Comments on: Selecting Your Beans Part 1 – the Truth on the Coffee Aisle http://dethroner.com/2006/12/11/selecting-your-beans-part-1-the-truth-on-the-coffee-aisle/ Where every man is king. Fri, 04 Sep 2009 10:06:33 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Jimbo http://dethroner.com/2006/12/11/selecting-your-beans-part-1-the-truth-on-the-coffee-aisle/comment-page-1/#comment-4255 Jimbo Wed, 13 Dec 2006 02:00:40 +0000 http://dethroner.com/index.php/2006/12/11/selecting-your-beans-part-1-the-truth-on-the-coffee-aisle/#comment-4255 I roast my own coffee, best method for getting the best and freshest beans. I roast my own coffee, best method for getting the best and freshest beans.

]]> By: Jason http://dethroner.com/2006/12/11/selecting-your-beans-part-1-the-truth-on-the-coffee-aisle/comment-page-1/#comment-4216 Jason Tue, 12 Dec 2006 18:26:24 +0000 http://dethroner.com/index.php/2006/12/11/selecting-your-beans-part-1-the-truth-on-the-coffee-aisle/#comment-4216 Oh man. You don't refrigerate roasted beans or put them in the freezer. Ever. Buy a smaller amount and use it as quickly as possible. Best site for coffee information? http://www.coffeegeek.com Oh man. You don’t refrigerate roasted beans or put them in the freezer. Ever. Buy a smaller amount and use it as quickly as possible.

Best site for coffee information? http://www.coffeegeek.com

]]> By: Spiney Norman http://dethroner.com/2006/12/11/selecting-your-beans-part-1-the-truth-on-the-coffee-aisle/comment-page-1/#comment-4200 Spiney Norman Tue, 12 Dec 2006 16:51:43 +0000 http://dethroner.com/index.php/2006/12/11/selecting-your-beans-part-1-the-truth-on-the-coffee-aisle/#comment-4200 The moral of the story is "find a local roaster". Columbian, shade-grown, slow roasted, etc. given a month to turn to rat fodder is not worth brewing. If you live in a community without a coffee roaster (consider being the pioneer yourself) or turn to a conscientious on-line retailer like Dietrich's. Freezing is a partial solution. Putting the coffee in an air-tight container provides some relief. Bottom line: the fresher, the better. And here's a shout out to the best coffee roasters in north San Diego county, California, Pannikan! The moral of the story is “find a local roaster”. Columbian, shade-grown, slow roasted, etc. given a month to turn to rat fodder is not worth brewing. If you live in a community without a coffee roaster (consider being the pioneer yourself) or turn to a conscientious on-line retailer like Dietrich’s. Freezing is a partial solution. Putting the coffee in an air-tight container provides some relief. Bottom line: the fresher, the better.

And here’s a shout out to the best coffee roasters in north San Diego county, California, Pannikan!

]]> By: Craig Borysowich http://dethroner.com/2006/12/11/selecting-your-beans-part-1-the-truth-on-the-coffee-aisle/comment-page-1/#comment-4196 Craig Borysowich Tue, 12 Dec 2006 16:14:25 +0000 http://dethroner.com/index.php/2006/12/11/selecting-your-beans-part-1-the-truth-on-the-coffee-aisle/#comment-4196 Along with the coffee aisle, the same goes for your coffee at gas stations, Mac's, 7-11, dunkin' donuts, tim hortons, coffee time and any other coffee for about a quarter joint. It is BAD coffee. Not just because it is the cheap commodity beans or that it was probably roasted and ground a year prior to being brewed or that the pot has sat on an element for several hours before you poured it. People need to know that these high volume coffees are coming majoritively from Brazil and Vietnam - the two largest exporters in the world of coffee. Cheap robusto and overgrown arabica blends. In many cases the big 4 pay fractions of a cent per pound to buy this coffee and you pay not much less per pound than the coffee that is sold in grocery stores. Buying this coffee contributes to the destruction of the rainforest, unsustainable farming methods, and the inability of these farmers to support their families, get proper medical care or defend their farms from drug cartels. Or best case, they can afford to do one item off of the list. For the amount of money made per cup by the above mentioned companies, you should be afforded the opportunity to a**lly rape the coffee farmer of your choice over the shop counter while they count out your change. Seems only fair to you. At a minimum, you should be buying coffee that is fair trade. Where possible, the coffee should also include one or more of the following designations: Organic; Shade Grown; and/or Bird Friendly. Along with the coffee aisle, the same goes for your coffee at gas stations, Mac’s, 7-11, dunkin’ donuts, tim hortons, coffee time and any other coffee for about a quarter joint. It is BAD coffee. Not just because it is the cheap commodity beans or that it was probably roasted and ground a year prior to being brewed or that the pot has sat on an element for several hours before you poured it.

