Coffee: we drink it or we get angry.

My wife and I got through a bag in less than a week but I haven't actually noticed how long a bag lasts us exactly.

 

I go through about a bag a month, making about 14 oz of coffee each time. I probably make coffee four times a week.

 

I was in this situation too. 20$ every week was bad. Buying stale coffee in bulk was crap. So, lately I buy good coffee in bulk and freeze them. Beans frozen for 3 months have tasted good. Not great, but good. Much much better than inexpensive off the shelf ones.

And, I found this roaster who ships quickly, has great coffee and charges reasonable prices. http://www.klatchroasting.com/

 

I used to think that freezing beans would kill the flavor but if you do it correctly they will taste the same as the day you put them in. For me "correctly" means putting sealed one-way valve bags into deep freeze or into the coldest part of the freezer. When I'm ready for a new bag I remove it from the freezer, let it thaw completely and then use as normal. It never goes back into the freezer after thawing. There is little to no change from fresh vs. frozen. If you don't believe it then A/B it yourself. I first decided to try this method after some guys did some blind-testing on home-barista. One of the main guys who was doing this is a tasting judge for USBC. A lot of coffee people will poo-poo this but it's only because they haven't seriously tried it themselves. So freezing allowed me to start buying 6 to 7 bags at a time and saving on shipping.

 

Roasting your own beans takes the freshness issue out of the equation. Most green coffee beans run around $6 - $7 a pound and have a shelf life of an eternity. The clock really doesn't start ticking until the beans are roasted. I want to try this, but I just haven't had the courage to try.

With that said, I go through a full pound in about 2 weeks...

 

Their filter coffee is surprisingly decent. In doubt go for their medium roast filter coffee.

 

You guys are making me feel better. Most of the snobs out there seem to say that once you open a bag it needs to be gone in 3-4 days tops or it will taste like crap. Seems like you are all stretching it out fairly longer.

 

I read the same sorts of things but have found no problems with using the same bag for a month. The duration of time when you will receive acceptable results could also change based on the beans or roast in question.

 

In order of freshness:

- Roast your own (I'm not brave enough to try this at home because I already have enough fidley hobbies)
- Whole beans stored in the freezer (coffee beans don't have much water)
- Whole beans stored in a vacuum canister. I use these Coffee Vac.
- Ground beans

Like Digime, I tend to order four bags at a time and store them in an airtight Pelican style case in my freezer.

 

I cannot agree with that myself!

Much like listening to music one would do well to not forget the subjective component of this. Coffee geeks (much like music geeks) often get way into "the rules" and objectivity and forget that in the end it's about what you like above all else though all of the standard parameters and past experiences are certainly a great reference guide and starting point.

I've heard all kinds of crazy coffee brewing stuff including people who brew by soaking whole beans in water for days. More power to ya! I do enjoy beans within a certain window of freshness but I have also enjoyed beans that are not within that window and people tend to exaggerate the importance of this freshness window IMO.

 

Okay, it's been a couple of weeks now. The V60 has certainly elevated my addiction, though I'm happy to report that I'm content to drink less coffee now than before. Quality over quantity, right?

I was having an issue at first with a bit of sourness which turned out to be due to under-extraction. it was hitting the middle of my tongue like a semi-truck. I did adjust the grind size a little, but what seemed to make the most difference was slight agitation of the grounds during both the bloom and after the pour was complete. This seems to be a highly debated thing, but it's working for me.

Here are the first three roasts I've tried:

http://www.crema-coffee.com/shop2/guayabales - Really bright upfront, but with good balance afterwards. I enjoyed it quite a bit once I got my technique dialed in. They roast their beans about a mile from where I work which means my audio budget just went down.

https://onyxcoffeelab.com/collections/coffee/products/ethiopia-hambela-buku-natural - Not sure if I liked this better than the Crema beans or not, but there are lots of flavor notes here. Friends brought this with them when they visited and I'll definitely be trying some more of their offerings.

https://tincup.coffee/products/h1ojsoms1m5cq4tk7j7o25x1ah9m9b - Perfectly fine, but not mind-blowing. Certainly a step up from your grocery store beans, but a little one-note compared to the roasts above. This is literally 500 feet from where I work, so the convenience factor is high.

 

I believe I've heard good things about Crema and I've had some Onyx that I enjoyed at Ascension in Dallas.

 

Have any of you tried a subscription service? I'm currently looking at:

Craft Coffee
MistoBox
Crema.co
Angel's Cup

Curious if anyone has experience with any of them.

 

It would be cool but I can't bring myself to pay for shipping for 1 bag of coffee at a time. Adds too much cost.

 

Mistobox looks to have free shipping. It's my leading candidate at the moment.

If you sign up for 1 bag/month for a year it's about $15/bag which is cheaper than my favorite roasts.

 

Oh ok cool. I guess I hadn't looked at that one then though I've definitely seen it. I'll check it out.

 

As someone who drinks a little over a pound a week, I've found that roasting my own has been a huge money saver. At http://www.burmancoffee.com prices are as low as $4 a pound, and roasting a batch only takes about 6 minutes.

As an added benefit, freshly roasted coffee beans will make your house smell absolutely amazing!