Rave Coffee - Signature Blend Nº 1, Freshly Roasted Whole Beans Coffee 1Kg

At first this coffee didn't work out for me - I have a bean-to-cup machine and the espresso I made with these beans was acrid and bitter. It works best for my usual 3-bean (out of 4-bean maximum strength) latte macchiato or a cappuccino on a medium grind - it's got a lovely balanced, honeyed taste that's low in acidity. We had some workmen coming by our house and I made 4-bean cappuccinos for them - they were asking where I got this amazing coffee. No patch on Costa, et al. By the way, the beans had been roasted 3 days before I received them - really fresh! Will probably buy again.

You can tell that the beans are fresh not only by the roasted date on the bag (which was within the last week iirc) but more importantly by the fact that thge grounds bloom when you pour water on them (in say an Aeropress). The bloom is like the head on a beer and is due to CO2 being released by the coffee when the water is poured on the grounds. You only get this when the beans are fresh as the CO2 gasses off over time. If the beans are stale, you don't get a head on the coffee, simple as that. This is very nice coffee indeed and I think represents very very good value for money.

This blend is definitely good if you're used to 'stale' supermarket beans, plus if you buy on monthly subscription the price is fair value. For the real coffee connoisseur tho the taste is a bit on the bland side, tho nutty and chocolate rather than acidic/fruity is always good in my book, but there is a tad of bitterness too, probably from roasting a tad too dark. However,I use this blend at work in a French press and it does the job price/cost wise. A specific gripe is there is no roast date on the packaging so the beans you get could have been roast yesterday or could be as stale as the junk you get from a supermarket! For an artisan coffee that is poor.

The only thing that makes this coffee 'Everyday' is its price. Good freshly roasted coffee tends to cost around £4-5 per 250g bag, before you factor in postage, if you drink coffee all the time this can get expensive, most of the time buying a kg will save you a pound or two, or you sacrifice fresh roast or quality, but with Rave its half the price and still freshly roasted. This would all be for nowt if the coffee wasn't great, but its an exceptionally versatile blend making a great espresso but also a lovely smooth latte/flat white. I will still be experimenting with new blends from various online roasters for my espresso, but I cant see this being replaced for my every day cup of coffee any time soon.

Nicest espressos form any beans yet. Not too bitter but just well rounded full flavoured taste. However poor taste after some time. I normally freeze my beans in storage however with these beans I felt the taste deteriorated badly with time. Also I needed 2 shots to bring up to any strength of taste. After very positive initial thoughts I was happy to finish the bag and not return!

short version: tastes like coffee I often get served for breakfast in the UK in mid-class hotels, which is not a compliment. Weak taste even on the strongest setting and finest grind on my bean-to-cup machine. Long: After spending too much nespresso decided to upgrade to a good bean-to-cup machine, went for the Krups EA850B. Pretty decent machine based on the reviews so I doubt it's the machine's fault. When buying the machine we needed beans straight away so picked up some Starbucks, made quite decent coffee and that was from beans roasted a while ago. Based on the reviews here ordered this coffee and thought I couldn't go wrong. How wrong was I, this coffee tastes weak and the flavour is not Italian/European nor American. There's no depth or flavour, coffee doesn't look dark enough even on ristretto setting. Quickly got some costa coffee beans and emptied out the rave stuff. Straight back to decent tasting coffee. I know there's better coffee out there than Starbucks and Costa, but this isn't it. I guess I won't be buying coffee based on other peoples reviews again. Lesson learned. 1 star for fast delivery and freshness (ordered direct from rave)

This coffee tastes fantastic. As any coffee lover will tell you, to get the full taste and enjoyment from your coffee you should ground it within about 2 minutes of using them as after this 2 minutes the coffee starts to lose flavour. I get a nice buzz when drinking it and the taste is very nice. It doesn't taste bitter (although I think there is a tiny hint of bitterness) because it is arabica coffee beans. You get what you pay for, and whilst these coffee beans aren't the cheapest, you won't be disappointed with the taste! The smell of coffee as soon as you open up the bag is just immense! It is fantastic. I heard about these coffee beans from work because everyone drinks it! I know that Rave Coffee are popular for selling freshly roasted coffee beans, but I don't know how long Amazon store the coffee bags before selling it so I won't comment on the roasting dates etc as I don't know, but they certainly aren't as long ago as the ones you get at supermarkets. The only difference between buying from Amazon and Rave Coffee directly is that they nitrogen flush the ones they give Amazon to preserve freshness. Just leaves me asking myself why I have never used these coffee beans before!