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

“A light roast with notes of dried fruit and orange”

This is the latest “small lot” coffee Trader Joe’s has come out with (Dec ’23). This coffee is from Brazil, called “Cachoeira da Grama”, which comes from Brazil’s Vale de Grama in the Sao Paolo region.

Trader Joe’s describes the beans as a “light roast” on the package and in this case, I agree (we know TJ’s roast descriptions can vary wildly). The package says these coffee beans were “double fermented”: “this innovative double fermenting process brings about the perfect balance of acidity and sweetness, and the light roast unveils lively notes of dried fruit and orange.”

https://www.traderjoes.com/home/products/pdp/brazil-cachoeira-da-grama-small-lot-coffee-075389

Naturally whenever I taste a new Trader Joe’s Small Lot coffee, I can’t help but to compare it with my memory of other small lot coffee they’ve had. How does this new one compare to the best of their Small Lot coffees some of which were so freaking good, they blew me away?

I neither loved nor hated this; it falls in the middle. This Brazilian one is good and is a decent coffee with yes notes of “dried fruit and orange”. While I thought it was fine I didn’t find it terribly special. Yet when I searched online about this coffee I found some reviewers just raving about it. Me, I would not give this a Rave however lets face it, things like coffee, or wine for that matter, are the most personal of taste preferences. At some point only you can decide what you think.

I found this this a decent coffee but when I thought of others… a few amazing small lot coffee gems Trader Joe’s had in the past – I would not put this one up there with at least two others I recall. Not terribly long ago, TJ’s had a terrific small lot coffee that came from the DOMINICAN REPUBLIC – I found that one to be wonderful. A standout. Ditto for another one which was really good, the HONDURAN Small Lot Coffee.

Both of those two small lot coffees were incredible finds to my taste and I cross my fingers I may see someday either of them again someday at Trader Joe’s as I would buy either in a second. But I won’t hold my breath because as we know all too well, one of the first things about Trader Joe’s one learns the hard way is if you fall in love with something you may have your heart broken someday.

Trader Joe’s Brazil Cachoeira da Grama Small Lot Coffee was $9.99 (12 oz) a decent price for a small lot coffee. The small lot are “Limited Editions” so if you want to try it, grab it asap.

I would not buy this again. It was good but not as special as other Small Lot Coffees I’ve tasted. But I saw that some people really liked this, so as the French say, “à chacun son gout“

Just FYI – One of my Go To coffee’s at Trader Joe’s is the AZMARI BUNNI, Afro-Latin blend (light roast). It’s a consistently excellent and well balanced blend which I find to be a terrific all around coffee that never fails to please me in the morning. They carry this regularly now. If you have not tried it I suggest starting there.