When I sipped the whole-bean brewed coffee, I tasted a little smoke. This is expected since the Veranda Blend is a light roast. The coffee is also smooth and has a softness that makes the coffee easy to enjoy. On the appearance, both cups look the same. Color on both sides remains on the darker brown side, with a little bit of transparency. Many coffee drinkers enjoy the whole process of making coffee. From opening up a new bag to smelling the coffee, grinding, brewing, and finally pouring out a cup to sip, the whole procedure is fun, even therapeutic. Once I finished grounding, I went straight into brewing. I put 10 grams of ground coffee into my Bodum Caffettiera French press. Then, I added 6 fl oz (180ml) of off-boiling, hot water. For the Veranda Roast whole beans, I first ground them down to medium coarseness. I plan to brew the coffee using my French press.

Next, I think the natural step would be to compare the smell and aroma of the coffee. I brought my nose close to the cups and began sniffing. The smell reminds me of instant coffee, although regular instant coffee usually has a much stronger dried seafood smell. Does this mean the brewed coffee cup will be smokier? Or it doesn’t really matter? Let’s see. Aroma In my previous review, I noticed the seafood smell disappeared when the coffee was a little cooler. This did not happen with the Veranda Blend. I waited for about 10 minutes and tried sniffing again. The soy sauce-like smell remains. TasteThere is a small bit of coffee foam, like a broken-up layer of crema, on the brewed coffee. This is expected since it comes from a French press. The instant coffee version has no crema layer. I also seem to notice some floral notes too. This is, to me, very pleasant and increases my satisfaction on sipping the coffee. If you want to be pedantic, you may say the one from the brewed coffee is slightly lighter colored than the instant coffee cup. The whole bean roast uses 100% Arabica beans sourced from Latin America. These beans are then lightly roasted to preserve the natural characteristics of the coffee.

I initially deliberated between pour-over or French press. However, I think the latter method allows me to sample the coffee. This is because the French press does not remove much coffee oil and fine particles, producing a full-flavored coffee.I used a large spoon to scoop up the coffee and slurp it for tasting. The idea is to ensure I draw in coffee and enough air to allow the flavor of the coffee to shine through. I am glad I did this because it clearly allowed me to tell the difference between them. When it was in use, the system delivered Veranda Blend blonde roast with a softer, balanced taste that would blend well with milk. Each pod contained high-quality arabica ground coffee.