by At Beans and Burrs, we are amateur coffee lovers. We intend to write coffee reviews in a way that makes sense to regular coffee drinkers. All opinions expressed here are our own.
Many thanks to Evelyn from Rey Sol Coffee for contacting us and sending us some delicious Colombian coffee.
Rey Sol is effectively a seed to cup coffee operator. Their family has owned a coffee farm in Colombia since 1966. In November 2020, they opened a coffee shop in Ridgewood, NJ, where they roast and serve the coffee from their family farm.
This vertical integration brings a careful craft of 100% Colombian coffee.
They have two outstanding Instagram accounts with incredible photos from the beautiful Colombian mountains to their coffee shop! @reysolcoffee and @reysolfarms
If you live near Ridgewood, NJ, visit their coffee shop to enjoy a fantastic coffee cup with a delicious pastry. You can also purchase their beans online at reysolcoffee.com if you want to sample some of their freshly roasted Colombian coffee at home! Make sure you use the exclusive “beansandburrs” coupon code for 20% off your order!
Now let’s taste those delicious beans!
#1. Light Roast Single Origin Colombian Coffee
I have to admit I have limited experience with light roast coffee, and I was excited when I found out that Rey Sol sent me a light roast and a medium roast version of the same coffee. It is a good experiment to see how the roasting degree influences the result in the cup. I stayed away from light roast because I did not enjoy them in espresso since they tend to be very bright, dare I say sour.
Pour-over
At first sip, it is bright and delicate. A little sweetness appears next on the back of the tongue, with moderate bitterness. After it cools down a little, I get some delicate citrus flavors, like orange or tangerine. It leaves a delightful acidic/tart and a sweet aftertaste, like a lemon bar. I sense no off-flavors; it is a delicious cup of coffee! The acidity becomes more prominent as it cools down. I get the same pattern with each sip: a wave of sharpness followed by a subtle sweetness.
The pour-over brewing method seems to capture the character of this bean adequately. It is clean, smooth, and complex at the same time.
It plays in the higher frequency range of the spectrum. But it has an excellent distribution in the middle and just enough on the sweet side. I am more used to bold, sweet, or evenly distributed coffee, but I must say that I enjoy this a lot, and it gave me the desire to try more light-roast coffees.
Espresso
I wasn’t expecting great results for espresso. Usually, I’m not too fond of medium-light coffee for espresso, as I find them too bright, even sour. Therefore, my expectations for an espresso with a light roast were low, yet it turned out to be enjoyable. I dialed my recipe for a light roast: finer ground, longer ratio (1:2.5 instead of 1:2) to better extract the harder to dissolve light roast. Without surprise, the espresso is on the thin side, with much less crema than I usually drink.
Let us taste it. It is bright, no surprise there; acidic, however, to my delight, it is not the unpleasant sourness I expected. The sweetness is more pronounced than the pour-over. Again, it reminds me of a lemon bar pastry with that lovely “citrus first, sweet next” profile. Very fruity. The sweetness has a bakery quality to it, like pastries with a bit of caramel. It is complex and exciting. Still too bright for my taste but a better espresso than I expected.
French Press
Compared to the medium roast reviewed below, the light roast adds complexity and a fun brightness. It seems that it sings louder and better across the spectrum, and more notes are appearing. It is bright and fruity, with an excellent citrus taste coated with sweetness. I find back my lemon bar again, but this time with something more. It is bolder and more complex than the pour-over. I can’t say if I prefer the french press to the pour-over; it is different. The pour-over is “cleaner,” which makes sense since the paper filter removes some acidic taste and leaves a more subtle clean brew. You can’t get wrong with either method.
Moka Pot
I think the Moka pot does not gives it justice. It is good, though, still one of the better coffee I tried with the Moka pot. The beautiful balance between a gentle acidity and a balanced sweetness remains but tastes more “muddled” and less delicate than the pour-over and the press. The citrus taste is a bit too bright, and the sweetness a bit too cloying. It loses some of the interesting “details” in the middle. The pour-over and the French press spoiled me since they play the complex character of this bean so well.
#2. Medium roast Single Origin Colombian Coffee
Pour-Over
The medium roast is surprisingly different from the light roast, almost reverse. Here I get the sweetness first and a zing of acidity next. It is mellow, round, sweet, very easy to drink, balanced by delicate acidity and a pleasant bitterness. The taste is brown sugar with a trace of grapefruit, but the brown sugar sweetness dominates. I am shocked that it is so different from its light roast counterpart. The light roast was a symphony of brightness and sharp citrus notes with restrained bitterness to balance it. This one is a mellow, smooth sweet, delicate brew with just the right amount of acidity to make it intriguing.
Espresso
The body is thin, like the light roast. I taste the raw sugar flavor described above, followed by balanced acidity and some bitterness. I find it a little too bitter and thin, but I am nitpicking since it has a nice complexity. The tartness remains with the finish, but a pleasant sweetness accompanies it. To my surprise, I found that the light roast was the better espresso.
French press
Very mellow, sweet, with that brown sugar character. The acidity is more pronounced and perfectly balanced. It is a delicious cup of coffee. There is the same grapefruit bitter/tart pleasant feeling that is just lingering. The aftertaste is delicate. I. find it better balanced with the French press than with the pour-over method. I would serve this to guests to experience a perfectly smooth and balanced high-quality cup made with fresh beans since it is very approachable. It does everything right, but l leaves me wanting a little more “personality” that I found in its light roast counterpart.
Moka pot
Better with that brewing method than the Light Roast. It is not as delicate as with the French press but a little more exciting and complex. First, I taste brown sugar and walnuts, and then I am hit by a lemony brightness with moderate bitterness. The finish is delicious; the brown sugar remains and leaves a delightful aftertaste.
The bottom line
It was a fun experiment, and I am surprised about the striking difference that the roast level does to these delicious Colombian beans. I love the idea of a company focusing on something and doing it so well. Rey Sol focuses on delivering perfectly roasted beans grown on their family farm in Columbia. I honestly feel that the love and the care translate in the cup. It is one of the best Colombian coffee that I tried.
