We at Best Quality Coffee recently got our hands on Dean & DeLuca's new line of premium coffee. As a quick backdrop to the story of Dean & DeLuca coffee, the company had discontinued their original line of wildly-popular coffee in favor of a new line roasted by Tobe Estates Coffee Roasters. Having reviewed their previous coffees before (see review), the expectations were naturally set high. Needless to say, we were very excited to try Dean & DeLuca's latest gourmet coffee offerings. Read our Dean & DeLuca coffee review below to see where it ranks in the realms of top gourmet coffee.
Dean & Deluca Coffee Review: Single Origin Coffee (Tobe Estate Roasters)
A few things are obvious when you receive a bag of Dean & DeLuca Coffee.
First it's obvious that Dean & DeLuca isn't trying to sell their product with sexy graphic design or flashy bags that catch your eye. It’s a black bag with simple gray text on a white sticker and no color. This wasn't off-putting to me. I figure a company that doesn’t dress up their product with pictures of steaming cups and mounds of coffee beans overlaid with outlines of equatorial countries must be comfortable letting their product speak for itself.
The second thing that stood out to me was the “roasted” date printed on the sticker. My bag was roasted April 17th and I received it on the morning of April 19th. For coffee lovers freshness is everything and it's clear that Dean & DeLuca get that.
When I cut the bag open my nose was greeted with an aromatic pleasure you just can’t get from coffee that's been sitting on a grocery store shelf for weeks. It was a smell so rich you could almost taste it. I have to confess that I like smelling coffee nearly as much as I like drinking coffee, something I think any true coffee lover can relate to. My bag of Dean & DeLuca Single Origin Filter was teasing my senses. I had to get brewing!
Lately I’ve been on a bit of a French press kick so I filled up the teapot and put it on the stove. My bag of Dean & DeLuca Single Origin was a lighter colored bean. I grounded enough for a few cups and proceeded to start my first brew.
To understand the unique experience this coffee delivers you have to understand a bit about what a single origin coffee is. A single origin coffee is a coffee that is sourced from a single place. This can be anything from a single coffee plantation to a geographic region. Single origin coffees are generally roasted lighter in an effort to accentuate the natural tasting notes of the coffee. Many large coffee companies blend beans from several locations and roast them darker to offer a consistent taste year after year. Their goal is to make the coffee fit the flavor profile. Single origin coffees are much more akin to the way flavor is expressed in wine. In this way, a good single origin coffee will offer a flavor snapshot of the particular place and time where the coffee was grown. Single origin coffee from the same farm will express different flavors from one year to the next. And that’s the point; that it tells its own story.
Dean & DeLuca’s Single Origin Filter coffee is a fantastic brew. This is not your generic cup of joe. Java drinkers who have grown accustomed to chocolatey, nutty, coffee may be surprised by its tea-like body. The initial bready flavor gives way to a fruity citrus taste that electrifies the back and sides of your tongue. D&D describe this fruity flavor as “Anjou Pear”, and I can’t really argue with them. To me it seems like a gentle lemon lime zest. It hits your pallet smoothly and finishes with an exciting burst that makes you want to immediately put the cup back up to your lips and take another sip.
In wrapping up this Dean & Deluca coffee review, if you've never tried single origin coffee, I can’t recommend Dean & DeLuca Single Origin Filter highly enough. This was my wife’s first taste of single origin and it has been growing on her with every cup we brew. You can expect a higher acidity, medium-light roast coffee with a fruity profile. You can also expect a unique tasting experience that will transport your taste buds to an exotic location (in this case Santa Barbara, Colombia) captured in the subtle tasting notes and distinctive aromas produced by meticulously processed coffee. And it’s delivered fresh to your door!
Currently, this exquisite coffee is only available at Dean & DeLuca's website.
If you've had the pleasure of trying this coffee and would like to leave your own Dean & DeLuca coffee review, we'd love to hear from you.
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