Intelligentsia Whole Bean Coffee, Light Roast, Black Cat Espresso 12 Ounces

It's a bit surprising to see the negative reviews about age and flavor. To be fair, I only had one bag so far, which I bought that a local "Wholepaycheck Market", so perhaps I was just lucky. Age of beans, presentation: The roasting date was about 4 months prior, but the beans smelled extremely good. Almost like they are "cheating", whatever that would mean. Also, there was nothing stale in the taste of the cups. Expiration date was set well in the future. I think that the packaging is just adequate for the beans to last beyond the often expected 2-weeks. Whoever wants that should not buy coffee on Amazon, but only go to local roasters, or perhaps order from let's say Touchy Coffee for $28/12oz. The coffee: Roast level is medium-light, just like the packaging promises. As mentioned above, the beans are very delightfully fragrant. I tried some pour-overs which where ok. I am also not very good at those. But in my Espresso machine for milk based flat whites, the coffee turned out amazing. Sort of like a medium roast that has a bit of that acidity punch of light roasts. But not disturbing at all. It really composed to an incredibly well balanced cup. My recipe: BIT Renato 21g filter basket. 17.2g coffee + puck screen. About 1:1.6 ratio (let's say 27-28g), and slow flowing! For some reason I got my favorite results when the flow time was 30 seconds or longer, measured from the moment that the machine button was pressed. You could say that I am preparing it like a darker roast. Looking forward to experimenting with larger rations when I open the next bag.

These beans were delicious and fresh. I am extremely happy I tried these. It took a little to dial in at first as it was a little sour. I had to grind a little finer and pull a 1:2.5 ratio (18g in, 45g out) with a 30s bloom on my espresso and the flavor was magical! If you have the money, time, and patience to try this coffee, I strongly recommend it!

I am a huge fan of Intelligentsia and consider it one of the best coffee brands on the market. I regularly buy Black Cat Classic directly from Intelligentsia coffee shops in Los Angeles and have done so for years. One of the reasons I love this brand is their serious approach to roasting quality — especially their stance on not burning coffee, which is something many mass-market brands get wrong. Anyone who takes coffee seriously knows that roast date matters more than expiration date. Intelligentsia baristas themselves consistently emphasize that beans should ideally be consumed between 10 and 30 days after roasting for optimal flavor. I’ve personally seen Intelligentsia shops discard beans that exceed this window. Unfortunately, the bag I received from Amazon tells a very different story. The roast date on my Black Cat Classic is November 16, 2025 (photo attached). That makes these beans nearly three months old at the time of delivery. This is well beyond what Intelligentsia considers acceptable in their own retail locations. The result? My morning coffee tasted flat, watery, and lifeless — barely resembling what Black Cat Classic normally delivers. This is not the product experience Intelligentsia is known for, and it’s deeply disappointing to receive something that would never be sold in their own cafés. If this is the official Intelligentsia store on Amazon, selling coffee roasted over 30 days ago seriously damages the brand’s reputation. Anyone who is okay with stale beans can buy Starbucks or Dunkin’. People buy Intelligentsia precisely because they care about freshness and quality. I’m disappointed to leave a low rating because I truly love this brand — but selling beans this old is unacceptable for specialty coffee.