People need to know that these high volume coffees are coming majoritively from Brazil and Vietnam – the two largest exporters in the world of coffee. Cheap robusto and overgrown arabica blends. In many cases the big 4 pay fractions of a cent per pound to buy this coffee and you pay not much less per pound than the coffee that is sold in grocery stores.

Buying this coffee contributes to the destruction of the rainforest, unsustainable farming methods, and the inability of these farmers to support their families, get proper medical care or defend their farms from drug cartels. Or best case, they can afford to do one item off of the list.

For the amount of money made per cup by the above mentioned companies, you should be afforded the opportunity to a**lly rape the coffee farmer of your choice over the shop counter while they count out your change. Seems only fair to you.

At a minimum, you should be buying coffee that is fair trade. Where possible, the coffee should also include one or more of the following designations: Organic; Shade Grown; and/or Bird Friendly.

]]> By: Christopher http://dethroner.com/2006/12/11/selecting-your-beans-part-1-the-truth-on-the-coffee-aisle/comment-page-1/#comment-4187 Christopher Tue, 12 Dec 2006 13:35:51 +0000 http://dethroner.com/index.php/2006/12/11/selecting-your-beans-part-1-the-truth-on-the-coffee-aisle/#comment-4187 This may come up in future episodes/posts of coffee week, but one thing to consider is that whole beans will stay fresh longer than anything that has been ground up. Whole roasted beans contain carbon dioxide, which mitigates some of the oxidation - and with all of the volatile oils in coffee beans, the last thing you want is for them to be exposed to too much room temperature air. (The presence of all the oils is also why you dont want to re-brew coffee, repeated heating breaks down more and more of the oils and is why that pot that sits on the burner all day ends up tasting so bad) Anyways, you can freeze whole beans (and grinds too) for a couple months and it will help some. I used to keep my beans in the fridge, and it probably helps a little, but not that much. Ideally you only grind the amount that you'll be brewing each time. If you're in DC - Swings Coffee roasts their own beans and usually have a pretty good variety. This may come up in future episodes/posts of coffee week, but one thing to consider is that whole beans will stay fresh longer than anything that has been ground up. Whole roasted beans contain carbon dioxide, which mitigates some of the oxidation – and with all of the volatile oils in coffee beans, the last thing you want is for them to be exposed to too much room temperature air. (The presence of all the oils is also why you dont want to re-brew coffee, repeated heating breaks down more and more of the oils and is why that pot that sits on the burner all day ends up tasting so bad)
Anyways, you can freeze whole beans (and grinds too) for a couple months and it will help some. I used to keep my beans in the fridge, and it probably helps a little, but not that much. Ideally you only grind the amount that you’ll be brewing each time.
If you’re in DC – Swings Coffee roasts their own beans and usually have a pretty good variety.

]]> By: stuart http://dethroner.com/2006/12/11/selecting-your-beans-part-1-the-truth-on-the-coffee-aisle/comment-page-1/#comment-4155 stuart Tue, 12 Dec 2006 05:50:50 +0000 http://dethroner.com/index.php/2006/12/11/selecting-your-beans-part-1-the-truth-on-the-coffee-aisle/#comment-4155 well, i'm currently buying beans every other week for the most part, so my coffee purchasing experience is not *quite* ideal. :) thanks for pointing me at dethroner, tonx! joel and i met at the bunker a few years back, iirc, but haven't crossed paths since. well, i’m currently buying beans every other week for the most part, so my coffee purchasing experience is not *quite* ideal. :)

thanks for pointing me at dethroner, tonx! joel and i met at the bunker a few years back, iirc, but haven’t crossed paths since.

]]> By: JimK http://dethroner.com/2006/12/11/selecting-your-beans-part-1-the-truth-on-the-coffee-aisle/comment-page-1/#comment-4141 JimK Tue, 12 Dec 2006 02:15:22 +0000 http://dethroner.com/index.php/2006/12/11/selecting-your-beans-part-1-the-truth-on-the-coffee-aisle/#comment-4141 If you're on the east coast, Jersey Shore Coffee Roasters does it right and shipping is fast. I'm currently working through some Tanzania Peaberry...roasted just 5 days ago. So good. If you’re on the east coast, Jersey Shore Coffee Roasters does it right and shipping is fast. I’m currently working through some Tanzania Peaberry…roasted just 5 days ago. So good.

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