Colombia Don Enrique Reserve Narino Colombia: Don Enrique Reserve, Narino

Not sold on this bean. Maybe I don't like the chocolaty notes or nutty notes. Don't taste the sweetness that others taste. The smell roasted a day later isn't the most pleasurable, or at least what I would expect. Even in a vanilla latte it is not as smooth as I expected. Hits my tongue in a strange place. Difficult to get the sweetness to come out of it. Going to try it darker next time. Tried medium and light and didn't like either.

I pan roasted 4 oz of the Don Enrique soon after the UPS guy handed me my first shipment at around 3 p.m. The pan was a 10" cast iron, heated until beads of water danced on the surface, and then reduced it a bit in temperature. After pouring the beans in, I stirred every 20 or so seconds with a large metal spoon, for 14 minutes, in about the middle of the second crack, when the beans were a rich dark brown rather than black. I then poured the beans in a large metal colander, and stirred them with the same metal spoon until I had removed all of the chaff. I put the beans in a small glass jar until they were room temperature, and then put the lid on loosely, so that the beans could out-gas. I then put the jar in the refrigerator, with the lid still on loosely. At 7:00 a.m. the next morning, I let the beans warm to room temperature, and then ground three tablespoons of them in a burr grinder. I boiled four cups of water in an electric boiler, and when it came to a boil, I poured one cup of water in a large French press, let the press warm for a minute, and the rest of the water cool. I then poured the ground beans into the press, followed by the three cups (or 24 oz.). After stirring the grounds for a few seconds, I put the plunger of the press in on top of the brew, and after five minutes, pushed the plunger down. What resulted was a beautiful dark brown/black brew, with low acid and little bitterness, I definitely tasted notes of chocolate and hazelnuts, with some spice (cinnamon and just a hint of black pepper), all of which became more noticeable when I added some half-and-half to the brew. I expect that the beans will improve over the course of the rest of this week. I will definitely be buying more of this, when my 8 oz sampler supply runs out. This one is truly a keeper.

My wife and I are picky regarding our coffee tastes. You may even say we are coffee snobs. We are not able to describe the intricacies of coffee using a coffee bean matrix. When we lived in near San Francisco we often visited Napa and Sonoma Valley for wine tasting classes. We distinguished between sweet and dry wines; but, we could not describe hints of vegetables, flowers or spice box. Either we liked a wine or we didn’t. So it is with our coffee tastes. We either like a roasted bean or dislike it. We have tried a number of South and Central American coffees. We now rotate between Don Enrique Reserve and El Gato Supreme. Both are great coffees with distinct flavors. We can taste chocolate and fruity flavors in Don Enrique. El Gato seems less chocolaty but just as fruity as Don Enrique. El Gato tastes a little milder than Don Enrique but both have great flavors. My wife and I drink Don Enrique one day and El Gato the next. We do this because we like variety in our medium roasts. We cannot decide which we love the best. The bottom line is that we like Don Enrique and El Gato and that is all we really know. Like our wine tasting we simply enjoy our coffee favorites and leave the nuances to the experts.

Very smooth with a wonderful coffee taste. If you could only drink one coffee you would never be disappointed

Very nice Columbian coffee. One of my favorites so far. I've purchased this one a few times now. Lots of cocoa flavor. Full of flavor and aroma. Beans roast very evenly and very little chafe. Makes a nice dark roast.

I received my beans a few days ago and was finally able to roast my first batch last evening. I roasted at 210 Celsius for 20 minutes. Got a lovely medium roast almost to second crack. Letting the beans develop for a more full profile, but enjoyed a pot last night and I have to say it’s easily the best Columbia’s I’ve ever had and perhaps the best cup of coffee I’ve ever had. Creamy body, cherry and chocolate notes already prevalent. Very low acidity and an amazing sweet finish. An incredibly pleasant cup to drink, especially in the evening after dinner.

This is the first time I've roasted my own beans, so all I have to compare it to is what I've bought from other roasters. Even with my clumsy first attempt in our oven, this is far and away better. I'm hooked!

This is the first coffee I ever roasted and it's amazing! It's got a bright and nutty flavor with subtle notes of cinnamon! I roasted it to 22 minutes at 210 celcius, which was just into second crack, I guess a city roast. If you're new to roasting, this is definitely the one to get!

