by Nigel Ong
IKEA is known for its furniture and home supplies. However, they also ventured into the coffee world, first by making coffee gear and now, coffee roasts. There are several roasts that IKEA offers; one of them is the Patar.
Now, how good is the IKEA Patar? Is this a proper coffee roast, or more as a way for IKEA to sell cheap beans to generate more revenue? I picked up a bag of it to try it out myself.
I will review the IKEA Patar Organic Dark Roast coffee in this post. I’ll brew it three ways and sample them. Then, I’ll flavor them several ways and see if these popular flavorings improve the taste of the coffee.
About IKEA Patar
The IKEA Patar is a range of coffee roasts from IKEA. There are three major coffee roasts:
- IKEA Patar Medium Roast
- IKEA Patar Dark Roast
- IKEA Patar Espresso Roast
These roasts are made of 100% Arabica beans and are organic. This means the beans are free from pesticides or synthetic additives.
These beans are also sourced from small Latin American farmers, meaning your money will go towards small farmers and not large corporations. You can get these IKEA roasts as either beans or ground coffee.
Measurements are a little off; they are first measured in grams. Bags start as small as 8.8 oz (250 grams) and can be as large as 17.6 oz (500g). What I have for reviewing today is the IKEA Patar Dark Roast.
You can tell it apart from other roasts by the color. Dark roast has brown-colored packaging, while medium roast comes in a turquoise-like packaging color. The espresso roast is brown, with a picture of an espresso maker up front.
How Does IKEA Patar Taste?
The coffee bag itself does not offer any brewing instructions. For this review, I’ll stick to the recommended temperature of around 185°F (about 85°C) and a coffee-to-water ratio of 1:18.
I will brew the coffee three ways: the French press, pour-over with filter paper, and espresso. I think these brewing methods allow me to sample the coffee more thoroughly.
First Impression
My coffee is quite fresh; it was roasted about 10 days before I reviewed it, hopefully allowing me to enjoy the beans well. I excitedly tore open the packaging, looking forward to smelling good dark coffee.
The coffee has a decent aroma, with nuts and perhaps cocoa notes. It is also mild and not smoky.
I was rather surprised by the lack of smoky aroma in the coffee beans. In fact, the Starbucks Pike Place Roast, a medium roast, smells much smokier than the IKEA Patar Dark Roast.
The IKEA Patar Dark Roast beans also do not look too oily. The bean color is a little dark, with a light sheen on the top. It is definitely not as dark as Pike Place nor as shiny.
I checked my coffee bag again to ensure I was not looking at the medium roast. It says ‘Dark Roast.’ Perhaps IKEA roasted the beans to be medium-dark instead of dark.
Looking at the beans, I believe the coffee should taste not too smoky and may not be as bold as your regular dark roast. Let’s see if I am right.
French Press
My first brewing is using the French press. This brewing method should allow me to enjoy the coffee with all its oils and particles. I expect a ‘dirty,’ murky, full-flavored coffee with this one.
I pulled out my trusty Bodum Caffettiera French press and brewed a 3-cup batch. I used the 1:12 coffee-to-water ratio recommended by Illy Coffee, similar to my other coffee reviews.
I added 15 grams of coffee, and 180ml of hot water, at around 185°F (about 85°C). I let the concoction brew for 4 minutes before pouring a cup and starting the sampling process.
The coffee itself tastes incredibly smooth for a dark roast. Instead of having my palate smashed with smoke or char, I ended up with some bittersweet flavor but delivered boldly. I could sense some cocoa, but it could be toffee.
The coffee has some smoke, but not to the point that it covers everything else. As I sip along, I notice the coffee has a quick finish. Once I swallow, the coffee’s flavor diminishes from my palate, making me want to chase it with another sip.
The IKEA Patar is a surprisingly smooth dark roast, to my delight.
Pour Over With Filter Paper
My next brewing method is to pour over with filter paper. This brewing method can simulate the regular coffee brewer most of us have at home.
Plus, the filter paper helps to filter away coffee particles and some coffee oils, allowing me to enjoy a ‘cleaner’ version of the coffee. For my pour-over brew, I use the following gear:
I use the pour-over brewing method from Starbucks. I added 20 grams of ground coffee and slowly poured 360ml of water. I focused on wetting and blooming the coffee grinds first before slowly adding more water to brew the coffee.
My coffee tasted cleaner, for sure. I seem to notice the coffee becoming less smoky and ‘punchy’ in flavor, making it even smoother than the French press version. The cocoa note seems to be stronger here; perhaps I can taste it better as the smoke has lessened.
As I sip the coffee and the temperature drops, my palate picks up some leathery flavor. This may sound odd to you, but leather is not a sign of bad coffee; it is just a flavor not that some drinkers either enjoy or not.
In my case, I think the leathery flavor makes the dark roast better. It made me crave to bite into something creamy and sweet, such as milk wafers.
