Unroasted Green Coffee Beans for Small Batch Roasting – Specialty Grade Nicaraguan Arabica Coffee with Smooth, Sweet & Well-Balanced Flavor – 3 Lb (Caturra Varietal)

My wife and I have constantly been on the hunt for the best home coffee we can find for years. We had settled into Peet's French Roast and Starbuck's Verona, depending which one was on sale. Great products. Then I saw a video about roasting coffee at home, and remembered I'd always wanted to try it. While watching subsequent videos to learn how to do the roasting, I got tipped off to this brand of green coffee on Amazon. I ordered some, and my wife was very doubtful about messing with our daily coffee set-up. I took about 8oz. out of the bag to start with, and roasted it in a steel saute pan in the kitchen. I pulled out some of our regular dark roasted beans and roasted these green beans to just about match the color of the store bought ones. During this first roasting attempt, the kitchen filled with a light, aromatic smoke, but not enough to set off the smoke alarms. Luckily, I hadn't tried to roast a larger quantity, which almost certainly would have set off the alarm. The next morning, we brewed the new coffee. Compared to the commercial beans, the flavor was lighter with less of the ponderous, bitter taste we'd come to associate with dark roast. The aftertaste was more wholesome, and once our tastebuds adjusted to the lighter drinking experience, we realized this coffee went better with food, and was less acidy. Now we don't walk around with burnt coffee breath, and (not to be gross here) my urine doesn't smell like I'm rinsing out a coffee urn. Caffeine levels seem about the same if not a little higher. If you try to brew this coffee stronger to match the flavor intensity of the commercial beans, you will probably not reach the deeper, burnt commercial taste, but your fingers will start to tingle, letting you know caffeine is high. We don't have the need to go that strong, but to each his own. I now roast one pound at a time on the gas grill side burner outside, and that just about gets us through the week. I love the smoke smell sticking to my hands, clothes and sinus cavity after roasting. It's a pleasing, unique smell that I find myself beginning to crave. My wife loves this coffee, and is sure "this is the one" and our long search is at an end. After six weeks, I would be very apprehensive to switch her back to commercial coffee now.

I've always been a coffee lover. Being of spanish descent, having a good strong cup of coffee is of utmost importance. I grew up on Cafè Bustello and making coffee in the sock (coffee grinds in a sock that you pour boiling hot water over and let steep in a pot.) Much of the flavor derived from the coffee came from re-using the sock / coffee ground method over and over. As I got older, I upgraded to whole bean coffee and a grinder to grind myself. I threw away the sock method of brewing and used a simple pour over instead. As the flavors in coffee became more succinct and aromatic, I continued to explore new and innovative ways to make coffee. Recently I stumbled upon an article that talked about saving money by buying green coffee beans. It piqued my interest and I found I could roast my own coffee without having to invest in expensive gadgets. I did a quick search on Amazon for "green coffee beans" and came across all the great reviews that Primos Coffee Co. had. I decided to make the jump and quickly bought 3 lbs of green coffee beans. When the beans arrived I used a stainless steel pot to roast them. I waited 24 hours before grinding them and then quickly made myself a cup of coffee. I became hooked! I have never tasted such a rich and aromatic cup of HOME MADE coffee!! Who knew you could get coffee house style coffee at home and for a fraction of the cost. I would highly recommend these beans to anyone who is looking to brew coffee at home. There is a learning curve to roasting and especially if your looking to roast via the stove top method. Personally, I didn't want to spend money on a hot air popcorn popper because my kitchen is small and cupboard space is valuable real estate. Instead, I poured over article after article that discussed using a heavy stainless steel pot to roast green coffee beans. It was very challenging and because I like my coffee beans on the dark side, there's a fine line between dark / oily dark / and the dreaded burnt bean. Make sure you get the pot nice and toasty before pouring 1 cup of green coffee beans in. Once the beans are in the pot begin stirring with a wooden spatula and don't stop! Train your ear to listen carefully for that first and second crack. Once you get to second crack, the beans seem to come alive and it sounds like bacon sizzling on a frying pan. Throughout the entire process the key is to constantly stir the beans with a wooden spatula AS WELL AS shake the pot back and forth. This helps the beans get an even roast between them. I've experimented with just stirring and only shaking and found that a combination of the 2 motions help even out the roast of the beans. Otherwise, you'll have both dark-dark- roasted beans and chocolatey caramel colored beans in the same roast. Once the beans come to a preferred roast, quickly whisk them out of the pot and into a mesh strainer. If you live in the northeast, take your beans outside and whisk them in the chilly winter air to cool. It also helps get the chaff off the bean without having your kitchen look like a chocolate feather contest gone wild. After the beans cool, place them in a glass jar and seal. I've found that the flavor becomes richer the longer you let the beans rest. 3 day "old" beans are a perfect rich cup of coffee for me whereas next day or 2 day old beans have a mild flavor. 1 cup of green coffee beans yields me 5 days worth of coffee.

