Review #56: Joshua Tree Coffee Company

Name of Roaster: Joshua Tree Coffee Company Location of Roaster (City, State, Country): Joshua Tree, CA

Name of Roast: Breakfast Bliss Type of Roast (Light, Medium, Dark): Medium Origin of Beans: Colombia & Guatemala Price: $14 (12 oz.) Brewing Method (Drip, Chemex, AeroPress, etc.): Chemex Time Between Purchase and Brewing (Ballpark is fine): Twenty-Five Days Aroma: Opening the bag, one finds dark chocolate, the roast note, caramel, chocolate brownie, and nougat. On the grind, the scents deepen and largely remain constant, with the roast note disappearing, chocolate cake coming in, and a slight black peppercorn showing. On the pour, white cane sugar is primarily found, with a softer scent of caramelizing sugar underneath.

Flavor Profile: The sip had a medium entry on the palate, staying low in the mouth and flowing evenly back across the tongue. There is an initial blast of dark chocolate and roast note that are found higher on the palate, followed by a current of syrup underneath that stays on the center of the tongue. The sides of the tongue provide no additional flavor or context, while the aromatics are of the roast note, with black peppercorn and a light herbaceous quality beneath.

Overall Impression (What did you think of it? Anything else we should know?): Contrary the language on the label, what we found inside the bag was a dark roast. If you are expecting a medium roast with complexity from the interplay of Colombian and Guatemalan profiles, then you are in the wrong place. If you are a fan of dark roasts that taste "like coffee" at your breakfast table, this is the brew for you. We found nothing that made this cup stand out as compared to a big box retailer, which is not to say that the coffee failed to provide a pleasurable sip - it was a fine cup of dark roasted coffee with inoffensive aromatics - but our expectations from the bag's description differed from our tasting experience. In our opinion, the coffee improved with the addition of milk. Additionally, after our initial review, we paired it with a plum crumble, and the sweetness of the breakfast item tempered the roast flavors of the coffee, providing a more rounded cup. That stated, if you're in Joshua Tree and looking for locally roasted beans, this is your best bet, and we encourage everyone who frequents this website to support local roasters, so feel free to stop in and pick up one of these Instagram-worthy bags. Final Score (1-10, with 10 being the best cup of coffee in your life): 6.4. Where to Buy: Joshua Tree Coffee Company Looking to do a review of your own? Hop over to the Community and get to it!