My faves are (were) the earthiest beans with the darkest roast: sidamo, harrar, sumatra. If you don't like their dark roast, maybe choose one of the "blond" ro

My faves are (were) the earthiest beans with the darkest roast: sidamo, harrar, sumatra. If you don't like their dark roast, maybe choose one of the "blond" roasts, like Veranda. Or pick a Central American varietal, like Guatemala. Back in the day, Panama was the coffee snob's #1 pick. Medium roast Pike Place Blend is okay. I recall liking the Christmas blend. Just from their web page, looks like they now sell fewer varietals. Oh well. I guess it was inevitable. https://www.starbucks.com/menu/at-home-coffee/whole-bean https://www.starbucks.com/menu/at-home-coffee/whole-bean Makes sense though. Supply and logistics for niche beans is challenging at their volume. Small roasters (Herkimer, Lighthouse, etc, etc) can pick the best 500 lbs of beans and roast them to perfection. Whereas Starbucks buys millions of pounds, of varying quality, and tries to get all the batches to taste about the same. That's why they have blends and roast darker. Sure, hiding in those million of pounds are some amazing beans. But they all go into the machine just the same.