Blonde Roast

This is a review for the Blonde Roast. I was looking for a change to my usual dark roast menu that forms nearly 90% of my coffee consumption, But you know how it is, after a while you want a little variety not just in brand, but flavor after discovering this from Wink, my dark roasts have been growing stale as I keep reaching for this instead. I normally brew my coffees with a coffee press, though I have a number of methods that I will make use of depending on mood, ranging from my keurig, to a pour over, Ethiopian stove pot, Bellini and so on. I've now ordered this twice and have just as of this review, subscribed to it I've come to enjoy it that much. Oh my gosh. This is *good*!!! It's got a great floral flavor without coming across as weak or as "coffee lite". The bloom on these beans has got to be seen to believed, it's almost foamy it's so fresh. The flavor as a result is very fresh, with a noticeable citrus/floral quality, silky smooth and a light nut/wood undertone. And if you're looking for a decent caffeine bump, you won't be disappointed, I often joke that if I give blood one can smell the coffee. I get a real zip from this in the morning, a single cup will wake you up juuuuuust fine. The bag is a unexpected surprise, this isn't one of those roll over with a coated wire band to haphazardly attempt to lock in freshness that one ultimately throws away in disgust/contempt. No this bag comes with a CO2 filter to allow those gases to escape, and a zip seal that is both easy and *solid*, other vendors could take a lesson from how Wink designed their bags, I have no need of my expensive coffee storage canisters with Wink's bags, I just make use of it as is. Finally, you get a fair value for your money, good* quality, great packaging, and Prime shipping. Don't over think this, you won't regret taking a chance on this and mind you, I'm normally into dark roasts and this wowed me, if you're a coffee drinker you know how tough that is for a bean to pull off. I hope I helped you in taking a chance on this vendor, I know how that goes, you get burned, and you get tired of taking a chance and getting burned for it. This is not one of those times, dig in coffee brother/sister, you will not regret it. If you thought this review helpful, give me a thumbs up so that I can tell I'm giving you good, actionable info to decide by.

I’ve tried sooo many coffees over the years. Now even when I think about trying another brand I come back to this one because I know it will be great and the price is right for how much you get. Blonde Roast: Absolute perfection. My go to for pour over and French press. You just can’t beat the quality, freshness, flavor, and value! Tastes great whether you do drip, French press or even cold brew! So often “light roasts” are either tasteless or soooo not light! But this has been one of the best coffee’s I’ve had in a long time and I’ve been subscribed for months! Cold Brew Blend: strong but smooth. Holds up great to ice and a little cream and syrups. Super Creama - oh my god I’ve died and gone to coffee heaven. Makes the most amazing, creamy Flat Whites, Cafe Con Leches or Lattes. I find myself using way less cream and sugar than when I get coffee out at even the pricier coffee shops who claim to have the best. Pure delight. Blonde Espresso- light but definitely still espresso. I find this needs just the slightest bit of milk or cream and sugar to enjoy. But has a distinct flavor all its own. My only complaint the chaff. Some bags have been better than others but once I realized what it was I started checking my bags before putting any beans into my grinder. Oh and I absolutely LOVE the bag and how easy it is to open! I have psoriatic arthritis and I usually end up having to cut coffee bags and pour them into another container but the easy open bag works great!

I was so surprised to see how fresh this coffee was. it is not a specialty coffee that costs $18 per 12 oz. it is 2.2 pounds of rather budget coffee that costed me only $17.99. I must say that this was one of the best coffee in that price range. very evenly roasted (personally I love the light roasted coffee for better and refined coffee profile) and I still could smell the wonderful coffee from the valve and also when I grinded the coffee, it really smelled fresh and wonderful. Surprisingly great coffee for the price. I will be keep buying from them as long as they can provide this fresh coffee.

I don’t consider myself a huge fan of coffee in general because it is bitter, so it needs to be pretty good for me to like it. Therefore, I try to drink coffee from freshly ground light roast beans and French press when possible (otherwise use a lot of creamer). I appreciate that this coffee is whole bean as it is difficult to find coffee that is not pre-ground. Its light roast really is light roast unlike some. As the description says, this is probably a “darker” light roast. The beans are not too oily to gunk up your grinder. The flavor is not too bitter and not only can drink it black, but I have actually chewed on these beans when I needed a caffeine kick and they were not bad (I am thinking about making chocolate covered coffee beans with them). They come in a resealable bag which is nice. They also had a best-buy date a year and a few months from now. I question how fresh they would be 6 months from now, much less by then. So I wouldn't be surprised if the coffee was stale prior to the best buy date. I would not let this stuff sit on your shelf for a year before using. This coffee is at the top of the price range that I typically purchase at about $8 per pound. That said, it may be the best coffee I have had in that price range. Although the bargain box store coffee I have been drinking the most is only about $5.35 a pound, this may be my new go-to coffee because it tastes a lot better.