Pros: Very complex Rich Excellent for doubles and triples Cons: A bit expensive Merely adequate for singles Overall: I very much like Black Cat Espresso. I consider it the bar against which other espressos are measured. I like it more than Kicking Horse, Lavazza, and Stumptown. Its flavor profile is very complex. It has its fair share of caramel and chocolate, but it also has a spicy, savory nature to it, and very fruity notes that come out well in singles. This is not a large-scale, homogenized coffee. Different regions and roasts result in different flavors from each bag. Sometimes that spiciness becomes a sort of salty flavor, and the fruits can turn very flowery. It is an easy espresso to make. Even shots that aren't perfect come out tasting pretty good. It's also a forgiving blend in that the shots are not prone to channeling. Singles are good, because any good coffee becomes light and toasty in a single, as opposed to the rich, crema-bombs of doubles and triples. Still, this espresso is very much intended for doubles or triples. In drip coffee, it's alright. And by drip, I mean any immersion process, be it French press, Aeropress, drip, pour-over, etc. The flavors get blown out, with the spices overwhelming the chocolates and caramels and resulting in a coffee that's not terribly smooth. Of the immersion processes, Aeropress tasted the best, probably because it most closely approximates espresso. Black Cat is a bit expensive, but not terribly so. Especially when one considers the increases in coffee as of late, -even Starbucks Tribute was $14 per pound- the price isn't crippling, but it is definitely above many other brands. You can save a little money by buying in five-pound bulks on Intellgentsia's website, but it's not a good idea to keep coffee beans around for that long when you can just as easily get it fresh. All said, Black Cat is espresso that more often than not finds its way into my machine. UPDATE: Something that I forgot to mention in my initial review is that Black Cat is a very complex blend. That means that cheap stepped grinders WILL NOT grind the coffee correctly for espresso. Some higher-end stepped grinders will do the job, like the Rancilio Rocky, but you'll want a good, stepless grinder to fine-tune the grind. This is especially important if you have an espresso machine that's very picky about grind. Finally, this is not a terribly cremariffic espresso, which means to get a good amount of crema out of it, and thus really have a good canvas for latte art, you're going to have to prepare triples. UPDATE #2 ABOUT WEIGHT: It is very important to realize that the various sellers selling this are NOT SELLING THE SAME PRODUCT. The beans are the same, and most of the sellers are selling freshly-roasted beans. They are selling different weights, though. Need Caffeine is selling one-pound bags (16oz), whereas Trade Concepts and Abernook are selling 12oz bags for the same price. If different sellers than the above mentioned become available, e-mail the seller to ask the weight of the bag. It's the only way to ensure that you are getting a full pound. This is supposed to be the product page for the full-pound bag. That's why there is a separate product page for the 120z bag. I am very disappointed in Trade Concepts and Abernook.

This is the only espresso bean I've bought, so I can't really compare it to other beans. But I like it. I just make regular coffee with it. Despite the instructions for my French Press to brew for only 4 minutes, I found that I had to brew for longer to bring out the rich sweet chocolatey taste. I let it stew for at least 8 minutes, but 15 minutes tastes good too. Brewing this bean for only 4 minutes results in a relatively diluted, tasteless coffee. I use a ceramic grinder to grind the beans immediately before brewing. It has a thick, mouthy texture. The beans smell strongly of smoky chocolate/truffle, almost cloyingly so. The taste is thick and sweet. I would recommend brewing for longer if possible to try and bring out more flavor. You get a 16 oz. (1 lb.) bag for the price, so it ended up being $20+ after shipping.

Not impressed. This coffee was ground perfectly but brewed weak. Flavor was so-so. 2 scoops for 4 cups of coffee produced a noticeably light brew (required 3 scoops). I got better results with Amazon's own whole bean light roast. I won't be buying this again.

I'm honestly so shocked this espresso has a 3.9 rating. I think it has lot to do with the fact I'm guessing people aren't pulling the shots correctly and following the right process with espresso. This is by far the BEST espresso I've ever had outside of an actual coffee shop. I don't even go get coffee/lattes anymore I just make it at home. I always check the date obvs to make sure it's fresh, but the taste is great. It's very smooth, and smells like espresso you'd grab from your fav coffee place. And, the price is perfect for the quality. I use the Breville Barista Express machine, and this espresso has pulled the best shots. Thank you!

I’ve been using Lavazza dark roast for some time run through a Krups espresso and would adjust flavor with grind but, I recently purchased a G3(Marzocco) and there are various ways to “adjust” the intensity, aroma , flavor… with this machine. I still have a Barista “Virtuoso” that’s going on 10 years(burr grinder) . Decided to try one of the many bean blends now available and roasted in house. You can now purchase a coffee bean roaster for your home but blending beans is the tricky part and uber retentive (at least in my part) but after several 12 ounce sampler pack I purchased here on Amazon , this one is my most favorite. It’s not an oily bean so don’t expect a lot of “crema”but , I can taste the chocolate , a little caramel and toasted brown sugar in my brew. Definitely will keep this one on my shelf !

Actually a really nice coffee, perfect taste

Old production