How to find a similar coffee bean

martin.drinks.coffee · 2025-09-25T12:34:36-0400

Hi,

I buy coffee regularly. I have tried specialist local roasters ( in Cardross - although i think they are gone now)... and since then have tried random things from supermarkets... mostly just tasted like 'coffee'.. nothing special... so I ended up with Aldi-Espresso-5 since... if i was getting an average experience i might as get it for buttons.. and have the same experience! yay! Anyway after a couple of years they changed the recipe... not pleased and so back to picking up randoms... I dont often shop in M&S however was there and picked up a few packets of this and that... all much of a muchness - 'coffee'... but recently after a trip i picked up a few packets of:

"M&S Rwandan Micro Lot Beans"

wow!! an amazing difference - (my assessment) miles in front of everything I had tasted anywhere else in supermarket.. by a hundred miles!! ... BINGO! problem sorted!! except that after i cleared the shelf in the 2st shop and then went round every M&S nearby and cleared those shelves.. no restock... it was blamed on computer hackers... but the reality is that M&S stopped stocking it... :-( I am sure someone else here must have noticed also...

Looking at tieback of the packets - it seems to be Sholi coop, natural process... I am ~~desperate~~ very keen to find someone else who knows where M&S got this coffee roasted or knows how I can find anything that is similar... and here lies the next issue; having send many emails to roasters who do Sholi - all appear to be washed and dont know anything about why this coffee seems so different.

My personal take on it is that I remember years ago the Cardross roaster used to have a batch that he stored in Bourbon Whiskey casks - this seemed to impart a fantastic phenolic quality to the coffee - making it taste a little like an Isla Whiskey as part of its profile... something that i wasnt sure about but have now realised i really really like... Short of buying a ex-bourbon cask to store beans in I am stuck!!

Anyway I started looking around and asking coffee bean suppliers - where I could find another Sholi-natural process bean but all seem to be 'washed' - does that make a difference? - or they just dont reply... Short of ordering kg's of beans from everywhere i can find I am stuck :-(... Maybe someone here knows about the M&S Micro Lot Rwandan Bean or knows a little more about why this one tastes so different from everything else...

[I did pick up a couple of different Micro-Lot M&S beans... Kenyan and Guatemala; nice... but - sadly - just 'coffee'... I cant complain about them... but they are not what I seek! please help!!

Martin.

Arsenaledge · 2025-09-25T15:14:58-0400

https://ironandfire.co.uk/on-the-rocks-whiskey-barrel-infused-speciality-coffee-beans-roasted-single-origin/

Personal never tried it but they are my local roaster, I dont rate their coffee myself but plenty do. Hopefuly this ticks the boxes for you.

Jumbo Ratty · 2025-09-26T04:38:42-0400

I’d say explore more coffee’s that have undergone the Natural process, I’ll take a punt and say that’s quite possibly why you liked that particular bean so much and that other Rwanda beans that have gone through a different process don’t measure up.

I’m particularly fond of natural process beans myself, and love that funky earthy flavour / (heavy fermentation notes?) they seem to have, , there’s also another process that doesn’t seem to get mentioned much, and that’s anaerobic, and that struck me as very similar to natural, but even more so, like amplified natural (my own findings, might vary for others)

This article is a good help in explaining the differences

A Beginner's Guide to the Impact of Processing on Flavour

Words and Images By Katie BurnettThe way a coffee is processed is an important part of shaping its flavour profile. Whether a coffee is clean and swee...

magazine.coffee

martin.drinks.coffee · 2025-09-26T04:59:01-0400

Jumbo Ratty said:
I’d say explore more coffee’s that have undergone the Natural process, I’ll take a punt and say that’s quite possibly why you liked that particular bean so much and that other Rwanda beans that have gone through a different process don’t measure up.

I’m particularly fond of natural process beans myself, and love that funky earthy flavour / (heavy fermentation notes?) they seem to have, , there’s also another process that doesn’t seem to get mentioned much, and that’s anaerobic, and that struck me as very similar to natural, but even more so, like amplified natural (my own findings, might vary for others)

This article is a good help in explaining the differences

A Beginner's Guide to the Impact of Processing on Flavour

Words and Images By Katie BurnettThe way a coffee is processed is an important part of shaping its flavour profile. Whether a coffee is clean and swee...

magazine.coffee

Natural Process Sholi coop?

Its like trying to catch a slippery eel! - I thought i had found what i was looking for all these years... and then it's there for a month and gone!! I even searched ebay! - [desperate!] ... Is there any way to find out where M&S sourced it, and which roaster might have been involved, or able to replicate it etc... I tried calling them and emailing but i never get past the (nice but unyielding call centre of no further information)... I think you are correct - it's maybe the natural process i am looking for... my next problem is that I cant find any Natural Process Sholi coop coffee in the UK. There are some in the US but that isn't going to be easy or affordable...

Does anyone know where I can find some to try?

How to find a similar coffee bean

A Beginner's Guide to the Impact of Processing on Flavour

A Beginner's Guide to the Impact of Processing on Flavour

Our Vendors

Top Contributors this Month

Recommended Communities