Rounton Coffee Lake Kivu 1kg | 100% Arabica Beans | Medium Espresso Roast | Notes of Nectarine, Apricot & Dates | Intensity 3/5 | Freshly Roasted in Yorkshire

Amazing coffee with unique flavour

I entertain quite a few friends all coffee drinks at my home so I was excited to grind these up and see what their reactions were compared to the "instant" or post-grinded stuff from the supermarkets or the basic beans ive been using.Almost everyone said it was a fantastic flavour! we all found it was rather "funky" as it had a fruity flavour to it. I thought it would be more subtle but i found the flavour rather noticeable. I grinded it and used a cafetiere to filter, and my home started to smell like well rounded cafe.It has a long enough date but will be fully used up before then. the only reason i cant rate it any higher though is because its rather EXPENSIVE - i can find cheaper beans elsewhere

The media could not be loaded. I love this coffee for a number of reasons aside from it's wonderfully refreshing taste.The first thing I notice was the roast date. The coffee has a roast date of 26 August 2024 and I received it on 8 September 2024. That's really good - I received it less than two weeks after the roast date.I like to leave freshly roasted coffee to settle for a couple of weeks before I use it and I allowed this coffee to rest for about two and a half weeks post roast date before I used it.One interesting thing I have notice about the beans is that I have to adjust my grinder to an extremely fine grind in order to get an acceptable extraction and flow. The grind level is at the outer end of what my grinder, which is a half decent grinder, can do.I have had some trouble finding the correct grind setting and it's taken me a few days - and probably nine or so cups of coffee - to find the correct grind setting. Even then, I have to adjust the grind to avoid under or over extraction. It usually takes me two or three cups to find the correct grind level with a new coffee.Aside from that, the coffee is beautiful. The beans have a wonderful smell which is fruity and fresh and this is carried through into the taste. The flavours are very accurately described on the packaging as peach, honey and brown sugar. There's a liveliness and juiciness to the taste though that is outstanding. There's no bitterness or too much acid and it's a great coffee to have as a straight and refreshing espresso.With milk the coffee is also great. The flavour busts through the milk with both semi-skimmed and whole cream milk.This is good because the taste is refreshing rather than overpowering. It's a coffee that a number of members of my family like including those who don't usually like strong espresso style coffee.I will definitely be buying the coffee again. It's an excellent example of coffee from Rwanda and it's a great example of red bourbon beans.I think I have now got to grips with the grind settings for these beans and assuming the settings stay the same between different roast batches, it should be easier in future to find the correct grinder setting.

This coffee arrived in a very nice Rounton branded bag with an easy-tear open section and a proper reusable airtight seal on the inside of the bag which sealed great. The coffee’s roast date was as close as it gets for something that’s been through the Amazon system, in my case it was in my hands on the 9th of Sept with a roast date of Aug 26th on the bag. Which is twelve days after roast and was entirely ready to use on arrival without having to set it aside to rest and off gas. For medium roasted beans and espresso I tend to let it sit for 7–8 days, but there's nothing wrong with 12 days, especially when you aren’t buying direct.Not sure why people who aren’t keen on speciality coffee are trying this and blaming Rounton for it not being to their tastes, by all accounts you get exactly what was advertised and expected with this coffee. The roasting is spot on, it’s a very typical medium roast for a speciality coffee roaster and overall it matches well with my expectations for a washed single origin with mild acidity, natural sweetness and more fruit & floral forward tasting notes. I personally wouldn’t consider this a super funky coffee, but it depends on your palette and where your comfort zone is, as it's ultimately subjective. I’ve tried this in a few ways including Aeropress, V60 and Espresso and all have been very enjoyable in the cup.Ultimately I have no complaints with this coffee, it’s put Routon, Rwamatamu and Kiyube region coffees in general on my radar for future purchases, especially when I eventually get into home roasting. The £33 pricing is in the ballpark of what I'd expect to pay for a kilo of speciality coffee of this quality from a company who seems to care about the people in the chain from start to finish. Of course like any roaster I have to take their word for it and can only hope that the ethical sourcing claims are true, but the literature on the coffee bag, their website and this listing do imply that they’re good folk.

The first thing that hits you as with any new bag of beans is the heady smell when opening the pack, lovely. These beans compared to some I use look a little smaller, but that's never going to be a problem as they are going to be ground within an inch of their lives. So I ground these pretty finely rather than a course grind. Threw them in the cafetiere added the water and waited. The taste surprised me - described on the pack as peach, honey, brown sugar it certainly had the elements of each. It's a mellow yet really tasty brew straight from the off you can taste a hint of the honey and yes I think I get the peach adding to the sweetness. But the after taste that lingers on the tongue is the brown sugar, almost giving it a lovely treacly taste experience.This combines superbly well with that initial sweetness giving way to that wonderful treacly after taste.One of the best coffees I've had for quite a while. A drink for morning, afternoon or evening definitely recommended.