They are both quality beans with very few bad or broken beans. But I preferred the Caturra more. The Parainema variety had too much of an acidic finish. I tried the Caturra first and at just about any roast it came out really nice. The Parainema was roasted to medium and a slightly darker roast and mixed the roasts at a 2:1 medium to dark ratio. I'm tempted to try a blonde roast and see if that makes it more tolerable on the finish. My Roasting Method: I used a 1475 Watt popcorn popper with about 2 ounces in each batch. It took about 5 minutes to reach first crack and about 1-3 minutes after it began the second crack and then I pulled it off the heat during second crack. Brewing Method: This is where I might have gone wrong and will update my review if the acidic finish is just from using water that was too hot. I measured out 15 grams of coffee for 8 ounces of water. put the grounds in the hot water and let it steep for 3 minutes. Agitated it a few times and it created a dark cup of coffee with a very nice thick foam on top. Taste(Parainema Variety): It has a very silky mouthfeel, extremely easy to drink, with a depth of flavor, very smooth and easy on the palette. Then a lingering acidic aftertaste that just doesn't go away. It's just interesting how the finish is in such contrast with the initial taste. In the end the over-acidic finish was just overwhelming and will have to experiment to see if I can get that down a bit. I understand that this is a characteristic of this bean and there are many brewing methods that can change that profile a bit, so will experiment with different roasts, temperatures and brewing methods to try and make a less acidic result.

I am a home roaster coffee enthusiast. I purchased these fresh green coffee beans because they are the best selling unroasted coffee beans on Amazon. I roasted them on both a hot air popcorn popper as well as a commercial drum coffee roaster to see how they taste. I received exactly what was listed on this listing which described the coffee as fresh, Nicaraguan coffee. The tasting notes in the description were correct. Roasting The Coffee This coffee is very forgiving when it comes to roasting it perfectly. Whether you roast this on a hot air popcorn popper, a sheet pan in your oven or a commercial drum coffee roaster like I did, the results were good. On the hot air popper, the beans roast fairly consistent. I didn't experience uneven roasts, indicating that the green coffee were processed properly and their harvesting practices are consistent. The drum roaster I have roasts over a pound of coffee at a time. First crack was reached at 386 degrees which is consistent with many specialty coffees. Tasting the Coffee The tasting notes on the hot air popcorn popper were more muted than the drum roaster which is expected. Regardless, tasting notes were similar, just on a different level. Myself, along with a few other family members had a cupping where we discussed the coffee and tasting notes along with the overall consensus. Nutty, earthy, chocolatey, creamy, gentle lemonade acidity, honeysuckle wildflower sweetness with a dirty finish. This is not a complex coffee, but would please many people who would drink this as their morning cup of coffee. Even roasted light, the average coffee drinker wouldn't be be bothered by the light acidity. These are quality fresh green coffee beans that are specialty grade will produce a decent cup of coffee. I made a video of me roasting this coffee on both a popcorn popper as well as the drum roaster at the Virtual Coffee Lab. It also includes the actual tasting I did with my family which you might find helpful. The coffee smelled fresh and was enjoyable to roast and drink. I do recommend this coffee.

This green coffee from Primos is great! I have been using it for months with my SR-800 air roaster and the results are fresh, delicious espresso every day. I started with a sampler pack, but enjoyed the Caturra so much that I have come back for more! The bean quality is great. I have found only one defective bean in all the roasts I have done. I end up roasting 225g of green beans every 8-10 days to a perfect light roast. The flavors from this bean are bright and fruity with very little acidity when light roasted and extracted with a 25% flow rate for 15 seconds, followed by a 50% flow rate until complete extraction and a perfect 1:2 ratio. The long pre-fusion and slow extraction really helps to pull a lot of the delicious flavors and solids from this bean. Overall, this is a great value for the money! I was spending over $25 for a 10-12 oz bag of fresh roasted beans at local coffee shops every 2 weeks. This bean and my SR-800 are proving to be a great money saver!!

