Trader Joe’s has/had some very nice ‘single origin’ coffee beans before “single origin’ was ever a thing.
I used go to Trader Joe’s in Encino, CA with my parents, when it was a small bohemian liquor, beer, cheese and nut store back in the late 60s.
Chris
I have no problem with Trader Joes selections. I have had an awesome Single Origin Mexican Peaberry that I still use as one of my mental markers for awesome taste. When I saw it had been roasted just 10 days prior or something like that. I couldn’t resist. Freshest coffee I’ve ever gotten at Trader Joe’s. It was like $9-10 bucks which is way better than what others try to charge you for many of their 12oz bags of coffee. Sadly I haven’t seen it since. But I think the issue TJ’s is like with all others. By the time it hits the shelf, the customer has no chance of it lasting long enough to fully enjoy. in my case I had about another week and half where it was still tasting pretty solid. But for most other’s, you get a few days in you’re lucky.
Actually thats why I like OrleansCoffee. You end up paying about Trader Joe’s prices for the same amounts, except it’s shipped but for damn sure fresh. Swear I don’t work for them and they are not paying me to say this. :person_facepalming:
P.S. Try the Thicoulipas Blend, or whatever thats called :+1:
P.S.S. Trader Joe’s in Encino and surrounding in the 60’s sounds like a pretty awesome place.
The popper came, along with four 1-lb bags of unroasted beans. Yesterday I blonde-roasted about 80g of the Guatemalan beans and medium-roasted some Colombian decaf, and this morning I brewed a cup of the Guatemalan. It is definitely very different. Much more nuanced flavor. The level of sweetness at the first sip (black and plain) surprised me. I can definitely tell that the freshness of the roast makes a huge difference. I’m not all that excited about the particular flavor profile I wound up with, though. More experimentation with roast duration and brewing is needed with this bean. And of course I have 3 others to try, also. Tonight with supper I’ll have a cup of the decaf.
Yes, I do live in the USA. Thanks for the heads up. Will definitely have to check them out. Those are good prices… but I expect shipping will eat a bit into that. In any case, I’ll check out the website to see if they have any free shipping deals, or times with a lower threshold.
Wow. I had seen the Mexican Peaberry, but I shied away from it because it sounded peculiar. That’s really good to know, about the roasting date stamped on it. Much of what’s sold at TJ’s has “best by” dates only.
I went to LIDL the other day and spotted Zambia single source medium roasted beans. It was $5 for an 8 oz bag. But the date showed when it was roasted—2.5 weeks prior. So I bought it. Actually tasted very nice. A touch thin for a medium, so now I brew it a little longer.
this experiment (?) has a life of its own…it will not die.
our friends want to do it again. we wanted to do the food test, but we were overruled.
so…whatever is on the taste-test menu will be supplied by someone (not us) as a ready
to dump into our Mr. Coffee which they decided to use as a “control”. it’s a science thing.
yes.
science.
blinded by it.
I’ve tried 3 of the 4 bean types, and I’ve varied the roast times somewhat on them, and I’m starting to think “Meh.” I haven’t gotten a cup yet that I like nearly as well as the usual Dunkin Donut stuff, even if it is stale. Nuance be hanged, I guess I value consistency more than nuance. With the Dunkin I know I’ll get the flavor I desire every time I make a cup. Fresh-roasted beans aren’t appealing to me.
It’s not the fresh roast that’s compromising your beans, it’s most likely the roast quality that is lacking. Popcorn poppers are designed to pop popcorn and that is infinitely simpler than roasting coffee! As soon as the kernel pops, it’s much lighter and is blown out the shoot and away from the heat source: Done!
Sweet Maria’s used to have a library of guidelines for using a popper. I don’t know what’s available there today, but worth a look around. Their site has never been easy to navigate though, maybe hiding in some dark corner now…
Here’s a few tips from distant memory and the top of my head:
That’s all I can recall for now.
Roast the beans until they almost spontaneously combust into flames and it will taste the same as Dunken Donuts and most other coffee. (Not joking)
You don’t think your Duncan Coffee can taste better than it does to you now, if it weren’t already dry? Cause even if you roast a bean to perfection, it’s possible that you just prefer the flavors in those Duncan beans.