Being an Austin, TX, resident for almost 4 years, I can legally claim a certain level of coffee knowledge (other than tacos, it is the city's 2nd most addictive substance). I can say w/ confidence that Wink is the JAM. They've kept it simple & straightforward w/ their approach: great coffee @ a great price. Sifting through an endless sea of roasts can be daunting, so it was their concise, neat package design that initially caught my eye. No frilly "look-at-me" B.S. I opted for their blonde roast as I value caffeine content as much as taste. Upon receipt, I 1st noticed the obvious thought put into the bag design beyond aesthetics. It was easy to open & reseal - no tearing whatsoever (praise the java gods!). This may seem trivial, but a torn bag bums you out. ADMIT IT. FANTASTIC aromas filled my nose holes as excitement for the 1st brew heightened. It ground quite nicely for my drip coffee maker - no oily beans here. Normally I throw an obscene amount of butter/ghee & MCT/coconut oil into my joe, but abstained & kept it black as to fully appreciate the taste. YOWZA. Light, smooth, & flavorful w/out even the slightest hint of bitterness. No acidic aftertaste or digestive discomfort. I give Wink Coffee my full endorsement. Give it a try!

This stuff tastes great and is light on the stomach. Strongly recommend for espresso lovers, light roast lovers, or those wanting less acidic morning coffee.

Overall, I'm extremely satisfied with this product. You can tell that a lot of care and effort went into these beans and roast. Wink knocked it out the park, starting with their selection, through packaging, and eventually enjoying a great cup of coffee. Packaging: the overall packaging is pleasant, high quality and intuitive. The opening tab is a bubble shape which makes it easy to locate. The bag is easily resealable similar to a ziplock bag, and there's even a device inside that will keep the beans fresh! Quality: I got the blonde roast since I drink my coffee black and like a lighter roast. The beans were of amazing quality in terms of roast, aroma and feel (not too oily or burnt). They easily ground up for a medium grind and brewed well in my automatic drip coffee maker. Taste: The best part! The coffee is super flavorful and smooth. The roast is on the lighter side of what you typically drink but they nailed it. This method makes it so enjoyable and shows that Wink is thinking about the quality and consumer when they made their product. I can't wait to try the other flavors and reorder! I fully recommend you give Wink Coffee a shot!

This is a completely subjective review because my tastes are different from other people's tastes, so you should probably take what I say with a grain of salt. Frankly, I'm not too keen on the taste of this coffee (nor is my wife and one of my neighbors, who tried it). It's drinkable but has a rather odd taste that we all find a bit off-putting. I've brewed it in both my Krups Super-Automatic Espresso maker and Black & Decker whole bean drip coffee maker with the same taste results. It is smooth which also means it lacks the slight but apparent caramelized bitterness of medium roast coffees. Some (or many) people may prefer that less (almost bitterless) taste of the Blonde Roast, which is probably why so many people gave five star reviews. I think the darker roasts tend to have more complexity in their flavor and aroma profiles, no doubt from the Maillard reaction as the beans are roasted. I suppose the closest analogy is a steak that has a nice char on the outside with all that additional flavor versus a steak that is undercooked on the outside (or even boiled!). Both are palatable, but the one with the char on the outside definitely tastes better to me, with all that additional flavor. But that simply reflects my tastes. Yours may very well be different (from the reviews, my wife and I are definitely in the overwhelming minority!). That being said, I do like Starbucks Blonde Roast better. I don't know what the difference is when they roast it, but Starbucks does not seem to have that odd taste I find in Wink's Blonde (The message here is don't think that trying Starbucks Blonde is a good indicator of what Winks Blonde will taste like. They are noticeably different to me). Should you try it? I think it's worth a shot. I do wish there was a one pound bag available for new blonde roast drinkers to try out rather than becoming deeply committed to having two pounds to brew if they're not crazy about it. I suggested to my wife we blend the beans with a darker roast and see what happens to the flavors and if the darker roasts mask some of that funky taste we detect in the brewed beans while smoothing our the darker roast's rough edges. I will update with my results.