Starbucks Fail

We used to drink Starbucks coffee at home. We bought our beans from one of their shops every week or so starting about 15 years ago. Back then, the quality was great. We were extremely satisfied with the coffee we brewed at home with their beans. Then the bux got HUGE. They started mass roasting beans in huge facilities. When that happened, we started seeing a noted decline in the coffee quality we brewed at home. Think over-roasted, burned coffee taste no matter what roast we bought (medium or dark).

So we started looking around for a new coffee source. We love to brew at home, we have an awesome Bonavita drip maker. It’s a super simple machine, but it makes amazing coffee. It’s worth the slightly higher price than your every day Mr. Coffee machine. I like the simple parts and the insulated carafe that keeps the coffee hot for a couple hours without losing quality. We tried a couple local coffee roasters, and were disappointed each time. Over-roasted, burned coffee taste.

Our New Coffee Home

Enter my now-former-coworker Jeff who showed up at the office with a giant 2-lb bag of coffee beans from the Pacific Northwest, where he’s originally from. He gifted me this bag of coffee from Camano Island Coffee Roasters because he was the only one in his house who drank coffee, and needed to off-load the mass amounts of coffee beans he received from his parents as a gift. I brought the coffee home, we made a pot the next morning, and WHOA – best.coffee.ever. So me being me, I jumped on their website and signed up for more.

Since then, we receive coffee every few weeks on a ‘coffee subscription’ service. They ship within 24 hours of roasting, so you know your coffee is fresh, and we’ve not ever been disappointed. (Try the Brazil, or you can choose one of their coffee of the months each month to get a suprise!)

#CICR is involved in the lives and livelihoods of their coffee producers, and they work hard to fair-source their coffees from around the world. They also offer a coffee-roaster facility tour, which if I’m ever out that way, I’m definitely going to check it out. Their customer service is also super great – they will even help you choose a coffee if you don’t know what to order! 

Below is my affiliate/rewards link – if you want to check it out, use the link below, and if you sign up, you get $20 instantly off your first order, and I get $20 off my next order. Win-win, right? I did not receive any compensation for this review nor am I affiliated with the company in any way, other than loving their coffee and their business model!