Espresso, $38.21, 4.33 starsDark Brazilian Santos, 40.75, 4.61 starsDark House Blend, $40.75, 4.67 starsThe ratings were primarily for whole bean coffees and the price was the Coffee Bean Direct current price for the 5 pound bag as of the date of my order.Note that there are reviews here for quite a number of other coffees. The reviews I reported above formed only a small percentage of the entire set of coffees reviewed in this feedback.To extract the reviews for any individual coffee, you need to search the feedback using keywords that will select out only the coffee you are interested in. I used keywords such as “Italian”, “six”, “Brazilian”, and “Dark House”. As Amazon doesn’t recalculate the ratings for such selections, you will need to calculate it yourself; a very tedious task.Note that I did disregard a couple of reviews:a 1 star rating complaining that the bag was punctured when delivered anda five star rating complaining that they were unable to receive a shipment to their military address.As neither re view concerned the qualities of the coffee, I felt they were meaningless.My experience with these coffees agrees with their relative ratings.I found the six bean blend to be quite uninteresting and fairly weak.The Italian roast contains only the deeper, more earthly flavors of the coffee; there was little of the more delicate, aromatic flavors. Several reviewers stated that this coffee has become less robust over time. I agree. Italian roast tends to deliver a bit more coffee dust than do the others. A few bags of this coffee were quite acidic, but the majority of the bitterness was left in the grounds after vrewing. I preferred to mix the Dark Italian roast with a more aromatic coffee to give me a fully flavored coffee. Works quite well with the Dark Columbian Roast.The Dark Brazilian Santos gives a good tasting coffee somewhere between the earthiness of the Italian and the fuller flavor of the Dark House Blend. This will be my fall back coffee if my preferred Dark House Blend is either unavailable or too pricy.The Dark House Blend is the coffee I was searching for. It has a good deep flavor with plenty of the more complex flavors of the less robust blends. It is a coffee that’s worth rolling around in your mouth to savor the complexities of its’ flavor. The Dark House Blend is listed as a bit more acidic than the others, but it did not produce a bitter taste. When I tasted the grounds after brewing, I did not discern any bitterness; there was little flavor left over after vrewing. This is going to be my preferred choice until the price exceeds what I’m willing to pay.A couple of other notes:I prefer my coffee quite strong. I use about a coffee measure (2 Tbsp) per 5 ounce cup. That means that I find most restaurant coffees quite insipid – same thing for coffee brewed by friends and aquaintances.It is well worth comparing the delivered price of the coffee both directly from CoffeeBeanDirect and from Amazon. Coffee Bean Direct has two shipping prices: $5 for shipments of less than 25 pounds and free for 25 pounds or more. If you have the freezer room, consider buying several bags at a time and storing them in the freezer until needed.While some Amazon sellers may sell these coffees for significantly less than Coffee Bean Direct, some people have reported that such sellers are selling off old stock that has deteriorated over time. Coffee Bean Direct sells only freshly roasted coffee. A reasonable approach may be to order popular coffees through Amazon, counting on the high demand to ensure that the received coffee is reasonably fresh. Note that some reviewers have reported that coffee received directly from Amazon were as much as six months old.Amazon provides good buyer protection in case of non receitp or receipt of damaged goods. Coffee Bean Direct does not. According to their terms, the buyer bares the risk of loss or damage during shipment. However, their terms also state: “If you are dissatisfied with your order, you can return it for a refund of the product value.” This should be consider as not overriding the shipping terms. I.e., you must have recieved an undamaged order before you can take advantage of the return terms. And, then there are the issues of loss or damage during the return shipment which I assume is your responsibility. Having said all that, I have had no problems ordering directly from Coffee Bean Direct; all shipments have arrived very quickly with no damage.Coffee Bean Direct accepts Amazon payments as well as Paypal and credit card payments. However when purchasing direct from Coffee Bean direct, their shipping terms apply, not those of Amazon or Paypal. attempting a chargeback on a lost or damaged order may well not prevail, no matter which payment form you select.

Italian Espresso roast – perfect for my daily drink
The wife and I love coffee. We’re not coffee aficionados that pick apart this and that about beans and roasting, we leave that to the pros. But we do appreciate a good cup of joe on a daily basis. This coffee delivers. Given how much coffee we drink, I’m curious to see how long this 5lb bag will last us. I’ll update this review when I’m down to a pound, that means it’s re-order time. This has become our daily drinker and has replaced the Starbucks Espresso Roast that we’ve been buying for $10/lb the last couple years. It makes a nice, dark smooth coffee each and every time. Almost sweet and not very acidic. For my 16oz traveler, I fill it up, put half a tsp of Coffeemate creamer and half a tsp of sugar and I’m good to go. Aromatic, and nice and bold, just sweet enough to enjoy for my first hour of the day. Keep in mind, we do not own an espresso maker, this stuff goes in our grind and brew coffee maker each and every day…twice a day. I’m not a big espresso drinker, not because I don’t like it, but because I don’t own a machine and don’t really have the time to make shots most days. This coffee seems like it would do the trick in that dept as well, but I wouldn’t know. I do know that this coffee makes a great daily drip that is not too in your face but gives you exactly what you’re looking for. We will be purchasing again when the time comes, and as always, excellent job Amazon, for quick delivery.EDIT 1/24/11I meant to update when I re-ordered coffee but forgot. This 5lb bag lasted us from 10/30/10 through 1/17/11, sometimes brewed twice, most times brewed once daily. I got wonderful news from my doc that I needed to cut my daily caffeine intake, so I’m down to brewing in the morning, which means this next batch of coffee might last a little longer…let’s see how fresh it stays. All-in-all, this was a very good coffee. So good that we’ll continue to purchase this brand and blend from now on.EDIT #2 5/10/11Upgrade to 5-stars.I re-ordered another 5lb bag at the end of April 2011. The previous bag didn’t last nearly as long as my first order. I tihnk it has something to do with the fact that we (wife and I) purchased an expresso maker. It’s not a fancy one, but the mypressi TWIST Handheld Espresso Maker makes pretty good espresso and these beans realy do make a decent shot. I don’t have a burr grinder, but bought this Mr. Coffee electric grinder to prepare grinds for the espresso shots. Even after being ground with an electric grinder (purists will not agree), these beans do make a good shot with even better crema. Now I can honestly say these beans do not disappoint one bit – for both daily drip coffee and single shot espresso, these beans are superb.