Espresso
Since this is a dark roast, I must make an espresso from the coffee. I grabbed my Wacaco Minipresso GR and pulled a shot. This portable espresso maker makes the job of pulling espresso fast and incredibly cheap.
I get a great-looking cup of espresso with thick, velvety crema. The aroma smells great and inviting. I took in a sip, and boy, was that good. The espresso is, to me, the best way to enjoy the IKEA Patar Dark Roast black.
The espresso tastes like what you would expect from a good cup. It is bold and has just the right amount of smoke.
There are some acidic tastes, but I think it complements, rather than making the espresso taste bad. The acidic taste cuts slightly into the smoke, making the espresso smoother.
I also noticed a stronger bittersweet flavor in the coffee, especially after I swallowed it. I would describe it as cocoa.
What Flavoring Works Best With IKEA Patar?
In this section, I take the pour-over version of the IKEA Patar and try to flavor it with popular flavorings. Since many people add sugar, milk, or creamer to their coffee, I can also experiment with the flavors here.
However, consider sampling the black coffee first before adding any flavorings. This allows you to better enjoy the coffee the way the roasters intended it to and give justice to their hard work.
Sweetener
Before I start on sweeteners, here is a disclaimer: I do not have a sweet tooth. In fact, I don’t really like my coffee sweetened. However, I’ll try to be as neutral as possible to give a balanced view.
With sweeteners, I have brown sugar and Equal artificial sweetener with me. To experiment with sweeteners, I poured out two new cups of pour-over coffee.
With the first cup, I added two drops of Equal artificial sweetener. In the second cup, I added a stick of brown sugar.
I think they did a decent job with the IKEA Pater Dark Roast. With dark roasts, my tongue usually finds the sweeteners do not work well with the smokiness of the coffee, making the whole cup taste weird.
I do not find this happening with this coffee. Maybe because it is not too smoky from the start, which helps the smoke and sweetness to jive well together.
Milk
For this review, I poured a shot of warm milk into a fresh cup of IKEA Patar Dark Roast, brewed poured over. As for the milk itself, I used fresh cow’s milk and UHT instead of pasteurized.
Milk is a natural way to add fat to your coffee, which tastes more natural than creamer. It also sweetens the coffee slightly and more naturally, thanks to the lactose content in milk. I find the sweetness here more natural and enjoyable than using sweeteners directly.
As a result, I found that my coffee tastes smoother. It also becomes slightly thicker, which makes the coffee nicer to sip, and more fun to move around in the mouth. The thicker coffee also sticks on the tongue longer, giving me a better taste.
The milk also cuts into the smoke and acidity of the IKEA Patar Dark Roast, making it less of an effort to enjoy. It is less bold and harsh than drinking black coffee, for sure.
Creamer
I then made another cup of IKEA Patar Dark Roast and added two sticks of Coffee Mate creamer. Coffee Mate is a non-dairy creamer made of palm oil, which should make the coffee a lot creamier and richer.
The coffee now tastes richer, creamier, and thicker. This is expected since it usually adds more cream to the coffee than milk. The additional cream flavor also suppressed the smoke flavor slightly, making it easier to drink.
The fat also made the coffee silkier and smoother to sip. Similar to milk, the texture of the coffee becomes thicker and more slippery, making the coffee glide around my tongue easily.
Iced
Iced black coffee is incredibly popular nowadays, so I should experiment with the same idea here. I added ice into my glass, poured in the IKEA Patar Dark Roast, and brewed poured-over.
Iced coffee usually mutes much of the coffee’s flavor, and I think it did the same here. The ice muted the smoke and took away some of the intensity of this roast. This makes the coffee incredibly easy to sip, much like how Coke just tastes so good ice-cold.
I still taste some of the bittersweet components in the coffee, especially the cocoa-like flavor. To me, the iced version of the IKEA Patar is incredibly satisfying. It is, to me, the second-best way to enjoy coffee after an espresso drink.
IKEA Patar vs. Regular Coffee
The IKEA Patar Dark Roast is a properly roasted and brewed coffee. It is roasted dark but surprisingly tastes closer to a medium roast. It tastes much better than your regular gas station or convenience store coffee.
It has more depth and fullness in flavor and should do more than just satisfy your desire for coffee. Common regular coffee usually tastes flat. Some may even have a strong watery taste, meaning the coffee is under-brewed or diluted.
I am confident that you can tell the difference if I am to blind-test you with a cup of IKEA Patar Dark Roast against a regular gas station coffee.
Who Should Try IKEA Patar Dark Roast Coffee?
The IKEA Patar Dark Roast coffee may not be from a gourmet roaster; it actually comes from a furniture company. However, I was deeply surprised by how it tasted – it was smooth and had nice flavors.
IKEA certainly did not try to use cheap beans and then roast the beans super dark to mask the weakness with smoke. This is a good cup of coffee, with light smoke and bittersweet flavors many can enjoy.
I think this coffee is best enjoyed as an espresso or a pour-over, with a generous amount of ice to chill it down. As for snacks, consider milk wafers or something sweet like a donut.