For both, the price includes free shipping via FedEx Ground. The Crown Jewels offer more unusual and special things whereas the Royal Gems offer coffees that should be consistently available season after season.
Just for the record, coffee is usually shipped in 60 kilo bags (132 pounds).
I have always strongly disliked natural coffees, especially from Ethiopia. But the Guji from Ethiopia is a washed coffee and is fantastic.
The Rwanda coffee was fine, but nothing special.
The Kenya coffees, especially the peaberry are fantastic.
Don't ask me why, but it is 12/1/2022 and I am just finishing CJ1386. It is/was excellent coffee and is still superb after a year and a half. If I see coffee again from Salvador Cruz, I will buy it immediately.
The Coffee from Guatemala was fine, but I have no distinct recollections. If I wrote these descriptions while I was still drinking the coffee, it would be better than trying to dig up memories a year later.
The Sumatra was a washed rather than a natural which I thought might be interesting from Sumatra. It was fine, but not amazing.
The CJ1464 (Ecuador) was an experiment to see if it was worth it to purchase green coffee that cost nearly twice what I had been spending up to that point. Note that the PDF file is for CJ1463, which was a washed coffee rather than a natural from the same grower and season. All I can say is that when I got the roast right, this coffee was amazing. However my roasting skills are still erratic and sub-par, so it is fair to say that I usually did not get all that this coffee had to offer.
Tom's coffee pages / [email protected]