blue bell mt coffee

[knicks791]

Has anyone ever try blue bell mt coffee?

[DougGuy]

I have been getting roasted beans from them until they switched roasters and they can't seem to function the word "dark." I hate that. Take some of the most delicious coffee in the world, beans that drove the UPS man friggin crazy until he got it off his truck, beans that when fedex dropped them on the doorstep and you open the door and all you smell is this rich full chocolaty coffee aroma, bring the box in the house and it fills the whole house with ~that~ smell, and then stop at a medium roast, just short of all the good things you LOVE about FC roasts, ohhhhh that pissed me off GOOD!

So I started roasting at home. Out of anger and frustration, for the beans they sell are mighty good, I am told that they are yellow cherry arabica and the entire worldwide production is only 500 bags/year. The coffee itself is quite small, almost peaberry in size, but it is delicious. I'm really new to roasting so I can't elaborate on all the fancy terms you read on this forum, and I don't know coffee like the back of my hand but I know the blue bell mountain coffee is very good when roasted extra dark, it puts the boutique over-rated and over-hyped Sbucks to shame. They can't touch this stuff.

You won't hardly go wrong getting green beans from them..

[dickc]

I bought some 2 or 3 times. The beans were not well prepped. They were full of rubbish, stones, s†icks and ugly beans, black ones, bug eaten, broken, and otherwise distorted. Still, I sorted carefully and then roasted and the coffee was decent, not remarkable, but better than grocery store. I used it mostly for gifts. Since it is dry processed, it makes tons of crema in espresso. I would not buy again though. When I bought, I did so because I was able to get a good price and free shipping. Now, look at his offerings. He has quite a rant about how he needs to get a fair price for his coffee - I think he says at least $6/pound as its such good coffee. And, his rant about shipping is completely confusing. At any rate, I don't think you can get free shipping unless it's on a slow boat from China. He also anticipates that you might be dissatisfied and he dares you to give him a bad rating. It's an interesting marketing strategy, but one that fails to appeal to me. He clearly thinks his coffee is better than it is. I'd much rather stick with SM as a tried and true provider of quality beans.

[Peter Frouman]

The beans were not well prepped. They were full of rubbish, stones, s†icks and ugly beans, black ones, bug eaten, broken, and otherwise distorted.

I ordered 40 pounds via one of their eBay auctions (got it for about $2.42/pound +$30 for expedited shipping). I'm no connoisseur but I thought it was pretty good and the batch I got did not have the quality problems you note. However, it has been about 4 months since I placed the order and I have only gotten a 22 pounds of the 40 pounds I ordered and various excuses for the delay despite paying extra for expedited shipping with the promise that the coffee would be shipped within 10 days via Priority Mail. They say I will get the rest next week and have promised to send extra coffee to make up for the delay. I'll believe it when I see it. I would not recommend them unless you can afford to wait a very long time (4 to 5 months or longer) to receive your order. It may cost a bit more per pound, but Sweet Maria's and other suppliers are much more reliable.

He has quite a rant about how he needs to get a fair price for his coffee - I think he says at least $6/pound as its such good coffee.

I also found his pricing rant quite annoying and it doesn't really make any sense. If he wants a minimum price per pound, he should set the starting price for the auction at that price or only have fixed price offerings.

[knicks791]

It took 4 months for shipment to arrive.

[swimjay]

Ordered roaster from him, also took four months, arrived in excellent condition. He was very good about responding to email, and service was otherwise good. So, if you're OK with waiting, maybe a little longer than you expect, would recommend, but can't speak to the the nature of his beans. He sent along a 6 oz. sample, which I'm waiting to try after I get more familiar with the roaster.

His free shipping is by container, which has to go through customs, and is probably tied to the harvest and processing schedule in El Salvador.

[knicks791]

Please be warned, coffee took 4 month and they only sent half the shipment. I opened it today and the beans were all yellow and did not roast well at all.

[drdantru]

so far 8 months + since I purchased a roaster from them, and still nothing. Up to recently good communication, but I figure I'm screwed, nothing at all. I figured they use the delayed shipment to avoid complaints with eBay, which has a 1 month time frame. Looks like I just donated my money with no recourse. I will have to recommend to avoid them as you just don't know if you'll get anything.

[swimjay]

Very sorry to hear that; I can imagine how frustrating it must be. My Gene roaster continues to function well. Maybe I was just lucky.

[drdantru]

So they did send to you and received OK. I figured wasn't ever going to happen. When they blocked my IP address so no access to their web site, I figured I was screwed. Good to hear it could happen. and glad working well for you, guess just unlucky.