Just over two years ago (September 2021) was the last time I ordered roasted beans (from Coffee Compass). I vacuum-froze some, and had a couple of bags left. Last week I decided to try one of those bags (Sweet Bourbon).
The first thing I noticed was how beautiful the beans looked. They were very uniform compared to my roasts, no chaff remained on the coffee – just lush-looking beans that could pose as models on the cover of Vogue :). I also noticed that they were darker than my own roasts. Not super-dark as some Coffee Compass offerings, they could still be classified as medium or medium-dark, but still noticeably darker than my current roasts.
Pulling shots – beautiful again. Just perfect. I rarely get such beautiful pulls with my own roasts. Due to the dark roast, I had the coffee with milk. It’s rich, full bodied, strong. Very good in my opinion, but also just a little harsh on the finish from the darker roast. It’s not ashtray harsh – far from it, but I do taste the roast and would probably prefer to tone it down a little. I must be getting old, lol.
As for freshness: I don’t have a fresh batch of this to compare side by side, so maybe wrong here, but – if someone gave me a cup made from those beans and told me they were roasted two weeks ago – I don’t think I would have any suspicions. For beans that sat in the freezer for two years, I’d say this is pretty impressive.
(@MediumRoastSteam - let’s see if I can prove a point).