Blue Bottle Coffee Giant Steps

I’ve decided to start reviewing a different coffee each month. The coffee for May is Blue Bottle Coffee Giant Steps. It was a gift from a friend who has been encouraging me to do monthly reviews. My argument against was that I didn’t feel like I was qualified to do a reviews because I would never be able to pick out things like, “It has notes of vanilla flowers.” That’s just not me.

The conversation that made up my mind went like this:

Me: And this is why I shouldn’t review coffee: Just opening the package it smelled like toast, brewing it smells like carrots (I think that would translate to sugar/sweet…)
Him: This is why you SHOULD review coffee. Plenty of people don’t taste the ‘heady woody aroma interspersed with fruity undertones’ or whatever, and would appreciate someone who tastes the same thing they taste, I think.

I hope these reviews will be worthwhile to readers of the blog. Let me know what you think!

Blue Bottle Coffee Giant Steps:

The packaging on this coffee was well thought out and lovely. The shipping box had a coffee branch printed on the inside which was a nice touch. Included were a card stating it was a gift, a coupon for a free drink at their cafés, a card describing the coffee, and of course the coffee.

The card reads:

• Details: Giant Steps is a bit more one-dimensional than our other drip blends, but it is a good dimension. Ugandan and Sumatran selections combine for an ultra-balanced, dense and chocolaty cup that stands up to cream quite well.
• Digression: If this coffee were any heavier-bodied, you could pour it on pancakes.
• Deliciousness: Viscous, fudgy, substantial

I really loved every time I opened up this bag. The smell of the beans was of dry toast. Not burnt-just a comforting, toasty smell. I have actually been disappointed opening new bags of coffee since experiencing this one. The coffee was roasted and at my door in less than a week, so it was about as fresh as it could get without doing it myself. The beans were paler than what I normally buy. That isn’t any sort of judgement, just an observation.

Mostly I brewed this bag in the Chemex. It smells like cooking carrots. It’s a sweet, earthy smell. It sounds off-putting, but it wasn’t. When following my normal brew numbers for the Chemex I felt like the coffee was a little weak. I upped it by around 4grams and it resulted in a much richer coffee. I didn’t feel it tasted over brewed at all. There was a hint of chocolate in the cup, but not overpowering. The packaging says it held up to cream well. Adding a bit of half and half made it look the color of hot chocolate. It was delicious black or with cream. It was extremely smooth with no bitterness.

I wanted to try the Giant Steps as iced coffee, but I didn’t want to use as much as it takes to make cold brew. It felt wasteful to use that many of these great beans! I looked up the numbers for making Japanese style iced coffee and tried it that way with my pour-over. The numbers I used were: 30g coffee, 165g ice, and 335g hot water. I put the ice into the carafe I was brewing into, and the hot coffee melted the ice as it filtered through. (This has actually been a preferable method to me lately rather than a 12-24 hour cold brew.) Amazing. Creamy. The color of chocolate milk and just as smooth. I have no pictures of the iced coffee. Sorry, it was too good to wait.

If you live in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, or Tokyo you can pick up a bag in one of their cafés. If not, you can order it from their website: bluebottlecoffee.com.

I really cannot recommend this coffee enough. It was smooth with no bitterness. Opening the bag each day was a pleasure. Typically I would tell you I do not enjoy African coffees, but this mix of beans does have African roots in the mix. That was surprising. I’d be interested in trying single origin beans from Uganda and Sumatra to see how I feel about them separately. If you feel the same way, don’t let that deter you.