The Human Bean — Restaurant in Chico

The Human Bean, while excelling in areas of customer service and creativity, fails to achieve in the cornerstone of their business: good tasting coffee.

All the staff members are young, extremely friendly individuals, but ill-equipped for the job. The coffee making is rather slow, regardless of how busy it is, and I've yet to go one time without something going wrong with my order. Granted, they almost always rectify the issue, but from the communication, to the prep work of the coffee, to the payment, something always goes haywire.

The selection and cost is mediocre at best. It's rather comparable to Starbucks prices, but with a much more limited variety. You could save much more money by going to a local shop or Dutch Bros. In terms of what they offer, your standard few chocolate drinks, some knock-off tasting rebels, and your standard assortment of coffee beverages. They do have some non-coffee cold drinks which is nice, but nothing to special to note.

A fun gimmick of the coffee stand is they include a chocolate coated coffee bean on every cup. The only thing is, this bean was just handled by the glove-less hands of an employee, and during a time where spreading germs is pretty crucial, this seems extremely bizarre. The staff also doesn't offer the bean, its always given despite your preference. Most of the time it drops in my car or in the handing off the cup as it just rolls around on top of the cup aimlessly. This might seem over critical, but it really is a bizarre interaction everytime. It's quite tasty if you want a lot of chocolaty sugar, but sometimes it seems a bit....soft. Almost like its been sitting out in the heat baking away and loses the espresso bean's crunch. Needlessly to say, it's rather unappetizing when that happens.

If you're still reading this review, here is the big thing to take away - the coffee drinks are bad. I mean, watered down, warmed-up cups of cream bad. There is no rich coffee flavor in these drinks. In fact there is no coffee flavor at all. The warm drinks are hot cups of syrup and cream, and the ice drinks consist of four melted ice cubes floating in a pool of undesirable flavor. I've gotten everything from the sweetest drinks available to straight black, and it's all been bad. I will say, some of the sweeter syrups seem to shine through a bit better, but when there is no coffee taste to counter balance it, it's a sugar-infested nightmare. The caffeine kick is pretty minimal as well, slightly noticeable, but weak in strength. I don't know what is going on with the drink making, but they need to seriously up there coffee bean dosage and nail down some recipe amounts because I've gotten the same drink multiple times all with varying (but still poor) results.

Overall, the niceness of the crew is what saves this place from being a disaster. I've gone every single day since they've opened, so I feel I can accurately review the service, but all I hope is in the coming weeks the staff will stick it out and really nail down how to perform here. I'm strongly rooting for this establishment, and hope to give an astounding edited review in the future. Until then, I would avoid this place unless it's the last coffee option possible or you're looking for some cheerful folks.

⭐⭐ Friendly staff, weak tasting coffee, and...

Update:still bad. I gave two stars for the super amazing staff. Which is something we sorely lack in Chico.... However, I could not give anymore than that due to the coffee being atrocious, which at the end of the day is what I'm paying for... I totally understand they are super new- so I debated leaving this review. But I'm hoping that they see it and it maybe helps them change what they are doing. I've also heard this from multiple people- so it isn't just me. The coffee is SO watered down. And you cannot taste the flavors. I have gotten 3 different things and tasted my husband's mocha and they ALL had the same issue. It tastes like watered down milk. I dont hate it. Because I love drinking coffee and would go there in a desperate pinch. But it just does not taste good. I want so bad to love it, as it has been my dream to live right next to a coffee house, and now that it has finally come true it is such a disappointment it has been so bad.  So, I'm leaving this review in serious hope's that maybe it just gives them ideas on how to change and make things better. I'm so glad you guys are here, you have excellent customer service and I taste potential for sure... hoping once it has been around longer, and with more practice  it will get better. And i can take this down with a five...

One bad experience ruins all the rest. I changed my five-star rating to one star. It was great coffee, sometimes, when not ordered through a delivery service.They cut out the middle man and make their own. But don't have it delivered by a delivery service like [I probably shouldn't say]! I have tried the exact same order at three of the local coffee shops and by far The Human Bean coffee was the best before the last time I shopped there through a delivery service! You should get an espresso bean treat with your coffee but they discriminate or just don't want to sometimes. Service was fast, friendly, and helpful at this new location on the Esplanade until the last time I shopped there through [I probably shouldn't say what delivery service]. I called the manager to fix the issue that I had and I was treated so rudely that it ruined all my past experiences. The food was awful and I had to dump the coffee. I threw out the food too.😨 Yes that bad! Don't risk your money here they are inconsistent and management picks and chooses. They don't fix the...