I know many of us here buy from Sweet Maria’s. I wanted to check how are people’s experience with others like Happy Mug and Coffee Bean Corral.
I’ve also been buying from Burman’s and pretty happy with their beans as well. I know others also buy from Royal Coffee and have told me they had great beans from them.
thanks in advance.
Happy Mug is fine. I’ve bought from them several times. I also like The Captain’s Coffee.
I’ve been happy with Coffee Bean Corral for a couple years now. I connected with them when SM stopped shipping greens in plastic bags (it’s the kiss of death for greens without a vapor barrier in AZ). I thought it would be temporary but I got hooked on organic Chiapas!
Bruce
I saw those Chiapas and it looked interesting 
IIRC they have 2 Chiapas choices. The organic is distinctly different and my preference. I roast for 3-6 people (depending on who’s in the park) and it’s unanimous: the organic Chiapas is a winner.
Me
Good to know… I’ll give that one a try
That is interesting. Sweet Marias always ships to me in plastic Zip Lock type bags. But Coffee Bean Corral always ships in cloth bags, which I immediatly switch to Ecotact or similar plastic bags.
I have gotten good beans from CBC, Sweet Marias, and Happy Mug. I have heard good things about Royal Coffee. I have also bought beans from Bodhi Leaf here in Southern CA. A little on the pricey side.
I have ordered the same green and roasted beans from Happy Mug so that I could compare what they are roasting to what I was getting from the Bullet.
I have also ordered 1/4 pound lots of roasted beans from Geroge Howell in Boston. Very pricey. (George Howell is considered by some to be the Godfather of specialty coffee. He has had a huge influence on Specialty coffee and has done much for the small coffee growers around the world)
I’ve been using happy mug for a couple years now. I usually order around 180lbs at a time. Ships same or next day. Never had any issues or bad beans.
SM and coffee bean corral take “forever” to ship and arrive here on east coast. Never had any bad beans.
Happy mug locks the shipping rate after 90lbs so it can be substantially cheaper per pound.
Thanks for all the feed back.
Yes George is considered by many to be the guy who started specialty coffee movement with his roasting and coffee chain (I think it was called Coffee Connection) in the 80s and 90s. After he sold his coffee chain I think he had an ironclad non-compete which is why he was publicly quite for many years until recently. I did find his prices quite pricey so I have not bought anything from him.
I think it was a temporary thing. My wife recalled reading that California had instituted some laws related to plastics and that businesses had quotas to meet. Dunno for sure but that seemed plausible. SM abandoned that and went back to prior packaging methods but by then I was hooked on Chiapas. That and Liquid Amber keeps disappearing from their offerings.
Anyone use the Green Coffee Buying Club?
I did years ago. It was fine but rather involved for limited savings and limited choices. I just found it easier and more convenient to buy via retailers. The purchasing process may have evolved over the years but I’ve not felt the need to revisit them.
Thanks for input from everyone. Just ordered some from CBC and HM - one of which is same bean from both and HM had a better price.
Just ordered another 180lbs from happy mug. Shipped same day. $39 shipping.
I’ve had great coffee’s from CBC and happy mug. CBC durato Bombe is the only green I’ve ever found three stones in a bag, but the bean was great! Klatch and Mill city Roasters are two more I would add to the list.
I really have enjoyed the holiday blend from Mill City the last couple years.
This is kind of off topic, but Bodhi leaf does a very fun home roaster competition occasionally which is a really good reason to buy the coffee they offer for the competition. (There is also a discount code for people participating 20% IIRC).
Does Royal seem expensive or is it that good?
I believe that Royal is a top tier supplier.
I have ordered a few of their Crown Jewel, 22 pound boxes. They are not trying for the 1 -10 pound customer. Most of their coffee is sold in 300 pound bags.
There are other coffee suppliers that buy those 300 pound bags and re-package for smaller amounts.
I recently bought a 10 pound lot of a Royal Guji SWP Decaf for $8.52 per pound including shipping from one of the guys on Green Coffee Buying Club. A lot of the guys that sell on that forum will buy one or more of the 300 pound bags and then re-package in smaller lots.
If you go to Royal, for some of their Green beans they have roasting notes and guides for different roaster. (most are for bigger/commercial roasters) but they sometimes have Bullet rosting notes, (and they also have rosting notes)
Buying direct would have been more expensive than than buying through a sub-distributor.
I have been to their facility in Oakland CA. and it is very impressive.
They offer classes and have an impressive tasting lab.
They also offer coffee drinks for sale. All top notch. They even have coffee flights (like wine) that you can try. maybe a coffee brewed 3 different ways, or the same coffee as a Natural, washed, and Honey.
They are primarily catering to commercial roasters.
Thanks for the info If I ever head back up north again I would for sure check them out. Yeah, I was looking at their site and noticed this one: Crown Jewel Ecuador Saraguro Juan Peña Anaerobic Washed CJ1515 – 30034 – SPOT RCWHSE for $330.64 for the 22 lbs. Which is just over $15 per pound. I know I am new to all of this, but it seems VERY expensive, unless its UNREAL good! Then I looked at the roasting graphs for the Bullet, and it seems they are roasting kind of light for me anyway… regardless I am learning, probably worth…???
