The World’s Smoothest Coffee Beans Are Back (2023)

No Bitter and No Burnt 

Most of my life, I hated coffee; burnt-n-bitter, I just didn’t understand the attraction. Then one day at a Church Campout a buddy of mine (Dave) heard me say that I hated coffee. Later he conspiratorially whispered, “Get up early tomorrow morning and before the kids get up, I’ve got a surprise for you.” Not knowing what he was talking about, I waddled over to his tent at about 7AM.

There he was waiting for me holding two mugs of what I was hoping was hot chocolate. And with a shit-eating grin he handed me my mug. I looked in the mug; damn! Coffee! (Church Camp Right?) Just to be polite, I took one tentative sip. “Holly Shit Batman!” I thought, or at least I was hoping I didn’t say that out loud.

I took a second sip. Same thing; smooth as silk; no bitter or burnt flavor; and what was that, a hint of chocolate that I could tasted? “Dave, what the hell is this, where did you get it, and where can I get more”? With a chuckle, Dave said, “I roast my own coffee”. Dave soon taught me how to roast my own coffee that was smooth as silk. Within a few months, I was everyone’s new best friend.

Love At First Sip 

After about a year of friends-n-family coffee roaster fame, I met Alisha Jean Hills (yep, same Hills family, as in "Hills Brothers Coffee" (distant relatives). She was a cute little blonde that was smart as a whip, with a sense of humor just as sharp, and a gracious heart for God. Fortunately for me, she was also very particular about her coffee. Like me, we both loved great coffee, especially my fresh roasted coffee. Honestly, just between you and me, I think she fell in love with my coffee before falling in love with me.

After a few months of courting, she said, “Russell, you know, with coffee this good, we should start a coffee roasting company” (remember those Hills Brothers genes). Since she put up the initial business capital investment ($700), she’s listed on Lake City Coffee’s incorporation papers as the CEO, with me being the lowly "Roaster, Chief Bottle Washer, and VP Of The Keys".

This humble beginning left me with only one route to the top of the company and that was to sleep my way to the top. Five years after marrying my boss, I’m still the roaster, chief bottle washer, and VP of the keys. Considering my ambitions, I’m forced to continue sleeping with her, in hopes to being on top some day.

Sourcing The Smoothest Coffee Beans

Finding world class coffee beans isn’t easy. Initially, we taste tested coffee from all over the world. What we learned was that the smoothest coffee beans seemed to usually come from Central America.

Eventually we narrowed down our search to Costa Rica and then quickly to the Tarrazu region of Costa Rica. This unique coffee growing region is notorious for growing the smoothest coffee beans in the world.

Little did we know that a majority of coffee roasters never taste test the coffee that they buy. A small percentage will taste test two and maybe three samples of beans from different farmers or co-ops. Less than 1% of the roasters will sample more than a dozen. And here we are, this small, no-knack, mom-n-pop coffee roaster from Idaho, sampling 20 different beans.

We work pretty hard to find the best coffee beans on the planet. Smooth is good, very good, but it's not good enough. We wanted a bean that was not just smooth as silk, but one that was also complex, well integrated, and has prominent notes to chocolate, with subtle notes of layered flavors like citrus and nuts.

Working With Costa Rican Growers

Eventually, we found Royal Coffee; owned and run by the same family since the early 70's. We told "Richard" at Royal that we have a very dedicated and long standing customer base with very exacting tastes. They want simply smooth coffee, i.e. not bitter.

We explained, that if it wasn't super smooth, with discernable notes of chocolate, don't bother sending it to us to taste test.  Where other coffee wholesalers hated hearing from me, Royal, on the other hand, was excited to meet our challenge.

This year it took over 20 samples to find our super smooth bean with strong notes of chocolate. We've already found, procured, and warehoused 9,000 pounds of beans for 2022 and contracted for even more in 2023! So, not to worry, your supply of super smooth coffee is secure.

The Fresher The Bean The Smoother The Coffee

Sure, it’s imperative that you start with a good flavored and super smooth bean, but if the roasted coffee isn’t fresh, then you might as well be drinking Folgers or Yuban.

Here’s a fact of life that most people either don’t know or the professionals refuse to admit. All coffee, even mine, starts going stale as soon as you roast it. Last week’s roasted coffee isn’t as smooth and flavorful as this week’s.

