How do you choose your coffee beans?

[Bimbleberries]

I've been looking for a new coffee bean as I wasn't liking the one I'd been using for a few years all that much, but kept reordering as it was easier.

So at Christmas I ordered one of those advent calendars with a dozen coffees to try, in the hopes that this would help me find a new one that I could then order regularly. Two of them I liked, but it seems that neither of them are actually available to buy in the shop!!
I then had a nice cup in a little independent cafe, and asked what they used, and they used Square Mile coffee, so I got the name of two possible ones from there. One I ordered, and quite liked, so went to order again, and it's not being sold this month. The other one also was a limited run. And that seems to be how it is for most of these places, which is not great for someone who just wants a consistent coffee to order each time.

So I'm back to having to order lots of different ones to try out, which is expensive and hard to compare and annoying to pay for one I don't then really like but end up drinking for a whole month. What surprises me, though, is that I can't seem to choose similar ones to the ones I like either by choosing the same location, or the same roasters, or the same apparent 'flavours', or whatever. It's as bad as trying to choose wine! I don't find that the flavours listed for each coffee make any sense to me at all - I don't get a taste of fruit or chocolate or smoke or whatever else it says it should remind me of. And even when they sound similar - this one I like was supposed to taste like plums, orange and chocolate, and was from Papua New Guinea. Another was from Ethiopia and was 'apricot, bergamot, and nectarine'. And yet a different one from Ethiopia I really didn't like, and it was 'orange, black tea, and toffee'. So I can't seem to work out consistently what I like, either about the origin country or the supposed flavours.

I really hoped that the advent calendar would be a good way to try different ones out. Does anyone have a good subscription/mixed pack of beans that they've tried that allows you to regularly order the same bean once you've found one you like? Or are all the subscription ones a bit like this calendar - trying out various random individual roasts that you can never have again? Is that just how good independent coffee roasters work, never the same twice? That would be fine I guess if I could work out what country/type/flavour I like so that I'd get something I liked each time, but some variety. But the total randomness and getting lots that I don't really like that much is frustrating.

I like coffee with milk (cappuccino) and I have a bean to cup machine, and happy to order the beans by post to find one I really like. Smooth, not bitter, not hugely strong.

I’m afraid we usually go for Taylor’s of Harrogate, from the supermarket. We tried some from a recommended local roaster, but it didn’t suit.

Look at the roast, I suspect you might like a lighter roast, the growing location isn't always the deciding factor (burnt is burnt no matter where you get it from!)

My DH gets a subscription from blue coffee www.bluecoffeebox.com/ which gives you a "taste profile" and should only send you ones you like (apparently if you don't they will swap it for a different one). You also get an information card about where it's from so you could look them up and buy directly if you really liked one.

If I'm feeling particularly generous I will get him a pouch of Ka-u beans, but they are best from a small batch so no point in buying a big sack (and we don't have space to store it!) seaislandcoffee.com/products/ka-u-coffee-mill-hawaii-coffee?variant=40236908281899
(And sometimes it would be cheaper to fly out to Hawaii and buy it there!)

We like strong coffee, so I always buy No. 4 or No. 5 strength coffee beans.
I tend to stock up on Waitrose No. 1 coffee (French, Italian or Columbian) when it is on offer.
M&S Columbian coffee beans are nice too.

I love the idea of trying coffee (both beans and ground) from all around the globe so I don't stick to one type. I pick our home coffee based on an exotic journey in my mind!

I just looked at my advent calendar box that hasn't yet made it to the recycling, and every single one of them is 'medium' roast - I wonder if that's really true, or if some of them are lighter or darker within that.

the taste profile idea sounds excellent, thanks, maybe I will try ordering from them next time, they sound like exactly the sort of subscription I'm looking for.

Supermarket would be easiest though but I've not tried that many of them, mostly because I've tended to ask at cafes what they use when I find one I like, and they all use various independent roasters so I've gone from there! Maybe I should check out more supermarket varieties too.