The first time I tried Reverie Roasters I wasn’t impressed if I’m being completely honest. But after Andrew Gough, founder of Reverie Roasters, and general manager, Jason Hendry, came to Louie’s place and invited me out to talk coffee and taste the properly brewed flavors, the coffee was so much better.

I was surprised to hear from him, considering what I said about their coffee but after he explained the possible reasons why the coffee wasn’t at its best, I agreed to try it again but this time the right way.

After talking to Andrew I learned that there is more to coffee than just pouring it into a filter and expect it to taste good. Coffee brewing is a process. The coffee beans must be grinded properly in order to get the right consistency of the coffee so it is in good condition to brew.

With that being said, two other factors come into play when it comes to coffee: creamer and sugar. I know not everyone takes their coffee black, I especially don’t and I never thought I would like black coffee until I tried the coffee flavor, “Popes Choice.”

When I first tasted the Popes Choice, I described it as “tangy” and that bitterness you can taste shouldn’t be in coffee. Given the new information, I took it into account when I tried the new batch and I was impressed. All previous thoughts about this coffee disappeared. I also got a faint taste of grape.

When I say flavors like grape, almond, and chocolate, it doesn’t necessarily mean that’s what the coffee tastes like. But you can faintly recall some flavors and its kind of nice.

My second retry was “Boneshaker” and let me tell you I take back every word I ever said about this one. The first time I described it as “very tangy and citrusy” but the second time around, I was hit with a completely different taste and I liked it. It has a nice smooth flavor that isn’t overbearing but also it’s not bland. If you need a pick me up, this is the one. After half a cup, I could feel my heart rate pick up a little.

While visiting, Andrew and Jason brought two more flavors to try. The first is called “Utcubamba.” This hails all the way from Peru and it is a fruit-forward coffee. While I can’t pronounce the name, I can say that the coffee is good. It’s a good cup of coffee with a nice aroma. It was a little stronger than the first two, but it had a nice natural sweetness to it. I recommend this to anyone who is willing to try something out of their comfort zone.

The last coffee and the most impressive I might say is the “Chelelektu.” This wild tea like coffee comes from the coffee capital of Ethiopia. I was shocked when I tried this coffee because it’s coffee but it tastes like tea. I know for some that’s a bit odd, but I think that’s why it works, especially left black. Tasting notes for this one included earl grey, which I could definitely taste and lemon-lime which is a nice faint taste. This one by far was my favorite.

This second time, I was blown away by how different the coffee tasted and after talking to coffee experts, I figured I needed to learn more about coffee and become an expert myself. In a short amount of time, I have found a couple of new flavors of coffee that I like and a valuable lesson was learned.

Don’t judge something unless you try it at its best, because then how will you know it was good? There’s certainly some flavors to try and if you have an open mind, you might just discover your new favorite coffee too. Reverie Roasters definitely gets a four out of five on the Crusader ranking.