All Aldi Whole Bean Coffee Reviewed

I was very impressed with my first taste of Aldi Organic Peru Whole Bean Coffee where I compared it to some freshly roasted beans from a local coffee shop that cost more than twice as much. That led me to want to try all of Aldi's whole bean coffees to see how they compared since they're so affordably priced. This included everything from standard coffee to organic coffees from places like Peru, Ethiopia and Tanzania. All of them cost less than $6 each when I bought them.

Not all the stores in my area stock all the coffees and sometimes the more specialty beans aren't in stock every week but there's always something and all of them are good choices at a great price.

Brewing Method

My coffee to water ration is 1:7 so 14g of coffee measured using my Ozeri digital kitchen scale (which I've had for years and also use for portion control while dieting) brewed with 8oz of filtered water from my fridge using a standard measuring cup.

The beans were ground to a medium-fine ground. The exact grinder I'm using in the video is no longer available but this portable burr grinder looks exactly the same. I got it mainly for camping but I use it at home too. I like that the handle folds up to save space. Grind is consistent and it's been reliable.

I brewed the coffee using my Bonavita 5-Cup Coffee Maker. One of the benefits of the Bonavita is that it gets the water into the correct range for brewing coffee 195-205 F. Most other coffee makers aren't hot enough or not hot enough for long enough resulting in under-extraction. Of the coffee makers that do get to the right range for good extraction this was the most affordable.

The Bonavita 5-Cup comes with a thermal carafe but lately I've just been using it as a sort of automatic pour over coffee maker and placing the cup underneath. Part of the reason is I mostly brew only one cup at a time and I want less to wash. The other part is the thermal carafe always leaves a little bit of liquid behind which makes it a pain to clean and dry. Otherwise the coffee maker brews at the right temperature and is very consistent in time and temperature.

I tasted all the coffee black. Part of the reason I wanted to find great tasting, affordable coffee is because I've cut down on the amount of sugar and extra calories I drink. Great coffee needs less or no sugar and cream. After some getting used to at least.

Aldi Whole Bean Coffee Review

I chose whole bean coffee because it's the best way to go with coffee. These are the Aldi coffees I reviewed that I could find locally in northern New Jersey:

• Aldi Barissimo Morning Roast
• Aldi Barissimo Donut Store Blend
• Aldi Simply Nature Organic Peru
• Aldi Simply Nature Organic Honduras
• Aldi Passport Series Organic Tanzania
• Aldi Passport Series Organic Uganda
• Aldi Passport Series Organic Ethiopia

All the coffee tasted fine with most tasting great, no burnt flavor like in most Starbucks coffee sold which never appealed to me. 

There are three different brands of Aldi Whole Bean Coffee

Aldi Barissimo

Barissimo is Aldi's standard coffee brand. The two whole bean options where Morning Roast and Donut Store Blend. Both are light roasted beans. Donut Store Blend I'm assuming is supposed to be like Dunkin' Donuts coffee. These were the cheapest beans at less than $4 a 12oz bag and commonly available.

The light roast isn't lacking in coffee flavor for either of these and it allows more of the coffee bean flavors to come through but neither of these were spectacular in my opinion. Both better than pre-ground coffee and very drinkable.

Barissimo Morning Roast

Aldi's Morning Roast was my least favorite whole bean coffee when comparing to the others but when I drank it on it's own (not going to let a whole bag of coffee go to waste!) I didn't mind it.  It's a light roast. The coffee wasn't bad but there was something about the flavor that wasn't what I expect good coffee tastes like.

Barissimo Donut Store Blend

I believe the Donut Store Blend is also available ground so double check the bag if you're looking for whole beans (which you should be!)

Of the two light roasts Donut Store Blend was by far my favorite. It tasted like the other coffees but was a little lighter in flavor. It didn't taste thin though. When I got it the price was less than $4 a bag which is awesome. If you're on a budget but still want whole ground coffee and like light and medium roasts I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Simply Nature Organic Coffee

Simply Nature is Aldi's organic brand. There are two variants of Organic, Fair Trade Certified, shade-grown at high altitude, whole bean coffee that apparently is also single source. One comes from Peru and another from Honduras.  This is a little more than the Barissimo coffees but at less than $6 a bag (sometimes less than $5) it's an incredible savings and the coffee is fantastic!

I compared the Peru to a more expensive coffee and while I could detect subtle differences side by side, I'm very happy drinking either in the morning. This is what I think good coffee should taste like. Smooth, rich, deep with no off flavors.

I can't quantify the differences in taste between the Simply Nature Peru and Simply Nature Honduras but they are there. I'm happy drinking either.

Passport Series Organic Coffee

The Passport Series coffees from Aldi aren't always in stock and I've never seen them in some stores. These are a little more specialized coffees. Two are medium roast and the other medium-dark. None are dark roasted which is fine by me.

In these it's easy to detect some subtle flavors in the background. The coffee isn't flavored but because of the environment they are grown in they pick up certain undertones.

All three are Organic and single origin with either Fair Trade or Rainforest Alliance certifications.

Passport Series Tanzania Coffee

This is supposed to have some citrus flavor in it. It reminded me a little of the aroma and taste of citrusy hops that are used in brewing beer. Good coffee flavor in a medium roast that I enjoyed.

Passport Series Uganda Coffee

The Uganda coffee was labeled as medium-dark roast but didn't seem much different than the other medium roasts. Supposed to have dried-fruit/sweet-berry flavors which aren't very prominent but there is something more than just coffee there. Of the three Passport series this was my favorite.

Passport Series Ethiopia Coffee

If you're looking for coffee that has some strong additional flavors this is it. Everyone that's tasted it could clearly tell there was something else going on here. The container calls it floral, one of the people I served it to said it tasted alcoholic, to me it tasted a little like gin. I couldn't decide if I liked it or hated it but it wasn't one of my favorites. With a little sugar and cream I enjoyed it more than just black.

Aldi's Whole Bean Coffee Rocks!

While I'm not a coffee connoisseur I know what I like and none of the coffee I purchased for this review went to waste. The prices are amazing and being able to find organic, fair trade, whole bean coffee that costs about as much as supermarket coffee is another reason I do a lot of my shopping at Aldi.

If you've tried any of these please leave your thoughts in the comments.