Happy Belly

[LoveCoffeeLife]

Happy Belly is Amazon's brand of "small batch", "artisan" roasted coffee that they've created to market to it's prime members. Can you imagine me, a prime member, so excited to discover they have this product available at a reasonable price? I have to say I was disappointed.

The coffee just wasn't good. Ordering on Prime they only had Breakfast Blend available in whole bean, everything else was pre-ground. One thing I've learned about good coffee at home is that you should always start out with whole beans to maximize the flavor you get from the beans themselves. The aroma was amazing. The taste was very bitter and not even as good to me, as a cup of coffee that you would get from any random place. At the very least the price was very, very reasonable. I paid $6 for a 12oz bag of whole bean which is amazing! It would have been even more awesome had it actually been a good cup of coffee. I'm sorry, my belly was not happy. I've been considering trying a few of the other roasts that they offer but I'm leery. :images:

Has anyone else tried this brand if so, what was your experience?

 

[ensoluna]

Hi LCL.
I am also a Prime member and i really buy a lot of stuff from Amazon (very lazy shopper, I guess)
$6 for 12oz is quite cheap where local roaster charges $14 for 12oz roasted coffee (but they are fresh!)
I just checked it out and it says that it was roasted and packed in Canada. I just wonder what is the turn around time would be for regular customers like us.
also it says that Chocolaty, brown sugar, molasses, toffee..etc as flavor.

did you taste some of those? How was the coffee taste?

 

[LoveCoffeeLife]

Hi Ensoluna,

Yeah, $6 is very cheap I know and I normally do pay about that $14 dollar mark for a full pound of some fresh local blends. Also I can get about 12 oz for $10 of Blanchards which is another fresh local brand. On my package it said that that batch was roasted on 12/8/2016 and I bought the breakfast blend on Feb 9th through Prime now. So yeah a few months old but that's not too terribly old is it? Just wondering. What is too old?

Also the Breakfast blend is said to be "sweetly aromatic with a slight caramel note" I also got bit of a peppery aroma on the back end. In the aroma I got all of that but the taste was a different matter. I'm no coffee pro but I do love good coffee and have been kind of familiar with what's pretty good. I'm not good with the coffee "language" but the after taste was very off putting almost tobacco like which I hate. I hope that helps. LOL

 

[ensoluna]

yes, kind of too old. you ask "what is too old"? you should consume roasted coffee within 15 days. that is ideal. so I guess 3 month is bit too old to be considered as freshly roasted coffee.

the notes such as "caramel, chocolaty..etc" can be only tasted with very freshly roasted beans (within couple of days) and super freshly ground coffee (within 15 min after you grind your roasted beans). the coffee buyers, we call them "cuppers", do CUPPING to decide on which coffee to buy. So when you do this "cupping", that is when you can really smell and taste all the different flavors in the coffee.

Currently, I am working in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala with my Australian customers.
Matter of fact, today, in about 3 hours, we will be doing "cupping" with customers in our cupping laboratory.
normally, I post this in my facebook. you can check it out if you have time, so you will have better idea about cupping and how to taste different types of coffees.

below is my link.
www.facebook.com/ensolunausa

 

[LoveCoffeeLife]

Oh yikes! Yeah then this is pretty old stuff. Thanks for the information, I'll certainly check out your FB. I'd love to do a cupping. I'm hearing the a "burr" grinder is ideal? Is that so?

 

[Duffyjr]

When I purchased my burr grinder I was still using store bought beans and a cheap drip brewer and I couldn't believe how much better the coffee tasted over the spice mill I was using. From what I've read as long as your not wanting to grind fine there are plenty to choose from. I have a Baratza Virtuoso I've been happy with but if I had to do it again I would probably get the Encore. Do some research and keep in mind support and parts.

If I had to start over knowing what I know now here is the order of importance for me.

Grinder - even with so so beans and a cheap brewer this had the most impact
Fresh beans
Certified brewer
Scale - for consistency but not a necessity

Getting back to Amazon I hope that some day we can get fresh beans from them.

 

[LoveCoffeeLife]

That's amazingly interesting that your experience lead to a grinder being priority over bean quality. It does make sense tho because even with so, so beans it's important to get that right grind for your brewer to get proper extraction from the bean. Thanks for sharing that part that's helpful. I'm on a path of coffee discovery and I'm trying to get the most out of my money when investing in good coffee beans.

Great intel on support and parts for the burr, have you found that you had to replace parts often? Thanks in advance. "currently enjoying a cup while I still don't know any better" lol

 

[Duffyjr]

That's amazingly interesting that your experience lead to a grinder being priority over bean quality. It does make sense tho because even with so, so beans it's important to get that right grind for your brewer to get proper extraction from the bean. Thanks for sharing that part that's helpful. I'm on a path of coffee discovery and I'm trying to get the most out of my money when investing in good coffee beans.

