Seattle's Best Coffee

[Sequoia]

DO NOT BUY. YUCK!

I bought Seattle's Best Coffee organic "House Blend" about a year ago, and it was crummy, to say the least. Bitter, little flavor, rough. So I didn't buy it again.

Until I totally forgot about that, and bought some today.

They have a new marketing ploy, marking each coffee package with a special number. I picked up "Organic Fair Trade Level 4," which boasted that it was ""Rich, Elegant, Earthy." I took it home, and later that evening opened the package.

Well THAT didn't smell too promising. Kind of stinky, actually. But- "What the heck," I thought, "I already opened it, might as well brew up a pot and see how it tastes."



It was "Earthy" all right... as in, tastes like DIRT. Bitter, rough, nasty. I can't say it was anywhere near "rich" or "elegant."

I was dumb to fall for their new marketing ploy, and I was dumb to have forgotten that it was nasty before, too. Serves me right for picking up a cheap bag of coffee... yes, it's fair trade, and yes, it's organic... but you don't get GOOD fair trade organic coffee for $6 a package, apparently!

Guess I'll just scrimp and buy the (twice as expensive but a thousand times more delicious) locally-roasted, organic, fair trade, Taylor Maid Coffee & Tea brand coffee that I can buy whole-bean and grind at the store. The beans smell great, and it brews up a rich, flavorful treat. I'm more a fan of the Espresso Roast than the Goat Rock Roast, but anything beats Seattle's Best Coffee!

[sunnydawn]

I don't like Seattles best either. And I find it costs about as much as starbucks at their kiosk.

[metalgypsy]

Seattle's Best and Starbucks ground coffee are both have a dirt and burnt taste to me...If you have a Trader Joe's where you are, their organic, fair trade coffee's have all been winners for me, especially the French Roast

[bookworm]

I used to work there. No one liked level 4. Try level 3 or Level 5 (if you want a dark roast)

[Windsmith]

Seattle's Best was the coffee in the breakroom at my old job. It wasn't bad in enormous industrial quantities (especially when mixed with some stupidly sweet hot cocoa from the cocoa machine). Maybe they just have trouble scaling down? That'd be weird.

[antiquitas]

They use Seattle's Best at my local Burger King. They must use a dark roast because it is so strong I need at least 7 half&half tubs and 3 splenda to make it drinkable to me (I do not like dark roasts).

I've had it elsewhere, lighter roasts, and it was fine. But I don't go out of my way to buy it.

I can't buy the Starbucks for home use -- I always make it too strong, it's hard for me to perfect using it. But they use Starbucks at one of the campus cafes where I am and I love it. They know how to make it correctly though.

Sometimes I just think the barista or equivalent (like at Dunkin Donuts or BK) just don't know what the hell they're doing and they make it too strong, or they basically burn it (like old coffee taste).

I prefer Green Mountain, New England, and Caribou. The other brand used here on campus is a from a small company called Hammer, and it's really nice.

But I still think it's all in the barista.

[EavanStar]

Ive found the SB #2 to be ok, otherwise...bleh. Its strong as is SBux and pretty undrinkable.