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Best overall
Counter Culture Coffee
Hologram
A fruity, chocolatey medium-roast blend of washed and natural coffees with rare price transparency, sold widely in grocery stores.
8.5
Great
Coffee Reviews score
See the breakdown →
Community
—/10
- Roast
- Medium
- Origin
- Blend · 2 origins
- Process
- Washed, Natural
- Price per serving
- $0.88 / cup
- Milk Chocolate
Certified B Corp Kosher
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Last reviewed October 17, 2026 by the Coffee Reviews editors · How we score
A fruity, chocolatey medium-roast blend of washed and natural coffees with rare price transparency, sold widely in grocery stores.
Hologram is Counter Culture's year-round medium-roast blend that always pairs washed and natural-sundried coffees from Africa and Latin America; for roasts from August 29 onward the page lists 80% CODECH (Guatemala) and 20% Jabanto (Ethiopia). The roaster's notes are fruity, milk chocolate and syrupy. It is a frequent Reddit pick for grocery-store specialty espresso, though the rotating components mean the cup changes through the year.
Best for
- Home espresso drinkers who want a forgiving, sweet blend
- Shoppers buying specialty coffee at the grocery store
- Buyers who care about price transparency
What we like
- Published FOB price and named blend components for every roast window
- Easy to dial in for espresso and tasty with milk
- Widely available at Whole Foods and Target as well as online
- Roast date printed on the bag
Watch-outs
- Components rotate (Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Uganda…), so the cup shifts through the year
- Fruit-forward naturals may not suit drinkers who want a classic nutty profile
- Shelf freshness varies by store
Flavor profile
What it tastes like.
In the roaster’s words
“fruity | milk chocolate | syrupy”
- Milk Chocolate
- acidity
- body
- sweetness
- bitterness
LightMediumDark
How it scored
The breakdown.
8.5Great
Cup score out of 10, weighted across five factors.
- Flavor & cup quality30%8.4
Fruit-forward but approachable medium roast that reviewers find easy to dial in and pleasant with milk, though some prefer specific component rotations.
- Quality & freshness20%8.5
Roast dates are printed on bags and blend components are listed by roast-date window, but freshness at grocery shelves depends on the store.
- Value20%8.1
About $0.88 per 15 g cup at list price, inexpensive for a transparently sourced specialty blend, and Reddit users report frequent sales.
- Sourcing & transparency15%9.2
Names its partner cooperatives and percentages, publishes its FOB price ($4.35/lb vs a $3.49 Fair Trade minimum) and is B Corp certified and kosher.
- Community love15%8.6
One of the most-recommended grocery-store specialty beans on r/espresso, with occasional complaints about batch-to-batch changes.
Creator video reviews
Watch it in action.
2 positive
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What people are saying
From the forums.
Verbatim from Reddit, forums and long-term owner write-ups — linked so you can read the full thread.
“Counter culture is my go to "I'm out of my specialty beans and I need coffee from a grocery store NOW" roaster. Hologram is my favorite for espresso, and Apollo is good for pour over.”
“Counter Culture Hologram: Dialing in was easy on my machine. Notes of milk chocolate and Carmel. I much prefer this one on it's own but it tastes equally pleasant with milk. I found these at Whole Foods after getting it as a recommendation, and It truly blew my mind.”
“I settled for Counter Culture’s Hologram, which I found I really liked when it was composed of washed coffee from Colombia and natural coffee from Ethiopia, but liked less when they inevitably departed from this formula (e.g. to Guatemala or Uganda).”
“I love the hologram and my partner loves the big trouble, but the past few bags we've gotten from them have been pretty not good. Roast date is always within the last week or two, so they aren't old and stale. They just taste bad.”
Details
The particulars.
- Origin
- 🇬🇹 Guatemala (CODECH) · 🇪🇹 Ethiopia (Jabanto)
- Species
- Arabica
- Process
- Washed, Natural
- Format
- Whole bean
- Caffeine
- Regular
- Best brewed as
- Espresso, Pour-over, Drip machine, French press, Lattes & milk drinks
- Certifications
- Certified B Corp, Kosher
- Typical price
- $20.00 for 12 oz (checked October 2026)
- Servings
- ≈ 23 cups at 15 g per cup (12 oz bag); 24 oz is $38.50 and 5 lb is $103
Community
Member tasting notes & discussion.
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Discussion
No discussions yet.
Own Counter Culture Coffee Hologram? Ask a question or share your recipe — you’ll be the first.
FAQ
Good questions.
What is in Hologram right now?
Counter Culture lists components by roast date; for roasts from August 29 onward it shows 80% CODECH from Guatemala and 20% Jabanto from Ethiopia. The blend always combines washed and natural-sundried coffees.
Is Hologram good for espresso?
Yes. Reddit users call it easy to dial in and pleasant both straight and with milk. Because it is a medium roast with natural-process fruit, under-extracted shots can taste sour, so grind fine enough.
How much does Counter Culture pay for Hologram coffee?
The product page lists $4.35 per pound FOB, compared with a $3.49 Fair Trade minimum and a $3.29 average C-market price shown alongside it.
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