I am talking blind here as I have never done any roasting but I guess the cost would go up if you expected a cupping session, scoring from every single roast
Ade Smith. ACS Evo Leva v2. Kafatek Flat max 2, ssw 2024. Mazzer Philos, Craig Lyn HG-1 prime., WW key mk1.
MWJB I meant the initial cupping, not QC cupping per batch
Adrianmsmith They cup to give the initial assessments. Three months later the same bean roasted the same way might well not taste the same as it did
Adrianmsmith I am paying high costs for coffee already, sure some of this cost comes from expensive lots to begin with, but the roaster is then adding, what 75% of the value to the coffee by the time it lands with me? I’m being sold something that is specialty/high quality at the point of leaving the grower and I have plenty of detail about that part of the chain. I would expect the roaster to ensure the quality of the product is maintained at the point it leaves them. Is it a big investment to hold back 30-50g from each batch to do this? If they don’t retain a sample from each batch, how can they troubleshoot customer queries (whether by cupping, or brewing)?
I don’t doubt some roasters do this, but it seems to me to be a minimum requirement given the specialty zeitgeist?
dfk41 , has another one slipped through or do they think their is nothing wrong with shipping out older coffee?
Got a reply. They will send a new one out, and they apologise, essentially saying that it has slipped through the net. I, however, am not convinced. I bet they just try it on… But that’s the cynical in me.
dfk41 ? Dark Arts gave me excuses as to why I received coffee roasted 20 odd days earlier
Dark Woods or Dark Arts?
MWJB how would this help assess a coffee rested for 2, 3, or 4 weeks?
I am no coffee roaster, but I doubt they cup the roast every time, or even after a few days. This is the first time a roaster has sent me coffee that is almost 3 weeks old. 1 week? I get it. 3 weeks? Sorry, but no. I bought a 1kg bag, I don’t run a coffee shop. I am a consumer. It’s unlikely that a consumer would order a 1kg bag and expect it to be ready. For me, the whole point of this is that I keep and rotate my stock as I please.
Now… If on their website they had a proper stock control and it would allow you to buy stock with different roasted on dates (with different prices) maybe that’s something. For instance, if I was planning to crack the bag open asap and drink it, I would certainly not have minded buying coffee roasted 1, maybe 2 at a push, weeks ago.
MWJB I think we are straying! I accept that you do not mind beans arriving ready to drink. I like to age mine in my own time. The word ‘fresh’ does not exist in the world of Trading Standards but I have a quaint image that some roasters (like Coffee Compass) roasts to order mainly. This means that the beans arrive within a couple of days of roasting. I think it is the perception of what you are buying.
MediumRoastSteam dfk41 ? Dark Arts gave me excuses as to why I received coffee roasted 20 odd days earlier
Dark Woods or Dark Arts?
You got me there! Woods!
I received an unsolicted email from Unorthodox Roasters pushing one of their latest roasts called Candyland. It promised Almond, Pear and Dolly Mixtures. I bought three different bags in total. The first one I opened for the first time in a long time, after 5 attempts put them in the bin. To say they had no taste at all, and this was despite using my limited knowledge on varying weight, grind could get absolutely nothing from them as americano. So, I moved onto the much promised Candyland. The nuts are still on the tree, the pear has not ripened and the dolly mixtures, let us not go there. So, I emailed them politely, telling them the finished product was woeful @Systemic has seen the email and will vouch that I was not aggressive). The expected reply banged on about cupping and how great it was offering me a single replacement bag……that I refused. On the other hand though, the back drop story was amazing, shame the beans were shite
As the roasters get bigger, I think it’s more difficult with stock rotation and older coffee. This is because the business becomes such that they don’t really roast to order. This is especially true if they also have a large commercial customer base..
I think roasters that prosumers should use, are ones that have certain days they roast and don’t ship immediately, but collect the orders together and roast them on specific days. It might mean you have to wait even a week or more to get your coffee, but when it arrives….it’s been roasted only a few days before.
With regular subscriptions, there’s really no excuse.
DavecUK I think roasters that prosumers should use, are ones that have certain days they roast and don’t ship immediately
Like Foundry Coffee Roasters :-)
What I don’t get about DarkWoods is… If they struggle to rotate one of their blends to the point that this is 2.5 weeks old… Something is then not quite right?
MediumRoastSteam What I don’t get about DarkWoods is… If they struggle to rotate one of their blends to the point that this is 2.5 weeks old… Something is then not quite right?
It would seem that way.
I think it quite fair to publish the reply that I received.
I appreciate your sentiment; I too like to know what is going on, particularly if something doesn’t live up to the standards we would like.
The 500g bags you have bought are a bit of an anomaly in our retail range, as they originally were not designed for retail sale but for wholesale cafes etc.
That is one of the reasons they have a different labelling system and packaged in the compostable bags. We do very few of these.
Your concerns have flagged up that we need to look at how these are presented and controlled, as a retail product.
I know your intention was not to get a refund, but I have processed this for you. This would automatically have been done with any damaged packaging anyway.
The good news is the coffee should be good to drink as well. These sort of processing methods luckily produce coffees with big bold flavours that maintain their impact.
Of the three beans that I most recently received, which are all blends and totally unremarkable in every single way, except one……look at the picture and see if you can work it out
Your kitchen towel manufacturer of choice is plenty?
Ade Smith. ACS Evo Leva v2. Kafatek Flat max 2, ssw 2024. Mazzer Philos, Craig Lyn HG-1 prime., WW key mk1.
Adrianmsmith Yep, but what was it called when it first came out?
A brand name still pretty much around and one I do not like as I don’t like coconut ðŸ¤
Ade Smith. ACS Evo Leva v2. Kafatek Flat max 2, ssw 2024. Mazzer Philos, Craig Lyn HG-1 prime., WW key mk1.
Adrianmsmith correct, now back to the beans!
dfk41 yes!!
I could only see differences, small to large….
Or maybe they’re all medium roast 🤔
Ade Smith. ACS Evo Leva v2. Kafatek Flat max 2, ssw 2024. Mazzer Philos, Craig Lyn HG-1 prime., WW key mk1.
Adrianmsmith Well, it just seems odd that three completely differently advertised beans, are so similar in appearance and equally tasteless
