Trader Joe's Joe

Trader Joe's has become my new favorite source for coffee. The first two I purchased were stellar!

• Ethopian Peaberry 
• Costa Rican Tarrazu

Unfortunately I can't say the same for Trader Joe's Joe. The front says "an exceptionally smooth cup of coffee." If by smooth they mean minimal flavor and boring after taste then they got the description correct. I kept playing around with the bean/water ratio to see if I could get it to taste any better, not much luck. You definitely need a significant amount of beans to get this coffee to be passable. Even with the extra beans, it only becomes a 'drinkable' coffee, not something I would classify as 'enjoyable.' It's only a $1 less than some other beans they sell; don't get fooled by the bargain, it's not worth it.

 

The beans look and smell good, but the flavor is much too mellow for my taste. I'm not a fan of dark roast coffees either, but this is just too simple. Even if you were serving coffee to a large group and wanted to save some money I would not recommend this at all.

 

Trader Joe's Joe somehow recovered to get a 2 out of 5 rating, maybe because of my other successes with other TJ coffee. Save your money, time, and taste buds, pick any other TJ coffee than this. If you're wondering, I'm saying the 1 out of 5 for something that is just BAD. Not that I'm looking forward to that.

Bottom Line Rating:2/5