Intelligentsia Coffee, Dark Roast Whole Bean Coffee - El Diablo Blend 12 Ounce Bag

I'm not really a big coffee aficionado so I can't personally attest to the flavor profile. I did not see a roast date on my package which many people commented on in their reviews. The beans were not dried and shriveled up like on other reviews. I used 2 cups of beans which wasn't even half the bag, so hopefully this bag is good for a month of use in a 1 person/1.5 cups per day household. I mostly got this as a way to stop paying for the canned harbucks coffees in the stores which are absurdly costly and take time out of my week to get. 10$/mo is a lot better than 90$ for the cans. The cold brew did not produce a black color which shocked my coworker, but the flavor was very high after a short 11 hour brew. The flavor is significant dulled after a shot of milk and vanilla. Both my taste testers thought the coffee was great. Coffee grounds are great for composting (green material) and your coffee bean grinder can also grind dried disinfected eggshells.

I've been brewing this in my Aeropress for a while now, and it's become a favorite. this is a lovely coffee -- velvety smooth, slightly sweet, creamy flavor with perfect notes of brightness. it's not too dark, not too acidic, not too *anything.* deep without bitterness, crisp without too much acidity. very quaffable! medium roast, great packaging, no woody, dank or off-notes. the bag seals back up easily. check the roasting date when you get yours to make sure it's fresh (although I think the kinks have been ironed out here). grind right before brewing. I think you'll be happy.

This brand has been ruined by private equity. This roast is a ghost of what it used to be. It used to be so flavorful and one of the best roasts. I was so proud that it was from the Chicago area. Now its a dark roast whittled down to nothing. It literally tastes like nothing and this new rebranded label is awful! The old one looked so chic. I’m not sure if the roast from Amazon is different from the site itself but this is not it!

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.

Intelli coffee beans are THE BEST OF THE BEST!! I always get them on Amazon when I can’t get them locally or need in a pinch. If you know how to brew coffee, you’ll soon learn this is the best. If you don’t know how to brew coffee, you too will learn it’s the best. It’s worth the price. Intelligentsia Coffee are the pioneers of true direct trade and have amazing relationships with their farmers. It’s the best coffee.

This is our favorite coffee for our espresso machine! We’ve tried others more local, but truly haven’t found come that compares. Super smooth

I'm an espresso nut and have several machines that I call my friends. One of these is a Jura S9 Avantgarde, and after trying dozens and dozens of various beans to find the perfect mate, Intelligentsia Black Cat Classic prevailed as the very clear winner. There may be better beans out there, but not for this machine. I've served thousands of shots of this espresso out of the Jura, and everyone is impressed by it... actually, not just impressed... blown away. It's not uncommon to have neighbors coming in the back door in the morning to grab a shot. This bean produces a perfect espresso... great crema, thick legs... smooth with no bitterness and a slight nut/chocolate finish. The best thing is the consistency... the beans are always the same... which is not true of so many other small producers. It's also great in cappuccini, macchiati, etc. I live very close to Intelligentsia in LA and buy beans there in person... but, my other house is 2 hours away... and when there, I order these beans online through Amazon. These mail order ones are fine... and are very similar to what you get in the store. It is a serious downer that Intelligentsia switched the size from 16oz to 12oz, which essentially upped the price by about 30%... but, it's still much cheaper than Illy or some others. When you buy in the store, the beans have usually been roasted only a few days before. From Amazon, it seems to be about 2 weeks... something like that. To be honest, it really doesn't make much difference... since the beans are whole and sealed, the taste between beans that are a few days from roasting versus 2 weeks is virtually indiscernible. If the beans were 1 day old versus a month or so, there would be a slight difference, but here... there's nothing really worth mentioning... and certainly nothing to prevent me from ordering them. There's lot of hype about this... but... As an aside, I much prefer these Classic beans to the Organic beans. The Classic seem to produce better crema, have less bitterness and less of the bright-forward flavor I try to avoid. UPDATE 7/30/2012: Purchased again from Amazon and the beans were about 2 months old. That's really pushing the limits of acceptability... probably will not order from Amazon again. Changed from 5 stars to 3.

Ordered it on a whim, then read the reviews and wasn't sure what to think. The coffee arrived, the "best by" date is 4 months away, so.. not super fresh but not expired. Then I made a couple pots.. I love it! I'd give it an A, definitely. No complaints, wonder how much better it would be if it were fresh. I'm considering making it a go to favorite.