David Jones

over_extracted

Hi all ,I bought some coffee from david jones the other day it was label jamaica blue mountain at $ 120.00 a kilo well i as usual have to try things like this and to my shock the coffee is not 100% blue mountain, but a blend with some blue mountain in it ,well how much of it i dont know but one thing i know is where the coffee comes from ,a big roaster here in sydney,how do i know this,i saw the bag that it comes in so i guess all the coffee in those hoppers are from the same roaster and not something special as many customers think.Iam very disappointed with this shame on you david jones.

dcbc

there are very very very few places in Sydney that understand coffee today i went to Bay roasters in neutral bay ordered a ristretto, the guy grabbed an air tight container scooped out the pre ground indian coffee and filled the filter, pressed a button, it gushed out and then charged me two dollars. I took the glass looked at it placed it back on the counter and walked out.   whats the moral?

over_extracted

Hi dcbc i used to live right next door to this place Bay Roasters and i remember the first day it opened back in 1994 or 95 i went in there expecting something at least good but they did the same thing to me ,he the person behind the counter scooped some coffee into the filter and placed it into the machine,now he had put too much coffee in the filter so the thing just (Well it was off) THEN HE DID IT AGAIN :o THIS TIME IT WAS TOO LESS.... i paid the money and walked out never to return ....OE i say whats the point of spending all that money on a fitout to have a nice shop when the product does not match it.

FreshCoffee2

Hi OE,     there is a lot of misinformation / misunderstanding / unscrupulous trading going on out there...     If it was labelled  Jamaica Blue (and probably Wallenford estate) it should be a very well graded and therefore very uniform looking handful of beans you have there. Uniform well graded beans make for even roasting and therefore a very even looking roast (if roasted in a good quality roaster...yes you have to look at the equipment too). The brewed coffee should be smooth and mellow (insert the usual disclaimers about proper brewing here).     You (I) would not blend this with anything else even if only from the pricing point of view, imagine blending something you paid 120 dollars a kilo for, with something you only paid 40 dollars a kilo for. It doesnt make sense.  Some resellers sell Jamaica Blue for up to 200 a kilo however,  so maybe 120 represents a blend. You would have to ask specific questions.   Some resellers sell things like "Blue Mountain" coffee, or "Blue Mountain blend" coffee, and these dont have to have anything to do with Jamaica Blue at all.     For example there is (or was) a "Blue Mountain" estate in New Guinea that produced very high quality New Guinea Arabica. It has absolutely nothing to do wth Jamaica, except that the average consumer doesn't know and EXPECTS it to.   This is an easy way for unscrupulous resellers to hoodwink the public into buying one thing, when they think they are getting something else.     It reminds me of a roaster in Melbourne that sells "Maragogipe Gigante". The word "blend" does not appear anywhere in the establishment with regard to this coffee. Those of us that can tell the difference between Maragigipe Gigante, and "WIB1" (a well known, expensive, very large bean INDONESIAN ROBUSTA used for bulking up blends where visual appeal is important...as in glass hoppers where the coffee beans are to be sold to the public) could see there was a little unscupulous leg pulling going on.     I guess the thing is, buyer beware, even if you shouldn't HAVE to beware, that's just the way it is.     This is not to say the shop you bought the coffee from has done anything wrong or unscupulous. Perhaps it is just a "misunderstanding". Would uou consider taking the coffee back and asking a few diplomatic questions. It might seem like an imposition, however it will be good for the consumer as well as the shop.     Over to you.     FC.

over_extracted

Hi fresh coffee ,well then what the people at david jones cant read the bag the coffee came in,i had the bag in my hands and it read jamaica blue mountain BLEND i think they just forgot to write blend in the coffee hopper.or as many large companies they just rip people off ,I will go there on tuesday and challenge them stay tuned, tuesday afternoon.See ya OE

Unknown

Why did you buy coffee from David Jones?I cannot imagine anyone there would understand anything at all about coffee let alone which is which and whether it is fresh or stale or even why it is better than instant.If you are going to purchase such an expensive coffee you should go somewhere that will roast it to order and you return after a day or so to collect it (such places do exist) why risk disapointment as well as a lot of money on a sub-standard product that you were suspicious about in the first place!I wouldn't trust people in department stores to know where the exit is let alone sell me coffee!

dcbc

Hey!!!!!!!!! I work in a department store... only kidding. blue maountain is a seriously disappointing coffee try some sumatra for some thrills single origin of course In fact you should exclude blends altogther single origins only. The coffee revolution will not be televised.

