How’s it going? Hope the coffee is flowing! Today we are going to be talking about beans from a major chain, sorry to all my small roaster fans out there. In my French Press today I have a limited edition offering from Caribou Coffee, the 2024 edition of Amy’s Blend Light Roast.
Each year Caribou Coffee does a light roast and dark roast limited run called Amy’s Blend. The company selects a non-profit and donates a portion of the proceeds from the Amy’s Blend sales to that organization. You can learn more about it here. I actually stumbled upon the Amy’s Blend accidentally. I ordered a bag of my favorite Caribou Coffee blend, Daybreak, to review for the website. When I arrived to pick up the order the employee informed me they were out of the Daybreak and suggested I take a bag of the Amy’s Blend for the same cost, it seemed like a no brainer to me as there is a $2 up-charge for the Amy’s Blend. Spoiler alert, the Amy’s Blend light roast did not dethrone Daybreak as my favorite blend.
When rating coffee I follow the same method of brewing each time. Find out about how I brew the coffee I rate here.
Caribou Coffee Amy’s Blend Light Roast 2024 review:
The 2024 Amy’s Blend Light Roast presents with a light body. As a light roasted Arabica coffee this was not a surprise, but given that it was a speciality blend I hoped for a richer body. The beans were also a little on the oily side, but this did not seem to affect the mouthfeel or flavor of the coffee.
The coffee had a slightly tart and citrusy front, it was a little bitter almost like a grapefruit. I enjoyed the middle of the coffee the most as it was clean and smooth with honeydew-like notes. This was the closest to balanced the coffee came, though it still lacked any sort of noteworthy sweetness. The finish brought back some of the initial tartness as the coffee has a wine-like finish. One interesting note is that as the coffee cooled more of the citrus notes came out with reduced tartness.
Overall, I did not think the Amy’s Blend Light Roast justified the increased cost for it being a speciality roast. The light body and lack of balance made it a fairly disappointing cup of coffee. When it comes to large coffee chains, Caribou is probably my favorite and I expect more from their coffee based on the other blends I have experienced. The Amy’s Blend Light Roast was notably acidic, even in terms of light roasts, and did not bring any significant tasting notes aside from the tartness. It wasn’t unbearable and was still a decent cup of coffee. However, as a speciality roast with a higher cost I expected more.
Daybreak remains my favorite blend from Caribou Coffee, you can get it here. Amy’s Blend Light Roast is available here and while the price is a little high, Caribou does sell their whole bean coffee by the pound.
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