For years, I've been buying my beans pre-roasted, like most people do. I either get them at Costco (for convenience & price), Whole Foods (for a fresher roast & more selection), or occasionally a local roasting shop (for the freshest roast). I learned early on that roast freshness is one of the biggest contributors to a good cup of coffee, and that roasted beans should be ground as close to the brew as possible. Letting roasted beans sit in the pantry for a while isn't great, and leaving grounds around for a while is even worse. The best components of the flavor are lost very quickly. For some reason, though, I guess I always assumed that (a) finding quality green beans for sale wasn't easy, (b) storing green beans for a long time would certainly be as detrimental to flavor as storing roasting beans, and (c) roasting beans was a serious affair that only commercial enterprises could handle properly using costly, specialized equipment. Turns out, all three assumptions were FALSE! One day, I decided to do a couple hours of research, and I found some videos on YouTube demonstrating various ways to roast at home. The method that made the most sense to me was using a hot air popcorn popper - so I bought one, ordered a few lbs. of green beans from Primos Coffee Co., and followed the instructions. It could not have been simpler! The results, even on the first try, were at least as good as the local specialty roaster's beans. Very fresh, complex, & robust flavor, with all of the subtle complexities that you only get from a very fresh roast. The local roaster charges the typical $12-15 for a 14 oz. bag - more than twice the $6-7/lb. for Primos - so even with the ~$40 initial investment in a popcorn popper, aluminum cooling tray & other accessories, I'm going to break even after only a few pounds. After that, it's all gravy. A home roast only takes a few minutes, so even considering time, I'm still ahead - a round trip to the local roaster is at least 30 minutes, plus gas, traffic, etc. These also last a LOT longer than roasted beans (like, up to several years), and proper storage doesn't appreciably affect their flavor. I haven't experimented with any other green beans yet, but to be honest, I don't really care to - at least not for a while. These are absolutely delicious, great quality (no duds, foreign objects, freshness issues, or anything else), and the seller is great, to boot. I recently contacted them directly through their website with some questions, and they were very quick to respond and super helpful. Can't beat that. I trust that if I should ever have any issues, they'll stand by their product. I'll never go back. It's green beans from here on out.

Now i'm going to give this a 3 for now, since i'm new to roasting coffees. (might just be me) When i first got the coffee, i was looking at websites to see how long to roast. I heard 1st popping for medium and first picture does look like that. It was still green/nutty non coffee tasting at this point though. I did a 2nd roast to how i like a dark shiny oils coming out roast. This coffee was sweet, and smooth, yet finished with a light bitterness, which i heard can be from roasting, so i'm going to try going just slightly less. 1st batch, med high gas stovetop with nuvo roaster, till i noticed first color on beans, then reduced to between low/high setting and sat 10 seconds, stir 10 seconds till 10 minutes. Result med bland roast, no flavor. 2nd roasting the blacker beans above was at medium heat, but constant stirring, lot more popping, almost all the way to a 15 minute mark, which i hovered over the fire about 3-4 inches stiring constantly. As you can see the roast looks awesome, like store bought beans with fresh oils coming out. The flavor like a mild smooth coffee, but just had that slight bitterness at the end. If i can figure out how to get that out, i'd give this 5 stars. I'm going to try different variety of beans using same dark roast method and will report back if it's just this type of bean. Anyways, for the price though, you're getting a lot of quality uniform beans, this coffee might be better for a blend.

Great coffee to roast yourself. Most coffee you buy are over roasted so this gives me the opportunity to roast the beans to my liking. Thank you.

Bought for my son's new coffee roaster as a present. They roast beautifully, and make lovely coffee. We've used a medium roast (about 24 minutes at 180°C, but it varies with weight of beans); when cool we sieve to remove the chaff and then leave a day before starting to use, medium getting in a cafètiere). Great fun, lovely coffee, amazing aroma from roasting.

I have been home roasting for several years and have enjoyed beans from around the world but this one is my new favourite! This bean is great at a medium roast but got some amazing results when I tried a darker, oily roast, too. And the extra bonus that it comes directly from a family’s farm in Nicaragua, makes it even more enjoyable.

Lovely mild taste when brewed unroasted. Worked well as an appetite suppressant too.

This is an excellent Central American bean, just lovely. I roasted to first crack and enjoyed the results. It is mild, sweet, some cocoa notes - truly delicious! And what a great price for such a clean, high quality bean. I will definitely continue to order.

Brilliant. Greatly packaged and easy to use. Experimenting with coffee bean roasting is good with these.