Roast Review: Proud Mary Coffee

Roast review by: Sheila Murray

There are so many things to like about this next coffee roaster it’s hard to know where to begin. Proud Mary Coffee came to my attention thanks to a friend and they held my attention with their loud branding and exciting mission. Proud Mary is not your run-of-the-mill coffee roaster. They focus on disruption, blowing minds, and providing elegance and excellence. I was impressed to learn about things like their compostable coffee bags and their “Mild to Wild” filtering option to make coffee selection easy. I’m eager to share my experience trying their Ghost Rider and Humbler roasts.

Ghost Rider

James and I decided to start on the “Wild” side of things with the Ghost Rider blend. 

First Impressions

I took a moment to admire the bright pink packaging of Ghost Rider but I was careful not to look at the tasting notes, so we could fairly guess. Then, I opened up the bag and smelled the beans. 

“It smells so good,” I said. “I’m getting notes of sweet and punchy fruit, honey, and lemon.” Each time I inhaled the aroma, I noticed something new. The smell was rich and light, punchy and decadent. I needed James to help me make sense of all the different notes!

James said he also sensed notes of fruit, as well as vanilla and spice. He agreed that this was a complex and exciting roast and was curious what it would taste like. 

We got to work taking out our Picopresso, Exagram, and Exagrind and I heated the water. After making our espressos, we clinked our cups and took a sip. 

Tasting notes 

“It’s so warm and nutty,” said James. He also commented on its bright and smooth nature.

I agreed that there was a delightful warm and nutty taste, as well as the punchy fruit I had sensed earlier. We guessed that there might be notes of cacao, nutmeg, brown sugar, and raspberry. It had a delightful and satisfying mouthfeel all the way through. The Picopresso was a perfect pairing. 

The reveal

Proud Mary describes this coffee as, “big buttery and creamy body, syrupy and thick, jammy, red grape, stewed apricot.” We highly recommend trying out this espresso to kickstart a positive day.

Humbler

We love inviting friends over for coffee (and we’d like to think they love it too!), so we invited our friend, Kristina, for the next tasting. Humbler falls into the “Mild” category. 

First impressions

James opened up the bag of beans and shook the bag around to release the aroma. He inhaled the smell, paused, then inhaled again before sharing his first impression.

“Hmm, I’m getting subtle notes of cacao, marshmallow, and something grounding like rosehip,” said James. Then he handed the bag over to Kristina to make her guess.

“This one is sweet, light, and comforting,” said Kristina. She added that she agreed with the guess of cacao but also wondered if it could be more like milk chocolate. 

I shook the bag of beans around to release the aroma again and instantly got fruity notes as well as a sweetness and earthiness. 

Humbler can be made as an espresso or filter coffee and we opted for the filter this time. I got out our Cuppamoka and began to grind the beans while James heated the water. In the end we had three, gorgeous cups of coffee to enjoy. 

Tasting notes 

“Wow!” I exclaimed, “This coffee is so smooth.” I adored the round mouthfeel and chocolate flavor.

James said that he could sense chocolate and was impressed by the balance of earthy and rich tasting notes. 

Kristina took a few sips and then shared that she loved how smooth it was and she could imagine drinking this any day of the week. She also mused about how good it would taste as the base for a delicious cortado. Next time!

The reveal

Here’s what Proud Mary has to say about this coffee: “The Humbler blend has been designed universally to cut through milk to generate a chocolate fudge latte and a rich, syrupy sweet espresso.  The blend is approachable and easy to use, which requires no complicated recipes or methodologies.” Delicious!