Gloria Jeans Espresso Blend Review

Kelsey

At 2pm Tuesday Nov 7 I realised I'd run out of beans - both the emergency supply from my local cafe (Di Bella Moderna) and my own roasts. And everything was closed for cup day. In desperation, I picked up the 'freshest' bag of Gloria Jeans Espresso blend I could find.

Only roasted two months ago. Bonus.

At first I was surprised that it had as much flavour as it did.

But in subsequent tastings, here's what I've got to say:

This is an evil black oily bean roasted to within an inch of its life... and then roasted some more.

To give you an idea of just how oily it is, my grinder kept running empty, despite beans being in the hopper - the oil was defeating gravity making them stick to the sides of the hopper. NASA should get onto this, quick smart.

I fear for my burrs.

Nevertheless, I managed to choke the shot on the finest grind setting, so dialed it back a bit.

It was immediately apparent that whatever flavour is present in these beans comes entirely from "burnt" and "ash" - no green apples here. There's next to no crema.

As an espresso/ristretto, it's both bland and bodiless but slightly bitter and ashy with few redeeming features. Better than instant, but probably not better than Nespresso - only because Nespresso may be weak as dishwater, but at least you get some actual flavour out of it.

In milk you get a bitter coffee-flavoured milk that requires sugar to bring it up to the level of a 600ml bottle of 'Dare'.

Avoid at all costs.

Lacehim

:rofl:  :laugh:  Yes, well probably no better than Buderim Coffee Company that I recently got as a gift. Put it down to a learning experience to always roast a wee bit more than you need.   Either that or call me.  I've got plenty at the moment if you need some. 

Brett H

GJ's is certainly a large commodity roaster.  I get the feeling thay are improving their image with fancy machines and COE coffees.  Perhaps yOur localfranchis is one of the poor cousins!