But if you actually got your preferred beans from them fresh roasted, it would be pretty impossible for them not to be everything you love about them already, except with extra flavors you haven’t even tasted in it yet. Thats what people are trying to impart about roasting. No one would say, hey, let me get that steak cooked to my ideal medium, then let it sit for 4 hours before serving it to me. The steak will still be pretty awesome all-things-considered 4 hours later, but it would have obviously tasted way better had you eaten it right after it finished cooking.
Xevious, Orleans Coffee has free shipping when you order like 5-6 pounds. That doesn’t really help us stay in line with constantly having fresh beans tho if we stock up like that (unless you drink pounds a week, or co-buy it with others).
But even so, their pounds shipped are less than what coffee shops want to sell you 12oz bags for. So say you get an $11 dollar pound, and pay $4 shipping, that’s still $15 bucks out the door, and you didn’t even have to leave your house for fresh beans. At least here in Los Angeles, I see shops regularly charging $18+ (if not more) for 12oz bags, and they are even weeks old at times. Can’t be having that for those prices man, but I digress.
Orleans doesn’t even tax I think, or maybe just like a few cents. I guess I should say, if you live in an overpriced city like mine, Orleans is a breath of fresh air on quality and prices.
Thanks, Lojik. $4 shipping isn’t bad then. If I can’t get any locally fresh roasted, I’m going to give them a try. At the very least, to have a comparison.
Yeah, I read up a bit more about popcorn air poppers… and it’s a very mixed bag on reports—some claim to have success while others don’t. I also wonder about the flavor changes, that even while better than multi-month old coffee, it may be hard to take at first because of acclimation to older coffee. I found that 2.5 week old Zambia coffee was good, but different from the other beans (the Nicaragua / El Salvador blend) that I got recently and very much enjoyed. While taste is important, I’m also angling for that nutritive benefit. That video I linked in the very beginning mentions about nutrition and anti-oxidants being high in within that 1st week of beans being roasted.
It’s true. If you can play with the temperature, that will be an advantage.
Slow roast vs quick roast will taste different. There’s so many variables in roasting coffee.
Exactly, as a back-up with no good options around you, it’s an awesome resource to have. And I just checked, 1 pound is $6 flat shipping, 2 pounds is $7 flat shipping (at least to Los Angeles).
I always purchase 2 which is why I have the $4 estimate. But I selected 2 pounds, and to my door it was $29 bucks. Shipping was $3.50 for each bag this way. So basically under $15 a pound delivered. Could be less or more depending on what you choose, but this is the average. These bags were priced at $11.50 each pound. 2 - $10 buck pounds would cost like $27 or so, delivered, so that’s not too shabby at all.
Just yesterday I decided to try a local bag cause there is a shop with great roasters. I paid $19 plus tax, and I tipped them too cause they were cool AF. BAM, $25 bucks right there for just 12oz. It’s hard out here if you go with fresh retail beans man. But I like to support good local business when possible too, so all good.
I finally figured out that my Nostalgia popper must not get quite as hot as the one Sweet Maria’s used in their writeup and videos. The Colombian decaf turned out tasty at 6 minutes, 45 seconds. Then last night I roasted a batch of the Sumatran (which Sweet Maria’s says people tend to either love or hate) for 7:15, and 18 hours later I ground some and brewed a cup in the Aeropress; the beans smell funky but the coffee tastes surprisingly good. I think I might be a convert to Sumatran. I’m not hearing any second crack yet at those times and the beans don’t look overly dark or oily. I guess my earlier attempts (around 5 minutes) were just too short.
I also played with a kettle roast and didn’t stir the beans often enough, so some parts of some beans wound up getting a bit blackened; the char taste is not my thing and I dumped the batch after brewing a couple of cups.
Nah. The Dunkin beans are a medium brown color, a bit lighter shade of brown than the ones I just roasted myself.
You see, I think people post things like this to get a big response, don't you?
no.
lol.
I’ve been drinking instant freeze dried coffee since 2018.
I’ve known people that drink instant and don’t have to, it is simple and quick with no muss or fuss.
no
way too much trouble