There is an absolute plethora of coffee beans available on the market. This provides a huge range of choice that is great for consumers in one way, but in another way, such an array of beans can be daunting. Which ones should I buy? Are these good or are they trash? HELP ME!
Never fear – we are here to give you a helping hand. We drink a lot of coffee thanks to our roles here as coffee blog snobs at The Coffee Bazaar, and have tried a huge range of different beans – so we believe we are pretty well qualified here.
Below we have selected our 8 favourite arabica coffee beans and tell you why we think they are so, so good. We have selected only roasted whole beans here, so if you are looking for pre-ground coffee you’ll be disappointed (although if you are a coffee nut then you really should get a grinder and be grinding your own beans at home). If you want to learn a little more about what to look for in a coffee bean then you can click here to take a look at our guide at the bottom of the page.
So in no particular order, here are our eight favourite coffee beans for 2023. Quick summary table at the top, followed by more detailed reviews below.
Quick Summary Table
| Brand | Coffee Name | Our Review | Check Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rave Coffee | Signature Blend no.1 | Read our review » | Check price at Amazon » |
| Spiller & Tait | Pure Colombian Huila | Read our review » | Check price at Amazon » |
| Orangutan Coffee | Sumatran | Read our review » | Check price at Amazon » |
| Union Coffee | Liberacion | Read our review » | Check price at Amazon » |
| Brown Bear | Real Colombia | Read our review » | Check price at Amazon » |
Rave Coffee – Signature Blend no.1
The Signature Blend no.1 is actually one of the first releases Rave brought to the coffee market in the UK. It’s still punching with tones of chocolate, caramel and almond – that’s a great balance in our opinion. It’s got a strength score of 4/5 and is available as whole bean, cafetiere ground or filter (more of a medium grind), though obviously given the title of this review, we’ve only tasted the beans. Not overly cheap at £6.65 for a 250g pack (or £23 for a 1kg) but well, well worth it on your taste buds.
Spiller & Tait – Pure Colombian Huila
Spiller and Tait are another excellent coffee producer, roasting beans in small batches to ensure consistent quality. This coffee originates from Huila in southern Colombia and is a medium strength, medium roast. What stands out about this coffee is the complete lack of any acidity, which coupled with fruity flavours makes for a delicious cup.
Orangutan Coffee
This single origin, single estate coffee from Sumatra in Indonesia not only tastes great but it also supports a very noble cause. Sales of the coffee help support farmers to produce ecologically friendly plantations without deforestation. As far as the taste goes, the flavour notes say cherry and chocolate – and that is exactly right! The flavour is deep and rich and very pleasant. And all while supporting a good cause. What’s not to like?
Union Coffee – Liberacion
We’re big fans of Union Coffee and this Liberacion is our favourite of theirs. The beans are grown in Huehuetenango, Guatemala at altitudes of nearly a mile high, and less than half of the beans produced are actually purchased by Union to ensure that only the highest quality beans go into the coffee (if you are wondering, the remaining half is sold at local markets). This is a medium roast and has notes of apricot and peach, for those that enjoy a lively coffee, the Liberacion from Union needs to be hitting your mug!
Brown Bear Real Colombia
This single origin Colombian coffee from Brown Bear hit all of the right notes with us. The coffee has a nice nuttiness and smooth mouth-feel. Produced a nice crema when put though our pump espresso machine and we acheived great results either as a black americano or with milk in a cappuccino. You can either buy direct from Brown Bear or through Amazon (direct being a little cheaper) and if Colombian isn’t quite your thing, then there are a great variety of other single-origin arabica beans from the same brand on the website (although we have only sampled this Colombian).
What to look for in a coffee bean?
Bean type
There are three main types that coffee beans are available in – Arabica, Robusta and a blend of Arabica and Robusta.
Arabica
These are the highest quality beans available (hence why all of the coffees we’ve included on this list are 100% arabica).
Robusta
Robusta beans have a higher caffiene content so are typically used in stronger coffees (you’ll find most of the strongest coffees you can buy use robusta beans). But they typically are not as high quality in terms of flavour.
Robusta/Arabica blend
Naturally, some producers who are looking to make a strong coffee but don’t want to sacrifice flavour too much, may blend the two beans together to provide a reasonable balance.
Origin
Some coffees use beans sourced from a single location (or single-origin coffee), some use a blend of beans from different locations. Neither is really ‘better’ than the other, because as long as all the beans are arabica and created by an artisan roaster rather than cheaply mass-produced, they will generally speaking taste good.
It really depends on your preference. If you are looking for a specific flavour (for instance, deep and dark) then you may want to go for a single origin coffee from Brazil. But if you are looking for a more complicated flavour profile, a blend may be right up your street. The best thing is to experiment to find what you like – and indeed, isn’t trying lots of different coffees to hone in on your favourite one of the most compelling things about the drink?