Aiming lower: Trader Joe's Italian Roast
May. 27th, 2009 10:21 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elfsSince we're broke trying to save money in the current economic crisis, as I went shopping yesterday for dinner I bought some cheap coffee. Trader Joe's Italian Roast, which at $8.65/lb is less expensive than the $10.50/lb I pay for any of the brands at QFC, or even the (gasp) $16/lb I would spend these days for Dead Man's Reach. (When I get a job, though, I am so buying myself some DMR, though.)
Trader Joe's Italian Roast is an unremarkable coffee. It's more bitter, closer to the historical coffees you might remember when your father drank it, but definitely better than that; it's smoother and more forgiving, and when you first pour the beans out they're dark and oily and just they way they should be. It's like heirloom coffee, in a way.
The taste is slightly bitter and has a high palette, very little nose with some chestnut in it, and a very strong chocolate aftertaste that is nice. It's not great coffee-- the opening notes are somewhat astringent, but that fades very quickly-- but it'll do.
On the other hand, it has a lot of caffeine. I mean, make the "Elf jittery with one cup" lot. I don't know whether this recommends it to you, or not, but there you have it.
Trader Joe's Italian Roast is an unremarkable coffee. It's more bitter, closer to the historical coffees you might remember when your father drank it, but definitely better than that; it's smoother and more forgiving, and when you first pour the beans out they're dark and oily and just they way they should be. It's like heirloom coffee, in a way.
The taste is slightly bitter and has a high palette, very little nose with some chestnut in it, and a very strong chocolate aftertaste that is nice. It's not great coffee-- the opening notes are somewhat astringent, but that fades very quickly-- but it'll do.
On the other hand, it has a lot of caffeine. I mean, make the "Elf jittery with one cup" lot. I don't know whether this recommends it to you, or not, but there you have it.
