Cafe Bustelo – What I’m Drinking

The Drink: Cafe Bustelo
Type: Ground Dark Roast
Overall Rating: 2.5 coffee cups out of five

I remember seeing the yellow, black and red bricks of Cafe Bustelo in the neighborhood bodega when I was growing up in New York. The bodega was the type of place where the items were covered in dust, not the kind of place where I’d expect to find trend setting coffee.

This year, I was surprised to discover that Cafe Bustelo is making appearances at celebrity pool parties in Hollywood and cutting edge music festivals in New York. (article here, third link down) Through an aggressive marketing campaign, it’s becoming popular with the so-called in crowd. I wouldn’t say that I’m part of that crowd, but I couldn’t resist trying it out, seeing if it was worth all of the hype.

From the first sniff, I knew I was in trouble. I kept going back and forth, I couldn’t decide whether I could call the aroma mild or weak. Either way, there was nothing trendy or hip worthy about it. It wasn’t on the level of any of the better dark roasts that I’ve sampled recently.

It was hard to pick up any specific scents in the aroma, but I was able to pick up small hints of nuts and a floral aroma.

The first sip was too dark, over the top and a little bitter. It was a dark roast, but not what I’d call a pleasant taste. However, I will give it to them that it wasn’t burnt tasting like some of the coffees that start with star and end with bucks.

Overall, it tasted lifeless. I did buy it at my local grocery store, so who knows how long it was sitting on the shelf, but I still expected better.

There were three distinctive tastes. The first was a slightly floral taste. I’ve never eaten flowers, but I’m assuming that’s what they would taste like. There was a pleasant smoky taste. It was one of the stand out qualities about it and I’m not someone that will usually head towards the dark roasts. However, there was a chemical taste that washed everything else out.

As it cooled down, it became more bitter and a little funky tasting. I couldn’t pinpoint the funky taste, but I’ll just say it was sour and leave it at that.

While it was still hot, the after taste was enjoyable. It was a warm mix of nuttiness and the smoky dark roast taste, which was one of the other positive qualities.

For being hip and trendy, it was only $2.99 at the grocery store. Even at that price it wouldn’t be my first choice for grocery store coffee, but it was drinkable.

Cafe Bustelo earned a 2.5 coffee cup rating, which is slightly below average on the Daily Shot Of Coffee rating scale.

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Photos by Banalities and missdarling.

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