FreshCoffee2

The trouble with Jamaica Blue is that it is so expensive that its sales are self limiting. From a "roast house" management point of view it is difficult, if not down right un manageable to take an order for J.Blue, and roast it up for the client to pick up in a day or two. This is due to the small amounts of J Blue sold. At say, 200 a kilo, it is  not uncommon for a client to ask for only 100 grams just to try, and there aren't many of these clients around anyway. Many roasters are physically unable to roast such small amounts in view of the economies of scale of commercial size roasting machines, so in order to roast the coffee for someone to buy only an extremely small quantity, the roaster may have to roast for example, no less than 3 to 5 kilos of coffee at a time. This minimum quantity of roast is ofcourse subject to individual roasters, however you can see that in order to sell maybe 1 kilo of J Blue or less to a client, you may have to roast a much larger quantity most of which is destined to go stale waiting for purchase. You really are better served buying high quality coffee that is priced within the realms of "regular" coffee ( say up to $40.00 a kilo) as the turnover and freshness factor is far superior. FC.

Unknown

I read this article so i thought i would go to david jones and buy some JMB The lady at the counter didnt know what JMB was She really had no idea about anything there. I asked is this real? No idea I brought some knowing it was fake and made a few coffees It was soooooooooo bad I got sick Going into it with an open mind It really was bad. David Jones needs a bit of help.

Unknown

Sarah, I am not biased one way or the other against either you or DJ's (and it's shop assistants) but in fairness would like to offer the following comments. "The lady at the counter didnt know what JMB was" I am not surprised, there is no such thing as Jamaica Mountain Blue...it is called Jamaica Blue Mountain (and / or Wallenford Estate) and no one could be expected to know what you are asking for if you refer to its initials whether they be correct ot not. "I brought some knowing it was fake and made a few coffees" Not wishing to offend but you dont actually know that what you bought is a fake now do you? "It was soooooooooo bad I got sick" Seriously now, no one can get sick from drinking coffee unless they are allergic to coffee...period. And that includes drinking lo or hi quality types, substandard or good brew, or real or "fake" Jamaican Blue or other types where "substitution" has taken place. In any case in many instances where dodgy retailers may substitute one type of coffee for another, the "other" may be just as good or better then the real thing, JUST CHEAPER!   "Going into it with an open mind It really was bad." I dont think so!!!! "David Jones needs a bit of help" You could be right there, they might like to stick to what they know best like selling clothes or kitchen appliances rather than coffee beans, or perhaps they might like to train their coffee selling staff. But thanks for your input. Mal The Real Koffee Politic.

over_extracted

Ok you all now the coffee brand that all this talk is over is VITTORIA. YES now you know the bag states blue mountain blend but on the hopper it says JBM.so there you go good luck on your search for the truth out there in the coffee circus..OE  PS either you have a bad palate you cant tell the difference what good or bad coffee is or you have a very strong stomach i quite good ill a couple of times drinking bad coffee.

Reschsmooth

I was in DJ's the other week and saw the various hoppers of coffee, coated in secreted oils - the inside walls of the hopper were coated in coffee beans stuck thusly with the oils. Basically, and being a novice to beans, etc, it did not look inviting, despite the $120/kg price tag. It's interesting to see the DJ's push into this area of coffee, now selling $2000+ machines. On the one hand, this maybe symptomatic of an increasing level of sophistication within the consumer market (questionable perhaps), however, on the other hand, it maybe more indicative of an increasing 'wank' value associated with coffee, with your Dover Heights prat thinking that a $2000 machine on their marble bench top is Euro-chic. I would find it difficult to believe that DJ's staff (and with all due respect to them) would have received sufficient training on the use, benefits, etc of an Elektra lever espresso machine when they also have so many other appliances to deal with. Would you seek specialist cardivascular advice from your local pharmecist? :-/ Cheers Patrick

john

Some good news ;D Took the op to check out DJ's last nite.  8). I think that there is someone there that must have taken the forums advice. The coffee containers were all spotless. Had a good look at a few extractions. Sadly I think that the term espresso has been confused with the term exxxpresso. It was popping about 40mls in about 10-12 secs. Quicker than the Bannister mile. I have made these comments in anticipation that the comments may be read again. If business improves in the exxxxxpresso bar my shares might increase in value. I would also be happy to offer some training to the staff if they wish to contact me. One other thing topping up milk jugs from other milk jugs. I think not. :P JD

admin

Hi guys - since people have been looking at 'use-by' dates in vacuum packs, I looked back to this post as we have another one on truth in packaging...see above on Vittoria 'JMB'. I seem to remember another thread where the issue of packaging came up also - not that the packs didn't have a use by date, but that the use by date was something like: 06/2005! Again I seem to remember the brand was Vittoria - some trendy restaurant sub-brand like 'Neil Perry [freshly] roasted' beans - how they can remain fresh for a little over a year beats me?? -A