Decent bean, needs a little more roast to really pop
356197
Found the roast a little too mild and taste a bit astringent rather than a nice smooth and earthy flavor I expect from these beans. Since there's 2lbs of it I did a quick re-roast which isn't something I ever thought I'd try with pre-roasted beans but it ended up drastically improving the taste and depth.
1613499
Not our favorite, but not bad. We bought this because we read recommends from others who own our specific espresso maker that beans were less oily. That is not the case. We have a Gaggia Brera super automated fully automatic and the beans in this still failed quite a lot of the time. Oily beans are rough. We have since purchased Kicking Horse Kick Ass blend and have found the flavor to be much better and the beans to be less oily.  This roast had a bit more "bite" at the end than we like. We like a dark but smooth and not acidic. Most of the time it is very hard to find a very dark roast that is a rich bitter but not acidic. Won't buy this again.
2369192
sort of a dry bean... need to use more for every pot...
4780433
Well, it's neither bad nor great in my view, but I prefer a darker roast, so it may be a question of personal taste. I wound up mixing mine with one of the darker roasts to fill my 16 oz travel mug. I won't get it again, but I know there are many who prefer a lighter roast. If you're one of these, you might like this a bit more than I do.
4356571
Not bad, but sadly, I was hoping for a micro-grind, like the Via. Fooled by packaging.
This is measured decaf, and stays fresh in its packets. Flavor is good and not too strong (Via's only decaf is dark roast, which I find very overwhelming; this is a nice, rich flavor)
1905012
A few helpful tips for the first timer (which was me up until 20 minutes ago):

When roasting I noticed the green uncooked coffee appears small and condensed (for lack of a better word). This worried me as I thought it would never actually look like store bought coffee. Towards the very end of the cooking cycle you will see it "pop" out into a normal sized bean.

The "First Crack" that is described in most cooking methods as far as I can tell is more like a first round of cracks - rather than a single crack as suggested.

I used a pan method and found the cooking time to be around the 20 min range. I ended up with a mostly medium blend. While some of the beans remained a touch lighter in color, and some were darker - grinding the beans ultimately led to a wonderfully medium cup of coffee.

The chaffe though apparently off prior to grinding showed up in the grind. I noted I could simply shake the ground  beans a few times and blow into the grindings and the chaffe (being much lighter than the grind) simply blows out. I hear, but cannot attest, that leaving this chaffe imparts a bitter taste into the roast.

Anyways, hope it helps someone new like me! Enjoy that first cup!
526014
This is a medium roast espresso in an ESE paper pod (not Nespresso, not Keurig). You won't get that dark, burnt flavor that many other espresso pods have, such as Baronet. It's more like the red, medium roast Illy pod. The flavor of these is a little light for me if I'm using it with milk, but if taken black, or just with a splash of milk, it holds up ok. It does not taste or smell as super-fresh as some other pods I've used, perhaps it is just this batch, or when it was packaged. In any case, it's not bad, it's a decent cup of espresso, but not one of the best. Nice to know that it is 100% Arabica, and organic, and fair trade though. Also, the pods, at least in this batch, are packed too lightly and so the water gets through in about 10 to 15 seconds as opposed to the 25 seconds that it should take to force an ounce of water through it.
3785941
This pod coffee is good for what it is.  The taste is smooth and lacks the bitterness of the illy dark roast, while not being too bright.  It produced a good proportion of crema.  I didn't notice any pods that tasted different or off.  Overall, the coffee is good but limited by being dominated by the roast flavors and lacking complexity.
3125161
I thought this was ok, although not necessarily spectacular. It is a very dark roast, with a purportedly chocolate flavor undertone, one that i did not pick up. I can honestly say I never picked up any bitterness in the taste - certainly a positive in my view. The aroma was sound, and it made an above average cup of drip coffee to me.

In my opinion however, this is best suited for espresso with its darker characteristics. If you're a dark roast lover, it's worth a try. If you're like me and like medium roasts, something along the lines of Woods and Waters is a much better option (currently my favorite blend from Cameron's). Four star coffee to me.
3970832
I loved the flavor and aroma of this bean. If you like Super Crema, you'll love Gran Riserva.
I did have a hard time dialing in the grind in my Rancilio on this bean, and it was very sensitive to changes in temp and humidity. I could rarely pull a good shot on the first try with this one. What I wound up doing was going one setting too coarse and then would pack the "beans" out of it. This isn't ideal though, and I've rarely had this problem with either the Super Crema or Qualita Rossa.
Overall I'd say I liked this slightly more than Super Crema, with regards to its chocolatey, full body and absence of smokey toasty notes, but it's hard to say it was so much better that the additional cost was justifiable.
3414605
Good coffee but not as darkly roasted as one might expect when compared with other San Francisco Bay roasts. Hard to differentiate between this roast and Fog Chaser Roast. The cups work fine but remove after brewing or they do drip more than a k cup.
4561991
This is decent coffee and is very much a medium roast.  Its taste is very similar to Eight O Clock beans.  I use both for French Press and am going to try a darker roast for the next experiment.
3113220
I'm pretty much limited to decaf and have tried lots of them. This one is a good breakfast coffee for someone who likes a medium to dark roast along the lines of Starbucks Pike Place. It's weak on the initial taste, but has a moderately rich, mellow finish with little to no bitterness. If you're a fan of French or Italian roasts, this one won't top your list; it's more panda than gorilla. But if you prefer something lighter than those but not too weak, it's worth a try. Peet's Decaf House or Mario Batali's Decaf Amalfi are other options before getting into the extra darks; both are more bold than this, in my opinion.
204270
I use 50:50 dark roast and decaf dark roast.  These beans seem similar to me to Peets coffee.  Based on Amazon commenters I expected a more robust, fuller flavor.
4372756
Good Kona coffee is not burned like most of Starbuck's product.  A lighter roast would appreciate these beans better.  As it was, Maxwell House from the grocery would have been as good.  Or, some Starbuck's fried disaster.
3835049
Produces good espresso but oddly not that much crema, at least from my espresso machine. It starts out looking like there will be lots of crema, but by the time it finishes, it's disappeared. Taste is not quite as good as espresso beans in a couple of our local shops. But the beans were fresh, and I'll probably try another version.
2556724
Excellent green bean quality and roasts quite well.  Minimal moisture content makes the roasting process pretty quick-you can tell that these beans didn't sit around forever.  Sure makes for a nice everyday coffee indulgence.  Next time I'll be going for 10 lbs :-).