Spiller & Tait Signature Blend Coffee Beans - Multi Award Winning - Freshly Roasted in the UK - Espresso Blend Suitable for All Coffee Machines (1kg)

I’ve been buying these beans via Amazon Subscribe & Save since May 2020 and I wanted to provide some data points to help you decide whether they are right for you.1. Roasting. The roasting is fairly light: there is consistently no discernible oil on the outside of the beans. IMHO, this is good, as it means the ground coffee doesn’t adhere to the grinder (in my case a quite old Dualit burr grinder). I appreciate this because it means less mess.2. Freshness. In other words, time from roasting (reported as “Roasted: Month/Year” on the packet) to delivery. This was one of my major concerns before going down the subscription route. Data for 12 deliveries over the course of nearly 2 years is as follows:Zero months from roast to arrival: 0 occurrences.One month from roast to arrival: 9.Two months from roast to arrival: 1.Three months from roast to arrival: 1.Eight months from roast to arrival: 1.All others zero.The major outlier is obviously the eight month delay. However I have to say even in that case the beans were perfectly ok, just maybe without some of the subtler caramel/vanilla type aroma (see below).3. Quantity and frequency of delivery. I like to make a 1 litre cafetière of medium strength coffee every morning (using about 30g of beans, coarsely ground). A 1kg bag lasts me almost precisely a month at this rate of consumption. I say almost; I end up skipping about one delivery per year as I have excess beans. So probably it’s about 11/12ths of a kg per month. Anyway this is within the margin of variability due to having more, or fewer, visitors; being away, or not, etc. Using almost exactly one bag per month makes the Amazon Subscribe and Save purchasing option very convenient.4. Consistency. All the properties of the beans described here have been consistent throughout the nearly two years I’ve been buying them.5. Flavour. Becoming subjective now, but I find a well-balanced blend without acidity or excess bitterness from over-roasting. There are caramel/toffee, vanilla, dried fruit and light spice and tobacco notes to the aroma. Probably to a greater degree because there is a blend of beans, the flavour and aroma evolves significantly as a cafetière of coffee steeps.

Update 4: So my latest batch of this coffee (ordered April-22) was roasted Nov-21. It tastes OK, but not too happy about the dates as this is in no way classed as "Freshly roasted" by anyone's standards! Dropping 1 star simply because of this.Update 3: so I’ve now tried a few different beans and simply cannot find anything that performs as consistently as this. It is excellent coffee. I’ve also updated how I make mine where it’s 2 heaped tablespoons per mug. Frothing the milk I no longer cold froth first, just go straight for hot froth. Also don’t add the sugar to the milk, add it to the cup, pour the coffee on, stir it and add in the frothed milk. Perfect 👍Update 2: so tried the 4 bean sample pack and while the coffee was nice, I still prefer this overall so will be sticking with this from now on, great coffee.Update: so I’ve now tried one that was the highest ranking/most popular on Amazon at time of purchase (Lavazza Rosso) which is cheaper, and it is not a patch on this. Taste is so subjective I fully appreciate that and don’t get me wrong, the Lavazza is OK, this however is just a different level. For me anyway. I’ve since purchased the 4 bean sample pack from spillers just to see if their signature blend is indeed the best of the lot.Will report back.Original review:This has been my first venture into doing my own bean coffee at home after this lockdown kicked in and after a few trial and errors and some tweaks, I think I’ve got it sussed for my liking. Either that or I’m just getting used to it.I don’t have scales (yet) so I’m using tablespoons to try and measure out 3 level spoon fulls into a blender. I grind the beans in the blender (NutriBullet with milling blade) for 7-8 seconds which gives a medium fine grind.I pre-heat the french press then pour all the grinds in to the press and just less than half full it with water that’s off boil (about 90°) and stir and leave for 3-4 minutes.On to the milk, I pour about 250ml of milk into a frother, add 2 sugars and cold froth the milk twice then hot froth it.I then pour a generous amount of the coffee into the bottom of the mug and layer on the frothed milk and I end up with a big mug of something between a latte and a cappuccino and it’s fab

So youve been through the big brands, Lavazza, Taylors, LOR, nescafe' , even your local high street, but still not settled on a bean that has flavour AND isnt really bitter? Thats where I was.These are great in a bean to cup ive never really got good coffee out of. Ive decided to side by side try with nespresso and ive dialled in the correct general setting. Next, added some of these beans a viola! A decent coffee that has good flavour, just a hint of bitterness (which actually you can modify by adding a little water or salt (yes salt) and im good to go.The only other beans i like are the Amazon basics DECAF beans. But theyre decaf... The non-decaf ive just come off and theyre too bitter.these are my go to

What a lovely taste !Coffee is not too strong or not too soft , the aroma while making it moves around the house.Very good price!