What's the consensus on the best way to store beans?
My wife first thought we should just keep the beans in the freezer. But I thought they should be stored at room temp so I bought a vacuum storage container. Now my wife wants to pre-grind all the beans and store it in the vacuum canister! I want to store the whole beans, at room temp in the vacuum canister and grind fresh every day.
She's wrong, I'm right right? Right?!
We're seeing if there's interest in another Coffee Bean Exchange here:
https://www.gamerswithjobs.com/node/...
What's the consensus on the best way to store beans?
My wife first thought we should just keep the beans in the freezer. But I thought they should be stored at room temp so I bought a vacuum storage container. Now my wife wants to pre-grind all the beans and store it in the vacuum canister! I want to store the whole beans, at room temp in the vacuum canister and grind fresh every day.
She's wrong, I'm right right? Right?!
Right, with only one caveat: if you're planning to store coffee longer than about two weeks (which is suboptimal but sometimes unavoidable), then storing it in the very back of the freezer (where it won't be subject to great changes in temperature every time the door opens) is better than storing at room temperature.
The issue is that while cold temperatures do preserve the beans better, every time they freeze, partially thaw, and refreeze, it does a little more damage. Two weeks is about when the one catches up with the other and makes for a net benefit, but ONLY if they're only freezing and then thawing the once. Multiple times will do more damage than storing at room temperature.
Thanks for the tips! A big ol' coffee grinder is probably a little much for me right now although it sure does smell good to have freshly ground coffee in the house.
PaladinTom, when you grind the beans, you greatly enlarge the surface area of the beans. This allows much more flavor to be extracted. However, if you let the grinds sit, it also allows oxidation to get at every bit of the former bean. That means they lose flavor really, really fast.
So store them whole and grind just before you use them.
Also, from speaking to a small but highly respected coffee producer in Hawaii, good beans never require more than light roasting. Ever. The more you roast, the more of the flavor-producing chemicals are combusted, driven out by heat, or converted into other, more bitter flavors. His advice was that if you're buying good quality beans, always ask for a light roast, even if the roaster usually does them mid- or dark-, since most people's taste in coffee has been biased by heavy, strong, bitter flavors resulting from over-roasting. That is, roasters over-roast because customers are used to bad coffee.
He said small producers will often pick poorly, with beans that are too green or otherwise in bad shape, and over-roast to cover the deficiencies. Large producers often just don't care and roast according to customer spec; see above.
He said small producers will often pick poorly, with beans that are too green or otherwise in bad shape, and over-roast to cover the deficiencies. Large producers often just don't care and roast according to customer spec; see above.
That Charbucks flavor.
Alright... I need some help from the collective...
I started grinding my beans a while back after I bought an AeroPress. I called it "weekend coffee."
Before that we always used the canned pre ground stuff. (Don't judge me!) Then I started grinding our weekday coffee a short while ago. Now I'm spoiled and I can't go back to the pre-ground stuff.
My question: what's a good, affordable all-around medium roast whole bean coffee you recommend? We buy tons of stuff from all over with a range of prices and quality, but I'm looking for what you think is a good quality bean that won't break the bank.
Cheers!
If you have one near, my wife and I have been really happy with the coffee's available from Trader Joe's. Their prices are very good and they have some very nice options. We are currently drinking a Samatran coffee that is on the dark side of medium, and we are enjoying it.
I love trader Joe's Coffee. After having my son, I have really grown to enjoy a good cup of coffee. When it come to bean taste, Trader Joe is at the top of my list. My job also got a Breville Cappuccino machine at work and it is dangerously addictive.
Trader Joe's
Trader Joe's
Score! I do indeed have one very close. I'll give that a go. Many thanks!
The shop I found is a little ways away from me. But I'm taking classes in the fall, so it'll be easier to get in the next few weeks.
Also, from speaking to a small but highly respected coffee producer in Hawaii, good beans never require more than light roasting. Ever. The more you roast, the more of the flavor-producing chemicals are combusted, driven out by heat, or converted into other, more bitter flavors. His advice was that if you're buying good quality beans, always ask for a light roast, even if the roaster usually does them mid- or dark-, since most people's taste in coffee has been biased by heavy, strong, bitter flavors resulting from over-roasting. That is, roasters over-roast because customers are used to bad coffee.
