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

I discovered Intelligencia coffee over a decade ago in Chicago and have been buying their high-end light and medium roast offerings ever since. Unfortunately, their prices have slowly risen to levels north of $26 a pound, causing me to try one of their Amazon offerings for less than half the price. I have been pleased with El Gallo, which is a great light roast coffee for breakfast when I don't have time to savor the unique flavors of a higher quality Latin American or Kenyan option. I recommend El Gallo as a good value, light roast choice.

I'm no connoisseur but my xBloom Studio allows me to reproduce more or less identical pourovers, across different batches of the same branded roast. I usually prefer brighter medium roasts, but let me say: over the past year, I've not found any other roast that's as consistently delicious, month after month, as Intelligentsia's El Diablo. Rich, smooth, and never bitter or burnt tasting like some dark roasts. I give this "safe choice" two thumbs up.

I was a true believer of Intelligentsia's espresso roast beans, I've been a big fan of their black cat classic and black cat analog espresso roasts. They took me awhile to find as I've tried dozens of different brands and this was the first brand that I tried that blew me away. The coffee smells just wonderful to me and just seems to take so little effort to make the perfect tasting latte in my opinion. Sadly I noticed a few months ago the Amazon page started rebranding the visuals and now the coffee tasting notes were just blatantly incorrect, I just assumed the amazon page was simply listing the wrong tasting notes because what I ordered was still the original bags with the correct tasting notes, exactly as described by the Intelligentsia website.Now it seems that the Amazon page was prematurely listing the new rebrand ahead of the website because with my most recent order I have finally received the rebranded coffee with what I can only assume is no longer the beans I used to know and love. They've changed their tasting notes for black cat classic from Chocolate and Marshmallow to Cherry Cola and Orange. They're not even in the same ballpark in terms of taste, this is textbook bait and switch. I've attached a photo of the two bags to compare. Terrible disappointment and now I've got to start trying new brands again.

Product is a very light blend to make it dark you have to blend it with another product, not what I was hoping for but you always get what you don't expect I'm not a great product after all

Absolute favorite espresso of all time!! You will never be disappointed with this espresso, it’s smooth, never bitter. Has the yummiest notes, makes the perfect latte! I completely stopped going out for coffee after buying an espresso machine and these beans! No coffee shop in my area can compare to how good my coffee tastes! That’s saying a lot! I even served it as my wedding!

I was searching for a different espresso coffee other than the usual Illy or Lavazza. I cam across this variety that was billed one of the best tasting, so I had high hopes. So far, I am disappointed. I don't care for the flavor. I have experimented with the ratio of grinds to water and the grind size and no matter how I change the levels I don't care for it.

This was tasty stuff, made a nice dopio shot of espresso. Will get again for special occasions.

I absolutely used to love this coffee, but like many other people with the changes the beans have become sour and unpalatable. Very disappointed that I now have to find a new brand.