Trader Joe’s Rants & Raves (mostly raves, a few rants)

“A medium roast Arabica with note of cocoa, pineapple and cherry”

NICARAGUA La Bastilla Estate, Small Lot Coffee

“The coffee beans within this bag are also known as “blueberry candy” on the farm – dubbed so for their unique sweetness and subtle aroma….”

Here’s another recent addition to Trader Joe’s collection of Small Lot (limited edition) coffees that I recently saw on display in New Items. This is a coffee from Nicaragua. I’m pretty sure I never tasted a coffee from there before. After tasting it, all I can say is I was very impressed, and found this small lot coffee to be excellent. The description on the bag in this case was not all hyperbole, it delivers.

The bag says its a “Medium Roast” and in this case that is fairly accurate, with beans a lovely cinnamon color. When I opened up the vacuum sealed bag I got wonderful fresh aroma and the beans looked and smelled really promising. A bit fruity in a nice way. When I ground them up and took a big whiff of the ground coffee, I did get a heavenly smell with yes, “notes of cocoa, pineapple, cherry, blueberry….” I would say pretty much all of that but lovely and subtle and natural. And the resulting brew I made (Moka pot)? It was so good. To me it tasted pretty much like what I would call a “perfect cup of coffee”, hitting all the right notes. I found this coffee really, really drinkable, so much so that when I finished it I wanted to brew another cup. That’s really when you know you found a good coffee. I have a feeling any brewing method will produce a nice brew including espresso machines.

So if you are interested in a very nice coffee, I would say this Nicaraguan one at Trader Joe’s is well worth trying. It was a bit higher in price than other small lot coffees I’ve gotten for around $8.99. Trader Joe’s is selling this Nicaraguan Single Estate coffee for $10.99 (12 oz.) But I bet you if it were some cool Williamsburg coffee vendor they would be selling this for more like $20.

Here’s a link I found to the website of the coffee producer in Nicaragua so you can learn more about the region and the farm (in English)

LA BASTILLA COFFEE ESTATES

https://www.bastillacoffee.com/our-coffee-1

(The 360 virtual tour of the estate is pretty cool; check it out)

https://www.traderjoes.com/home/products/pdp/nicaragua-la-bastilla-estate-small-lot-coffee-075204