Creuset L.
Yelp
had some excellent coffee from aunt mary's restaurant. so good, in fact, that i asked where it was from. and the server pointed to the sign saying "mclaughlin coffee." very nice packaging and great flavor in the mexico roast.
went on yelp--saw great reviews. tried to order on the phone, but they said to go on the website first and order in advance. so i emailed to get some info on the many many varietals they have. no one responded for about 2 weeks--so we called to follow up and get info on ordering, pick up, etc. i have to say, the lady who answers the phone seems like she was too busy to help a new, small customer. understandably, most of their sales probably go to big restaurants, so i didn't take it personally that she kept trying to get off the phone and shove me back to the website, even though i was telling her i was on the website at the moment and couldn't find the info i was looking for. it could have been a chance for me to continue to get excited to try more mclaughlin, but ah well, everybody has their bad days. ultimately, i try to stay focused on finding good beans rather than focusing on tepid interactions.
later that day, we got an apologetic email came from the fellow who was unable to reply right away two weeks ago. he was quite nice and gave us more information on ordering. basically, don't drop by on a whim. everything has to be ordered in advance and then we can pick up. after our first order, we got a follow up come back coupon in our email to encourage more purchasing, which seemed like a great way to encourage more business.
in the end, we tried three varietals--and it was all right. a bit too dark roasted for my particular taste. we did try the mexico roast again and still enjoyed it. but for us, we still prefer the medium to light roasts at highwire, weaver, and blue bottle. but admittedly the prices at mclaughlin were very favorable and if you like dark roasts and have the patience to go through their large catalog of beans, this could work for you.