This. As someone who's been roasting his own coffee for a few years now, this is absolutely true. Even the "blonde" roast at Starbucks is darker than you want to roast good coffee--it's well into the area where a lot of flavor has been lost. It's really unfortunate that none of the big coffee shops have a light enough roast to produce flavorful coffee.
That said, roasting coffee is tricky. It's a lot like toasting bread in that the beans go from under to over-roasted really really fast. And depending on the region, beans roast differently. Times can vary, and the ideal temperature can vary as well. I honestly don't think boutique coffee shops source significantly better beans than the big names so much as that they're more careful about roasting and they sell them immediately rather than letting them sit for months afterwards.
Had to search to find this thread again! My wife and I would like a whole bean grinding coffee machine. Time to expand our tastes beyond pre-ground, but are definitely on a budget.
I found this machine: http://buy.geni.us/Proxy.ashx?TSID=1...
Anyone have experience with this or a different budget priced coffee machine? Her parents have one of those fancy pantsy ones that we will be able to afford when kids are out of college 22 years from now. Haha
Had to search to find this thread again! My wife and I would like a whole bean grinding coffee machine. Time to expand our tastes beyond pre-ground, but are definitely on a budget.
I found this machine: http://buy.geni.us/Proxy.ashx?TSID=1...
Anyone have experience with this or a different budget priced coffee machine? Her parents have one of those fancy pantsy ones that we will be able to afford when kids are out of college 22 years from now. Haha
I'd be careful about the grinder in an all-in-one machine. Ideally, you want a burr grinder for a nice even grind. I'm using this one and love it.
Then you can pair it with an inexpensive coffee maker for around the same price as the single-tasker. IMO, the extra step is worth it.
Also, be sure to store your beans in an airtight container.
I've used a Cuisinart one like that before. They work, but are a little bit of a pain to clean. It's not bad if you have a dishwasher, though.
Obviously, as Paladin Tom mentioned, you'd ideally be running the beans through a nice burr grinder and then french pressing, vacuum potting, or doing some sort of pour over type coffee. BUT, you're on a budget with a family, and a coffee maker like that will be a hell of a lot better than using pre-ground beans. It is kind of fun to be able to prep it to be ready in the morning, too.
The one thing I would suggest is turning it off after it's done brewing. Having the coffee on a hot plate constantly just ruins the flavor very quickly. Either let it cool or throw it in an insulated pot of some kind.
For beans, try and get the lightly roasted types for the most interesting flavors. The beans should be a nice earthy brown and hardly oily. The dark roasted oily types will give you the typically "meh" coffee flavor that you get at Starbucks. Not bad but pretty boring.
I also had one of those as a hand-me-down from a friend who upgraded to something really ridiculous awesome. I enjoyed it until it died.
The roast is key. It's funny. A lot of people confuse "dark" coffee with "strong" coffee, when it's actually the opposite.
A boutique roaster in my area has started selling un-roasted lattes (calling it "white coffee"). It's got a delicate, nutty flavor, and kick like Missouri mule.
Caught her looking at Keurigs again. Ugh. Those end up costing so much just in the coffee, we might as well buy the fancy fancy. I'll tell her for every k-cup she would have used, we will put that cost per cup in a super coffee machine saving fund.
So, I have a bean grinder, but could never figure out how to properly clean the thing. So, I stopped using it. Tom, Tuffallo and Mom, I appreciate your advice here! I'll be sharing these with my wife and get her away from the Keurig sites.
...never minded the taste of some of them, mind you, the cost per cup is just too much compared with, well any kind of coffee.
We have the grinder in this video. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=atJm2o...
I learned something today from the Internet!
I use and recommend the Baratza Encore for a good value grinder.
This is the one I have - not the best, but plenty good, and cheap:
https://www.amazon.com/Mr-Coffee-BVM...
I use and recommend the Baratza Encore for a good value grinder.
We have one as well. I manage to even use it for espresso, that thing is a great bang for the buck if you want a nicer grinder without having to break the bank.
