What the @#$& is this bean?

[tisri]

Thanks - it looks like what I've got is at least fairly low grade. Having roasted them again they've come out far more consistent, although still don't have the same rich aroma as the Blue Mountain coffee. Looking at the links you've provided and others on the site they look like grade 5 greens.

The "very pretty greans" look just like the Blue Mountain greens I bought from Hasbean which I also roasted today, and which smell 100 times better than what my colleague brought back for me. I'll grind them up and see if they taste any good, not least because I promised him I'd take some in for him to taste.

[Beanie]

Tisri... at least what you got wasn't rancid! In case it doesn't taste good enough, maybe
you can bring some the proper JBM to your colleague... for his comparison - also in green, of course. Then maybe next time, he'll know what to look out for... and you don't have to figure out a way to say "no, thanks".

[tisri]

Funny you should say that, BB - he's getting married in a few months and asked me to take the pictures at his wedding. Since I don't have professional experience of weddings we've agreed that I'll do it as a favour for him (and for the experience) but that if it all goes pear-shaped all he is entitled to is a refund.

He did make some reference to getting me some more coffee, so I'll certainly show him some "proper" JBM greens as a guide of what I'd really like. Otherwise I'll just fall back on a fictitious competition I entered and won a pile of JBM so I don't need any for a while.

[tisri]

Well, I did the deed and tasted it. Bravely I shared the first cup with the guy that brought the coffee back.

Surprisingly it's not bad. It's not brilliant, it has some of the complexities of something like the Celebes Kalosi bean but with a not entirely pleasant lower note underpinning it. It smells strong and fairly rich although it's clearly not in the same league as the Blue Mountain one would normally associate with Jamaica.

The guy who brought it for me really liked it, as he said it's so different to instant coffee it's just unbelievable. He's right too - although it's not as good by far as 100% quality arabica beans it is streets ahead of instant of any description. Come to think of it, the lower tones I mentioned earlier are somewhat like instant coffee, so this thing is almost like a blend of cheap instant with something more like the Celebes.

So there we have it, a conclusion to the saga. Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and ideas along the way!