Bean question
- Thread starter Aaron W.
- Start date
Whole beans stay fresh longer than ground coffee. Coffee starts to deteriorate as soon as it is ground. Keep your beans in an air-tight canister in a dry, dark, cool place (not the fridge or freezer). Should last 3-4 weeks before the flavor weakens.
- Peter
- Peter
It's been awhile since I've done some reading on the topic, but beans should be ground immediately before use and I think people say that they should be ground no more than an hour before use for optimal flavor retention. And if you really want to start getting picky about your coffee, they say that coffee should be consumed within about two weeks of the time it is roasted. About the only way to do this is to roast it yourself, unless you live near a coffee shop that roasts their own coffee or you want to pay to have it shipped quickly to you. Roasting yourself is actually quite easy and enjoyable. As green beans cost about half of what a pound of roasted coffee costs, it actually pays for itself fairly quickly. And contrary to the whole argument about getting into wet-shaving to save money, I've found that I have actually saved a lot of money by roasting my own coffee. So, not only can you get far better coffee, you can get it much cheaper. Just a thought ...
The rule of diminishing twos
Green Beans - can be stored ~ 2 years
Roasted beans ~2 weeks (this ones an "Arguable" statistic - depending on the bean\roast some are just peaking at two weeks - and others are like a 4 day old fish)
Ground coffee - tossed after 2 minutes.
Brian - i'm a home roaster also - it adds a whole different level when roasting your own - especially with some of the finer Single origins that are around.
Green Beans - can be stored ~ 2 years
Roasted beans ~2 weeks (this ones an "Arguable" statistic - depending on the bean\roast some are just peaking at two weeks - and others are like a 4 day old fish)
Ground coffee - tossed after 2 minutes.
Brian - i'm a home roaster also - it adds a whole different level when roasting your own - especially with some of the finer Single origins that are around.
I'm a coffee lover but definitely no expert.
I didn't even know it was doable to roast your own beans.
Can you give some more info please?
What exactly do you do?
I didn't even know it was doable to roast your own beans.
Can you give some more info please?
What exactly do you do?
+1
I would be interested in this...
I bought a large quantity(5kg) of beans a few months back. I keep them in the freezer in an air tight bag and I grind enough for a week.
Reading up there, I should have my big toe cut off... The coffee still taste good...
Luc - neighbour buddy - I have this lovely razor from Gillette - it has 5 blades and does a wonderful job 
Rules where meant to be broken - and at the end of the day the "best" choice of blade\coffee\car\pen - is the one that gives you just what you want - or what are looking for.
Personally I prefer my coffee within 2 weeks of it being roasted - my wife on the other had has often disliked a roast thats at that age - and loves it when its another week to 10 days older.
Ground coffee though loses a lot of its "magic" within a few short (minutes) hours, and using it (for me) - is like using a blade that has reached 20+ shaves
Rules where meant to be broken - and at the end of the day the "best" choice of blade\coffee\car\pen - is the one that gives you just what you want - or what are looking for.
Personally I prefer my coffee within 2 weeks of it being roasted - my wife on the other had has often disliked a roast thats at that age - and loves it when its another week to 10 days older.
Ground coffee though loses a lot of its "magic" within a few short (minutes) hours, and using it (for me) - is like using a blade that has reached 20+ shaves
Apologies for missing your post.
At its most basic - you can roast the beans in a frypan - or a shallow tray put in an oven - but the results will be shall we say - hit and miss.
You can buy roasters that allow controlled - more or less repeatable batches of between 150 - to ~300 grams or so (I think thats about 8oz in US measurements)
I have 4 different roasters - the simplest is a glorified popcorn popper (you can make your own roaster from certain popcorn machines) - all the way through to a machine from Taiwan called a Hottop which is pricey but brilliant.
Quite a number of people have transformed breadmakers into pretty good roasters, with the heat supplied by a heatgun\paint stripper.
Its quite rewarding to roast your own - although sometimes you make as many bad - or lets be kind and call them "Average" batches - as you do great ones.
You will find that theres forums as passionate about their roasting as in here with Shaving.
Thanks Navarre.
I will certainly look into this.
We have in a city nearby two coffee shops (same company though) where you can buy lots of different coffee beans .
I'm gonna ask them if they roast themselves, if they sell green beans, etc...
I believe they mentioned before that you best consume the beans within 3 weeks. You can of course keep them longer but at the loss of flavor.
It seems that they always offer very fresh roasted beans. Is it still worth to roast myself then?
I will certainly look into this.
We have in a city nearby two coffee shops (same company though) where you can buy lots of different coffee beans .
I'm gonna ask them if they roast themselves, if they sell green beans, etc...
I believe they mentioned before that you best consume the beans within 3 weeks. You can of course keep them longer but at the loss of flavor.
It seems that they always offer very fresh roasted beans. Is it still worth to roast myself then?
If you have a good local roaster - then your probably better off (quality and consistency wise) buying from them.
Home roasting is great if you like the satisfaction of DIY - or just want to go that step further in the process & enjoyment of it as a hobby - but having a good local roaster cant be beat.
yes green beans are cheaper - but by the time you buy or make the roaster - burn a few - muck up a few times etc etc - the economics doesnt have that much in it really.
BUT - enjoyment-wise - roasting your own adds a whole new level (like the difference between using DE - to a straight that you have self honed)
Home roasting is great if you like the satisfaction of DIY - or just want to go that step further in the process & enjoyment of it as a hobby - but having a good local roaster cant be beat.
yes green beans are cheaper - but by the time you buy or make the roaster - burn a few - muck up a few times etc etc - the economics doesnt have that much in it really.
BUT - enjoyment-wise - roasting your own adds a whole new level (like the difference between using DE - to a straight that you have self honed)
Wait a minute! Don't throw that coffee away just yet!
That seems a bit extreme.
I live in France, the Land of Bad Coffee. You can go to the finest restaurant, bistrot or brasserie and, at the end of the meal, you will be invariably be served something that tastes more like dishwater than coffee. Luckily, for home use, there is an extensive network of Nespresso vendors. They sell pre-ground coffee in capsules for use in their machines. The capsules are filled with nitrogen, and the ground coffee stays fresh and very tasty for WEEKS, not minutes.
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There is a lot of great info on home roasting at SweetMarias.com. They offer a great variety of green beans, roasters and I think give a DIY writeup on the hot air popcorn popper style.
