@mobius, I’ve settled on ordering 3-4 (250g) bags about a week before I think I’ll run out. Since the Christmas madness allowing a week for shipping seems to have been enough. I’m then using everything in the 1-5 week range, and I’ve been pleased with the taste and it avoids too much faff.
The only issue is a few too many unplanned coffee drinkers. If that happens Sainsbury’s usually have a not too old bag of Union on the shelf.
I have 40-50 kg of various green beans and a Kaffelogic Nano7 roaster.
If I forget to roast or have been away
on holidays, I can use a Ready To Drink profile and have beans in under an hour.
I live on a farm at least 50kms from my nearest commercial roaster.
Doram Whilst I’m sure it’s another great aspect to coffee, roasting is a direction I’m not going in for various reasons, but mostly because I would likely burn down the kitchen. Also, these days, energy prices are bad enough so I don’t want to add more overheads to my already crazy electricity bills.
In a different house/timeline/scenario I would definitely consider it though.
mobius Whilst I’m sure it’s another great aspect to coffee, roasting is a direction I’m not going in for various reasons, but mostly because I would likely burn down the kitchen. Also, these days, energy prices are bad enough
Sorry, your argument does not stand. 🙃😊👍😉
On a serious note: roasting is a very good part of the hobby, if you are happy with the results you get from roasting at home, and if you have the time and to understand what goes on inside the roaster. It’s not easy, it’s often not cheap due toothed cost of equipment and green beans, but it can be if you know where to buy your greens from and utilise your roaster frequently so eventually it will pay for itself. For instance, you can buy excellent grade coffee from £6 to £8 per kg (ymmv). That sort of coffee will cost you £25 - £30 (ymmv) from a roaster as they absorb the other costs of running the business and dealing with failed batches, experimenting etc.
I’ve tried. And after 4 roasters, I decided it is not for me in this shape or form.
MediumRoastSteam Yeah no doubt as my only regret with home roasting is not doing it sooner than I did. Factoring in weight loss during roasting, shipping, a bit of electricity and I’m still saving an average of 50% cost-wise and have been so impressed with what I crank out I plan to NEVER buy roasted coffee again.
JahLaza Self-built heat gun/sifter that gives me full control, various points of temp feedback, full visual and it simply works very well. Likely done around 700 lbs at this point and absolutely no regrets…
At any given point in time there are 10 - 22kg of green beans in my freezer ready to roast at a moments notice.
But I rest most beans for 18 days so when the Social Secretary invites friends or family over (how dare she!) I can still get caught short during that resting window.
So I over roast occasionally and try to keep at least 500g of roasted beans in individual vials frozen and ready for action.
Why do you bother freezing green beans mate?
I go on the 3,3,3 ratio of 3minutes from ground, three weeks from roasted and three years as green.
I have a couple of special beans I might think about vacpacking andfreezing as greens but realistically I’d rather drink them and find something new.
Ya never know when that chest grabber is coming.
Drink the good wine now.
Amberale Ya never know when that chest grabber is coming.
Drink the good wine now.
This shall be my motto in life from now on. Superb
Amberale gidday AA, mate it’s certainly not a matter of saving them, other than keeping them as fresh as.
This book is part of the reason: “Dear Coffee Buyer: A Guide to Sourcing Green Coffee” https://g.co/kgs/i6kjEV
In it the author suggests that green beans can stay drinkable for years but at their peak for five months. He writes about how to prolong that freshness and concludes that while freezing them would be ideal, it is probably never going to be commercially viable.
The other part of the reason is that I buy from a cop-op and typically buy 20kg at a time.
So in answer to your question, it’s a combination of the authors observations and buying in bulk and voila … enter the freezer.
I like being able to open the vertical freezer most weeks and choose from Kenyan to Costa Rican or Ethiopian or beans from Yemen, Guatemala.
Interesting mate.
I will have a read of that link tomorrow.
I suppose I could move the greens down to the cool room/wine cellar in the shed (12c) and go half way.
It seems a bit over the top to fire up another deep freeze for beans.
I’m guessing they wouldn’t mix well with frozen beef unless vac sealed?
Hi Dutchy.
The Philosophy comes from a bloke called Len Evans.
He was an Englishman who came to Australia in the 50s and, while missing the euro food and wine experience, plundered the Australian wineries while promoting them to the world and improving our Antipodean tastes.
He ended up with a huge wine cellar but his theme that I remember is that one can only drink a certain number of wines in a lifetime and that every time one drinks a poor wine they should take out a good bottle and smash it against a wall for that is what they have essentially done.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwi6uay35Mn9AhVhxTgGHZebANsQFnoECAwQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FLen_Evans_(wine)&usg=AOvVaw1KZ_ZeCfyF65ZyARSYF5Fr
Of course this is tempered with common sense.
I recently toured the Snowy Mountains with friends on motorbikes.
We stayed in a hotel and a caravan park where the only option for coffee was commercial instant….🥴
Sometimes the experience is about the place and the people, not the quality of the food and drinks.
I did manage to sniff out a bottle of 2002 St Hugo from the cellar.🥳
We also taught them to take that steak from the main menu, cook it rare, cut it into cubes and serve it with soy/chilly/mayo as an entre/snack.
