{"id":6710,"date":"2026-05-11T16:47:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T21:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=6710"},"modified":"2026-05-04T22:19:22","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T03:19:22","slug":"review-cat-cloud-coffee-best-friends-blend-santa-cruz-california","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=6710","title":{"rendered":"Review: Cat & Cloud Coffee Best Friends Blend (Santa Cruz, California)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I picked up this bag from Cat & Cloud<\/a> at the Wayward Coffee<\/a> location in Dallas’s Design District. The Best Friends blend is intended for espresso, but as I don’t have an espresso machine anymore, I will be solely be evaluating these beans brewed as coffee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hario V60: This had a tart citrus flavor with a floral note that got smoother as it cooled. Surprisingly complex for an espresso blend, in my view.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clever Dripper: I have been struggling with dialing in coffee for the Clever, and the drawdown time took WAY too long (over 2 minutes for the drawdown alone), but despite my miscalculations, this was a decent cup of coffee. It had a richer texture than the Hario V60 cup, and was less floral but more toasty. This will please people that don’t think they like light roasts so much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

French press: A little tangy and bright, with notes of lilac and mandarin. I was really surprised by how much flavor was in this cup coming straight off the comparatively one-dimensional Clever Dripper cup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chemex: This might have been user error again, but there really was not much flavor at all using this method. I think the thicker filter was a detriment for these beans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Summary<\/strong>: If you’re used to espresso blends being dark, bitter, nutty, and chocolaty, this blend will likely be a shock to you as it is adamantly none of these things. But, if you’re interested in a citrusy, floral blend, give this a try! I would be curious to know how it tastes pulled as espresso, but in a French press, it particularly shines. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the roaster: sweet, juicy, complex<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cat & Cloud Coffee Best Friends Blend<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Review conducted 28-31 days post-roast.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I picked up this bag from Cat & Cloud at the Wayward Coffee location in Dallas’s Design District. The Best Friends blend is intended for espresso, but as I don’t have an espresso machine anymore, I will be solely be evaluating these beans brewed as coffee. Hario V60: This had a tart citrus flavor with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6722,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"This blend is intended for espresso, but as I no longer own an espresso machine, I brewed it as coffee four ways with surprisingly varied results.","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[87,159,155,3,154],"tags":[32,250,100,52,131,462,416,105,387,55],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/IMG_2788-scaled.jpeg","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6677,"url":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=6677","url_meta":{"origin":6710,"position":0},"title":"Review: Cherry Coffee Co. 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That morning, I tried their cardamom vanilla latte (very sweet, creamy, and dessert-like), and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "French Press"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/coffeecantata.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/IMG-2526-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2696,"url":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=2696","url_meta":{"origin":6710,"position":3},"title":"Review: Oak Cliff Coffee Roasters Sunset Blend (Dallas, Texas)","date":"August 7, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Davis Street Espresso is the home cafe for Oak Cliff Coffee Roasters here in Dallas, but though I've gotten pretty familiar with OCCR over the past 2 years, I hadn't visited Davis Street Espresso until quite recently because 1) I just don't go out for espresso much and 2) I'm\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blends"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/coffeecantata.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/tn_IMG_6718-e1499382545470.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5664,"url":"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/?p=5664","url_meta":{"origin":6710,"position":4},"title":"Review: Abacus Coffee Roasters Algorithm Blend (Chicago, Illinois)","date":"March 25, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I bought this bag from the folks at Javaya, whom I've written about before. 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