Great intel on support and parts for the burr, have you found that you had to replace parts often? Thanks in advance. "currently enjoying a cup while I still don't know any better" lol

A couple months ago I was giving it a good cleaning and when I pulled the top burr out I noticed one of the three tabs on the plastic burr holder was broken off. I honestly couldn't tell it was broke, it didn't seem to be grinding any different or making any more noise. Turned out to be a $4 part so ordered a couple and had them in three days. Other than that it's been trouble free.

Speaking of getting your moneys worth out of those expensive beans, I think I'm getting better mileage by using a scale.

 

[LoveCoffeeLife]

A couple months ago I was giving it a good cleaning and when I pulled the top burr out I noticed one of the three tabs on the plastic burr holder was broken off. I honestly couldn't tell it was broke, it didn't seem to be grinding any different or making any more noise. Turned out to be a $4 part so ordered a couple and had them in three days. Other than that it's been trouble free.

Speaking of getting your moneys worth out of those expensive beans, I think I'm getting better mileage by using a scale.

That's also very helpful thank you!! After your post I ordered my very first Burr, we'll see what happens. I'd like to know more about his part that went bad without you knowing. Did you happen to catch the name of this part? I'll look into scales as well for consistency sake. I do sometimes feel I'm using a lot of coffee. Though I do drink a lot of it as well. LOL

 

[Duffyjr]

That's also very helpful thank you!! After your post I ordered my very first Burr, we'll see what happens. I'd like to know more about his part that went bad without you knowing. Did you happen to catch the name of this part? I'll look into scales as well for consistency sake. I do sometimes feel I'm using a lot of coffee. Though I do drink a lot of it as well. LOL

Which one did you order, if you don't mind me asking.

The only name I see is Plastic Burr Holder. It holds the top burr ring and is removable for cleaning.
Plastic Burr Holder (Baratza Version) - Baratza

I've only had my scale about a month but so far I think it's worth the investment. I bought this one because it has a lid to protect the scale mechanism. I knew I would leave it out on the counter and didn't want to ruin it by something accidentally falling on it. Just make sure you get one the weighs to the tenth of a gram.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002SVQHWY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[LoveCoffeeLife]

Which one did you order, if you don't mind me asking.

The only name I see is Plastic Burr Holder. It holds the top burr ring and is removable for cleaning.
Plastic Burr Holder (Baratza Version) - Baratza

I've only had my scale about a month but so far I think it's worth the investment. I bought this one because it has a lid to protect the scale mechanism. I knew I would leave it out on the counter and didn't want to ruin it by something accidentally falling on it. Just make sure you get one the weighs to the tenth of a gram.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002SVQHWY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I ordered something called a Secura from Amazon.com it got good reviews and is not expensive at all. Haven't had a chance to use it yet.

I looked at my grinder and that I see that piece. it's hanging from a circular piece that locks and unlocks in place. LOL as for the scale. I have the smallest counter ever and I have to change out the appliances as I need them. I only leave the coffee maker and blender out because I use them the most. Now the Grinder will be fighting for space. :spillingcoffee:

 

[Duffyjr]

As far a blade grinders go that does look like a nice one. I used a Regal Coffee and Spice mill my mom gave me for many years before I purchased my burr grinder and it still works as I use it to crush celery seeds for a spice recipe I have and the wife uses it to chop nuts for deserts. The good thing is if later on you get a burr grinder you can use the mill for other things.

To reduce fines I developed a system to where I would shake it vigorously as it was grinding and if I remember correctly for about 7 seconds. You can tell just by looking if you went to far or not far enough but the ultimate test will be how it tastes.

I hear ya on counter space when my grinder arrived the toaster had to go.

 

[LoveCoffeeLife]

As far a blade grinders go that does look like a nice one. I used a Regal Coffee and Spice mill my mom gave me for many years before I purchased my burr grinder and it still works as I use it to crush celery seeds for a spice recipe I have and the wife uses it to chop nuts for deserts. The good thing is if later on you get a burr grinder you can use the mill for other things.

To reduce fines I developed a system to where I would shake it vigorously as it was grinding and if I remember correctly for about 7 seconds. You can tell just by looking if you went to far or not far enough but the ultimate test will be how it tastes.

I hear ya on counter space when my grinder arrived the toaster had to go.

The Secura is a Burr thankfully. My first one!!! Do you run into any cross flavor issues when using the mill for spices after using it for coffee? I was reading that that can happen.

I'll have to admit that I would have a hard time giving up my toaster. LOL

 

[Duffyjr]

Sorry guy the first one that came up on amazon was a blade grinder, really glad to hear you got a burr grinder.

Actually we never used the spice mill for anything but coffee up until I got the burr grinder just for the reason you mention of cross flavoring. The wife used it a bunch of times for walnuts after that so I'm sure that cleaned out the coffee residue.

I didn't give up the toaster I just made room for it in a cupboard since it's easier to move back a forth than the grinder. I use the toaster almost as much as I use the grinder.

Let us know your results with the new grinder.

 

[LoveCoffeeLife]

That's good news about the toaster! I'll certainly let you know... as soon as those beans get here... *sigh* :images:

I can imagine that a bit of coffee residue with walnuts was not a bad thing. Sounds interesting really.