Coffee Review Series: Caribou Medium Roast – Slightly Better Than Coal, But Don’t Gift It!

I struggle with dark roasts. Specialty coffee typically leans toward light or medium roasts, which preserve the majority of flavor in the beans. Dark roasts, on the other hand, tend to lose these delicate flavors during the roasting process, often resulting in a burnt or bitter taste. While some people might prefer this or simply be accustomed to it, I wanted to test—can an extremely dark roast be brewed into a flavorful cup of coffee? In the spirit of experimentation, let’s find out.

Caribou’s Medium Roast is definitely not what I would consider a medium roast. A clear sign of a dark roast is the shiny appearance of the beans, caused by oils pushed to the surface during the roasting process. As shown in the photo below, these beans are undeniably shiny—making them, in my opinion, a perfect example of a dark roast.

Flavor (1.44 out of 10)

Now, our spirit of experimentation can lead us to find out, but not solve the root of the problem. This roast profile caused this bag of beans to be extremely bitter and without any noticeable flavor. Across all three brew methods, I struggled to even get away from an overly bitter flavor profile.

Smoothness (3 out of 10)

As we saw in our previous review, the immersion brew method with the Aeropress provided the most consistency for this bag, but the bitterness remained strong even in the Aeropress trial. Interestingly, the V60 performed the best using my dark roast routine, while espresso struggled significantly due to the overwhelming bitterness.

Aftertaste (2.89 out of 10)

The aftertaste was where this bag scored the highest—thankfully, it was fairly insignificant. It carried a similar bitter note as the flavor, but the bitterness tapered off toward the end. Because of that, I gave it some upper-middle grades to reflect this improvement.

Price (4 out of 10)

In my opinion, this bag came in overpriced for what it delivered. I picked it up for $9.99 at Rivertown Market in downtown Detroit. While $10 for a 12oz bag isn’t steep compared to what you can find with specialty coffee prices, it far exceeded its actual delivered value. I’d expect this bag to be priced around $6, and in any case, I’d choose a different option without hesitation.

Availability (3 out of 10)

To check availability, I reviewed a list of grocers we support on Instacart across the U.S.:

• Woodman’s (WI) – Available

• Walmart (CA, MI) – Available in MI, ships to CA

• Harps (AR) – Not available

• Foodtown (NY) – Not available

I was a bit surprised by the limited availability until I double-checked Caribou’s headquarters in Minnesota. It makes sense that their distribution is currently focused on the Midwest, but their store expansion could help extend it further in the future. For now, since I could only find it in Midwest locations, I had to give it a 3 in this category.

So, is this worth picking up? I’d avoid this bag 99.9% of the time. If I were in a remote town and this was the only whole bean option from Caribou, I’d honestly reach for a pre-ground bag over this without hesitation. I hate wasting coffee, and so the only way I’ve managed to make this remotely enjoyable is in a vanilla or caramel latte, where the fat and sugar masks the bitterness. 

I am interested to try out some of their lighter blends and hopefully find a gem as I’m all for a competitor coming in against Starbucks and Bigbee with the distribution / brick and mortar model. Whatever you do though, avoid giving this as a stocking stuffer—you might get coal in return next year!

Final score: 14.33/50.