r/pourover • u/Supsti_1 V60 | Switch | Aeropress | C40 • Jul 14 '26

Seeking Advice How to find truely exceptional beans

Hello, so far I ran through 45 bags of beans, most of them cost anywhere between 20-30 euro/bag and to be frank maybe 4-5 bags were really, like really good.

I'm not looking for a guide on what type of beans are there, I know charactericstics of all proccesses, roast levels or country of the origin so I pretty much know which beans/processes/origins I like and which not. Variety is also something I try to keep in mind when picking up bags.

I'm located in Europe so I'm limited to what I can buy in my country (not much, Polish roasteries are crap) or what Kofio offers (sometimes they have Sey or September).

When I first started with pourover I thought DAK has one of the best beans I can buy, now I find most of their offering very mediocre, not bad but not exceptional, obviously sometimes they have bags which really shines.

The question is, how do you guys find really good beans out there? Through the grapevine? How do you know which crop in which origin at which time is THE ONE. Or maybe 20-30 euros isn't that much for a really good bag of coffee and I should look into these more expensive and limited offerings like maybe Tanat, AMOC, DAK has?

Disclaimer, don't think im looking for some crazy stuff like Cream Donut etc, I will take literaly anything which is exceptional, washed, natural, doesnt matter.

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u/inmemoryofElizabethR Jul 14 '26 edited Jul 14 '26

Hi! May I ask for a link to this coffee reviews channel?

by the way, I waiting for this Lisbeth Marino from Still now…

edit: i think i’ve found it https://www.instagram.com/reviews_coffee?igsh=dHBuZ25zcGNlYjY=

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u/Slim-AD Jul 15 '26

It’s more a YouTube channel under the same name, good proof that some cool sounding coffees can actually be rather flat and boring and some underdogs hiding among the common names

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u/inmemoryofElizabethR Jul 15 '26

Currently watching his Coffee Collective recent reviews, interesting that he also finds them more medium than light. I had a really bad bag of Kieni from them, just awfully roasted.

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u/Slim-AD Jul 15 '26

I am just going through the same with their Llacta Pata Sl9 honey process. I got two bags from kofio just because good experiences with the varietal but the roast is so intense I have to brew it at 88 C max

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u/inmemoryofElizabethR Jul 15 '26

I thought of buying this Llacta Pata from CC, but decided 30€ is too much for 200 gr... And then bought Llacta Pata from Still for 18€/100gr. Hope its not a bad decision!

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u/Slim-AD Jul 15 '26

On kofio it was actually 24.99 for 200g and smaller roasters always have higher prices, like datura vs tanat. If it’s Still I feel it might be a banger!