Christmas Coffee Stuff

Here in Pompeyexile Towers we like a drop of vino, but we also like a beer and the odd G&T and I also like a drop of whisky too. We always have plenty in, but we are not what you would call regular or big drinkers. the odd tipple and mostly when we have visitors. Beer, but no more than a bottle with some nuts or crisps and if we open a bottle of wine, that even gets a stopper put in it and the air taken out so will last us a couple of days (two dinners).

Always been a bitter drinker as opposed to lager. Not keen on beer out of a can, so my go-to bottled beer is Innis & Gunns Original.

For Crimbo we have in the past gone down the Chateu Neuf route, but this year we discovered a brand called 19 Crimes which we really like and is a fair bit cheaper. They do 3 reds and a white but interestingly one of the reds has cold brewed coffee in it and as this is a coffee forum…

Half a cup of tea is all I managed on Xmas Day this year, the joys of nursery bugs being brought home by kids! 😂

Santa nailed coffee gifts this year though, gift box including 60g bags of the following the highlight - should be some fun in coming days

Pompeyexile Think that’s my great great grandfather on the label of that right hand side bottle 😀

DavecUK so will save the money and get some coke instead.

I will swap with you: no problem to not have a Coke, but I like a beer (not any beer, but I like my own.)

Baldrick
I love Force Majeure Tripel which is a Belgian alcohol free beer. I think you can only just tell by the taste that it is non alcoholic. There is also a German one called Kloster Andechs which is absolutely fantastic. Alcohol free wine on the other hand tastes like a mixture of grape juice and vinegar.

Doram I will swap with you: no problem to not have a Coke, but I like a beer (not any beer, but I like my own.)

I only bought 4 bottles of beer…! between me and my son, all gone.

Well, I cannot put it off any longer! Am going to start these tomorrow

dfk41 Does bold roast mean very dark I wonder 🤔

Let you now tomorrow!

For some reason it failed to upload!

dfk41 Don’t look so dark, but they are taking on that varnished appearance of old beans.

dfk41 Reminds me of Goats. Did you ask them by giving them the roast/batch number, which we often find on the bag, please ? Thx

I emailed them this morning, asking if they could provide me with an accurate date of roasting as opposed to a best before date, since their labelling did not show a batch number (or anything else!)

Right, an update! This is the email I sent in:
Hi, I received a gift at Xmas from my nephew. Let me declare now, that I am probably not the sort of client you attract as coffee is and has been my main interest for 20 years. I received 3 bags, House blend, Fuji and Tokyo. I am drinking the Fuji. Nicely roasted but the bean grind goes all over the place from shot to shot. Upon further inspection the bag does not appear to have any identification or batch number on it, meaning you have next to no idea when it was roasted. It does say best before 27-01-2022 which suggests 6 or 12 months earlier to the day.
My nephew’s name is Christopher Santos and he lives in Whitley Bay.
I would like to know the exact date of roasting please as being too old is the only excuse I can come up with for the erratic behaviour of the bean when ground.

This is their reply:

Ueshima Coffee Company Orders
14:34 (11 minutes ago)

to me

Good afternoon David,

Thank you for your email, we do not include the roasted date on the packaging. The space is limited on our packaging and we ensure the best before date is included on every pack which is most important. Our beans and ground packs have a 12 month shelf life and are gas flushed to lock in freshness.

Kind regards,
Lucy

This is my reply:
Hi Lucy, thanks for your answer, which of course is nonsense! You may well know, as I do that a batch code is a legal requirement, so that if a problem occurs you can trace back to that particular BATCH. Without this, you cannot. There is ample room on your bag for a sticker measuring 2 cm by 2 cm.
By your own admission, beans my nephew bought this Xmas were roasted 12 months earlier. Gas flushing only helps with shelf life and once opened an older bean deteriorates very quickly.
Let us make this easy for you. I am deeply unhappy with the quality of the beans you have sent out to this old seasoned pro…….what are you going to do about it?

dfk41 Let us make this easy for you. I am deeply unhappy with the quality of the beans you have sent out to this old seasoned pro…….what are you going to do about it?

From their reply…I’m going to take a wild guess and say

Disappointed! The stores sell coffee with roast dates!