A month after roasting and the coffee begins to get more and more bitter by the day. Unfortunately, and contrary to what other coffee companies will tell you; no amount of space-age packaging technology can change this fact. That’s why the old adage, “The fresher the bean the better the coffee”, was, is, and always will be true.

If you want smooth coffee then it had better have a roast date on the bag which is less than 30 days old and preferably less than 3 days old. This is precisely why we roast and ship on the same day, thus our motto, “From our roaster to your table in 24-72 hours”.

Secret Note: After much research and experimentation, I've found a trick to help your coffee to remain "almost" as fresh as the day it was roasted. CLICK HERE for that article.

Low-n-Slow Roasting

Smooth As A Kiss Goodby

Unfortunately, a vast majority of coffee sold in America has been sitting in warehouses and on store shelves for months if not years. No wonder it tastes so bitter. To hide this bitterness, most coffee companies, like Charbucks, burn the snot out of their beans.

By roasting in huge industrial hot-n-fast vats, Charbucks and their wanabees are saving themselves money at the cost of killing any chance of delivering to you a smooth cup of coffee and denying you that divine pleasure.

On the other hand, I roast your coffee low-n-slow in small batches. This low-n-slow method insures that the oils stay within the bean. Those oils are where all the bioflavonoids, antioxidants, caffeine, and flavor reside. The more oil inside the bean, the better the coffee.

Brewing in small batches makes a huge difference. The key here is that you want to be able to taste the beans not the roaster. Large industrial coffee companies, like Yuban, Hills Brothers, Folgers, and Charbucks, can't do that when they roast thousands of pounds of coffee at a time in massive vats.

We roast in 15 pound lots. Each batch is hand roasted, hand packed into bags, and hand boxed. Each and every customer of our is a potential friend and we value your patronage so much that we put our heart and soul into your coffee. That's why roasting to us is an art. It is not a science, nor is it just business.

Brewing Great Coffee 

Starting with super high quality beans and roasting them low-n-slow to perfection is only 50% of the smooth-cup-of-coffee equation. The other 50% of the equation is in your brewing. That's where Alisha and I shine. We love teaching our customers how to properly brew their coffee.  If you think that you're already and expert, GREAT! If you love your brewing method, GREAT! But if you're open to learning how to take your coffee drinking to a whole new level, then we're here for you.

In addition to teaching you how to brew great coffee, we'll encourage you to experiment. You need to learn what you like best, which means experimenting. There are over 100 compounds inside of roasted coffee beans. Each brewing method has a dozen different variable, each of which will draw out of those beans different compounds, each of which has its own flavor. Ultimately, the number of different flavors that you can draw out of a single bag of coffee isn't endless, but it's close. Therefore, my recommendation is that you experiment.

Additionally, there are more brewing techniques than Carter has Liver Pills (Old folk talk for “a lot”). I wrote a thorough blog post on “How To Make The Smoothest Cup Of Coffee”. Just CLICK HERE.

Lake City Coffee

Russell Roasting

At Lake City Coffee we only sell whole bean coffee and we keep it simple for you. We have one bean and 3 roasts. Period. End of story.  Additionally we roast and ship the same day.  Heck, the beans are still warm when I place them into your shipping box. Obviously, our coffee is the freshest coffee that you’re likely to find anywhere.

Your search for the smoothest coffee bean is over. My suggestion is that you do yourself a favor and check out our Whole Bean Coffee Shopping page. If you’re still not sure, then check out our Reviews page.

2023 Update 

In preparation for our 2022 customers, late in 2021, as we always do, we taste tested over 20 different coffee bean samples from the Tarrazu region of Costa Rica.  We were super stoked when we found one specific lot from La Pastora. These beans were smooth as silk, with distinct notes of chocolate and cherry. If that weren't good enough, the flavors were well balanced and beautifully integrated. I have never tasted coffee this sophisticated in my life. These La Pastor beans were equivalent to drinking France's finest Bordeaux. Of course, we purchased enough beans to last us for all of 2022.

In preparation for our 2023 customers, late 2022, we went straight for the same La Pastora beans. After several taste testings, we found one specific lot of La Pastora, which tasted so close to last year's amazing find, that we purchased enough of those beans to last us throughout 2023.

"From Our Roaster To Your Table In 24-72 Hours"

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