See also the Sweethome recommendations: http://thesweethome.com/reviews/the-...
(They recommend Baratza Virtuoso and Encore.) I haven't tried any of these myself, but whenever I've followed recommendations from the Wirecutter or Sweethome, I've been happy with the results.
See also the Sweethome recommendations: http://thesweethome.com/reviews/the-...
(They recommend Baratza Virtuoso and Encore.) I haven't tried any of these myself, but whenever I've followed recommendations from the Wirecutter or Sweethome, I've been happy with the results.
The Bodum burr grinder is better and cheaper than a lot of those. Having a glass ground container is a must in my opinion. Hardly any residue sticks to it, so you don't even need to clean it all that often. The Bodum one also does a perfect coarse grind with hardly any residue. The only knock on the Bodum one is that it's a little cheap feeling with lots of plastic. They had to keep the cost down somehow.
The only reason I mention it is that I'm annoyed it's mentioned but not tested there. Their reasoning behind discounting it over that Capresso isn't great. It's a marvelous feat of engineering given the price constraint.
I'm happy with my bodum grinder
My wife dropped my cold brew carafe (hario mizudashi) for the third time. This time she got me the sweethome's new cold brew recommendation:
the Filtron. It has a plastic carafe.
Day 1 the coffee is excellent.
I have concerns about the oil building up in the plastic carafe over time but at first blush it's working great.
See also the Sweethome recommendations: http://thesweethome.com/reviews/the-...
(They recommend Baratza Virtuoso and Encore.) I haven't tried any of these myself, but whenever I've followed recommendations from the Wirecutter or Sweethome, I've been happy with the results.
I have a Baratza Vituoso - it has been a great grinder for the 15 months or so I've owned it.
So I signed up to one of those coffee subscription services the other week. I got my second shipment today.
I'm really digging it so far!
The one I signed up for is Angel's Cup. Their differentiator is that they don't tell you what the coffee is when it arrives, they just give you a numbered code. You then can go into their app and review it, describe it, etc. when you make it and then it reveals what beans you prepared after the fact. Good for developing your palette and finding things you like.
This is a cool idea, Ranger Rick! I'm going to, for now, just pull up the old Krupp grinder we have and get to experimenting with that and our coffee maker. Nothing cheaper than not spending new money.
This Angel's Cup thing sounds like it might be a fun thing to do with my wife
Well it isn't much, but we started our first foray into more advanced coffee appreciating today.
Wife and her mother went shopping today, and apparently discussed the coffee conversation here. As a result of that talk, they came back with a French press! I got our old grinder up from basement storage, and got to work with some beans they also picked up while at Whole Foods.
I will say my first impression is that the coffee tasted fuller, rich. Boy is that an experience though. One does not simply make a cup of French press coffee.
Update on Angel's Cup, now that I've done it for a few weeks. I like it a lot!
The only downside is I'm getting 4 a week, and even with other things getting in the way of my usual routine, I find I'm tending to drink 5 cups a week at home. So I bought some beans today for the days when I haven't gotten a new shipment in, since it's not really worth it to me to go to the next level.
That said I've already had a wide variety of stuff including a Columbian that did not taste like any Columbian I've ever tried. (One Line Coffee's Columbia San Pascual)
It's funny, I drank it (blind, of course) then I looked at the card afterwards. Left side has the roaster and origin, and I go "Really?! That's a Columbian?!" Then on the right in their notes: "Yup, this is Columbian." Haha. It's like they read my mind.
So the verdict: tasty and fun! The app is pretty easy to use for keeping track of what I've liked and for attempting to train my palette, which so far I'm pretty bad at.
cold brew season, time to properly equip myself;
The main options look to be the toddy cold brew (with "reusable" filters, or a stainless steel that seems more permanent for an extra $30 CAD or so) or Japanese options like the Hario or Takeya.
What's the goodjer hivemind recommendation?
edit: oh there's a discussion on cold brew just up thread, let me catch up
Had a Hario cold brew thing for a while. Maybe easier to just use cheese cloth and gallon jugs but you do you, it was still a nice thing.
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