Great coffee

Amazing bean in terms of flavor, but large and seemingly dense. Very hard to roast in my experience, I did a Mexico back to back and I had to pull the Mexican back from running ahead of me in 10 minutes. I pushed this and it took 15 minutes. But the beans came out beautiful and even, really do your homework on your profiles is my suggestion. Make sure you understand relative size and density and how it will respond to your roaster.

Love the reviews I am a new customer.

I received this coffee first in a South American sample pack. It is absolutely delicious! I immediate ordered more of it. It’s now my new favorite!!

YES indeed, Love it.

Todd One of my favorites from CBC. Always makes a great roast. I have roasted dark and medium and love it each way. You can't go wrong with this one.

I roasted it to medium-dark. The output was a rich, smooth, bold batch remarkably free of defects. This coffee is outstanding! It just became my favorite.

Always my Columbian origin of choice when in stock. Very flavorful and easy drinking. Does well with medium and dark roasts. Highly recommended.

Good daily morning coffee. I roasted to a 2nd crack.

Roasted to full city Bold flavor that holds up well in a latte. This is my new go to for espresso drinks. My untrained palate gets chocolate and nuts and a full mouthfeel. Drinking it straight black (as I usually do with coffee) its a little on the bitter side, but its just awesome with some steamed milk. Its not bad black, just a little on the harsh side.

With roasting coffee, my first objective was to find a coffee my wife and I can drink everyday. A home base while we adventure throughout the world of coffee. A decent cup of joe. We never met Joe, but we did meet the Don. Don Enrique Reserve, roasted 2.5min past 2nd crack on the SR800, brewed in a subpar Mr.Coffee drip maker, taste like what I imagine as a decent cup of coffee. No flavor is competing with the other. Balanced, smooth, unimposing. The Don isn't looking to be flashy but to give comfort. But when you put the Don through the aeropress the flavor is like putting on some silk pajamas, but get ready for the punch of caffeine that will carry you through tomorrow!

Hands down my favorite single origin coffee bean! You will not be disappointed

Beautiful beans, smooth and taste very good

This bean is exceptional and is as fun to roast as it is to savor the morning aroma, body and taste.

very distinct flavor notes,good balance..like it.

There best of the three Columbia and two Costa Rican coffees that I sampled.

We always roast just past first crack so we can't speak to darker roasts, but this was one of our favorites so far, chaff was easy to separate and was we were laughing because we found ourselves literally slurping this coffee, great stuff!

This coffee is exactly what I was looking for in terms of flavor. Rich, sweet, full bodied, classic Colombian with a cacao nuttiness, and virtually no acidity. I take it just past second cracks. I could drink this the rest of my life!

Great service and great product. Highly recommended.

I only buy Columbian Beans..........This is really good.

Very versatile. No matter the roast it will be a great cup. Blends with just about anything. From a breakfast blend to a desert coffee this will fit the bill.

My favorite beans so far! I would go slow and steady when roasting. Don't take these past second crack. My shot recipe is 18.5g in and 20g out @ 26-30 secs.

18 to 24 hours after the bean is roasted there are cherry notes about 36 to 48 hours after the bean is roasted it tasted like chocolate with notes of brown sugar and barley with hints of licorice. I love this coffee roasted to first crack to city roast. Highly Recommend!!! Columbian coffees are the best and usually for a fair price.

We've been thoroughly enjoying the wonderful world of home roasting. Particularly the various Ethiopian offerings - Yergacheffe being our favorite. But we have dabbled in quite a variety of beans from all over the world. Then pops up this offering and I figured..."why not?" I had forgotten how much I enjoyed the flavors of good old Columbian beans and we were both quite surprised how very tasty these are - at full city. As I type this I am toasting a blend of Queen City Harrar with these. Two parys Harrar to one part of these. Last week I did a three way blend of these, yergacheffe natural and some of the 18 rabbit Honduran that I have been saving. Very interesting!

This coffee was not good. Where do all the 5 stars come from?? I would have given it 1 star but i just feel like a nice guy today. I purchased 6 different coffee samples and they were all garbage. I find it real strange that they were all rated 5 stars. I no longer trust these reviews nor this company.