A coffee rage thread. AAAARRGGG!!!

[caris1965]

I couldnt get to the usual sponsor to buy beans so wife bought a 250g bag of "cafe blend" beans from a coffee joint in Camberwell to keep us going. "Oh yes" they said. "Just roasted". Price worked out at $32 a kilo.

The beans were that stale they crumbled and turned to dust when I tried to grind them.. Not even a whiff of an aroma or anything. They even stank like dust.

I couldnt believe, that in this day and age a professional roaster in a dedicated coffee shop in one of the busiest strips in Melbourne actually sold this rubbish.

Well, I decided take them back tomorrow and ask for our money back. Very quietly and nice I will.

However, Mrs Pigwart said dont bother, they obviously dont care and to just throw em out.

Now I dont know what to do.

[Andy]

Re: A coffee rage thread. AAAARRGGG!!!

Take it back, express your concerns and see if they care. I would be surprised if they didnt refund the unused portion at least.

It might be a quality control issue (junior did the roasting, senior didnt check) or it might be what most of their customers like?

Plenty of site sponsors sell roasted coffee as do I ( in BeanBay ).
...far safer than a random wander down the street!

[rapideye2]

Re: A coffee rage thread. AAAARRGGG!!!

How revolting! Please take them back - you cant let this coffee crime go unpunished! Here in Adelaide my favourite roasters label their bags with the roasted on date - on the rare occasion that I buy brown beans I always make sure the actual date is printed on the bag, preferably (like at Coffee Barun) by hand. (I have yet to convince them to write roasting time, ambient temperature, wind direction and humidity on there too)

These Camberwell cads need to know how they let you down in your hour of need (for caffeine)

[cjt10]

Re: A coffee rage thread. AAAARRGGG!!!

Sounds like a good enough reason to get yourself some of the green stuff from Andy and roast your own

[Fresh_Coffee]

Re: A coffee rage thread. AAAARRGGG!!!

I couldnt get to the usual sponsor to buy beans so wife bought a 250g bag of "cafe blend" beans from a coffee joint in Camberwell to keep us going. "Oh yes" they said. "Just roasted". Price worked out at $32 a kilo.

The beans were that stale they crumbled and turned to dust when I tried to grind them.. Not even a whiff of an aroma or anything. They even stank like dust.

I couldnt believe, that in this day and age a professional roaster in a dedicated coffee shop in one of the busiest strips in Melbourne actually sold this rubbish.

Well, I decided take them back tomorrow and ask for our money back. Very quietly and nice I will.

However, Mrs Pigwart said dont bother, they obviously dont care and to just throw em out.

Now I dont know what to do.

I have to say I am very surprsied by the replies in this thread.

Too often, forum participants seem to rush in to give one sided support and feed the indignance of the poster, instead of taking a more unbiased and very probably more helpful (to all parties) view.

I have been in the coffee game all my life and I have never, ever come across anything like "...The beans were that stale they crumbled and turned to dust when I tried to grind them.. Not even a whiff of an aroma or anything. They even stank like dust...." 

If this is the case I for one would like to get a sample shipped to me to verify first hand that this could happen.

You could say a lot of things about stale or foul coffee, but the above simply does not strike any chords with me.

Ive seen this kind of thing in CS before and said nothing, but if participants are really here to learn about all things coffee, then they also need to know when something they write didnt make sense.

In the absence of any more information the only correct answer then, is to take the coffee back to the place of purchase and respectfully seek assistance.  Not outwardly to demand money back, but to find out what the problem is, period.

A professional supplier will take the enquiry seriously and spend as much time as is necessary to work it out. 

You can throw the beans away and say nothing, and then you didnt learn anything ( never mind the supplier).

Rgdz,
Attilio
very first CS site sponsor.

[samhighley]

Re: A coffee rage thread. AAAARRGGG!!!


I agree that you should take these beans back to the supplier and discuss the problem with them.

This type of situation would be somewhat alleviated if all coffee roasters put a "roasted on" date on their beans. What reason does a commercial coffee roaster have not to include this information, unless theyre trying to mislead their customers?

[Fresh_Coffee]

Re: A coffee rage thread. AAAARRGGG!!!

Quote "...they said "Just roasted"...."

*********************************

Date stamps are a separate issue.

An unscrupulous supplier could just as easily place an incorrect date on a label, as verbally tell someone a porky over the counter.

My own roastery does not put roasted dates on the packets, but we have a policy statement on the wall that says what our policy is on fresh coffee and of course we tell people when they ask, rendering a date stamp superfluous and....that means no one is hiding anything or trying to quote "...mislead their customers..."

There needs to be a bit of trust on both sides of the counter....

Rgdz,
Attilio
very first CS site sponsor

[cjt10]

Re: A coffee rage thread. AAAARRGGG!!!

Attilio, I agree mostly with what you say. The problem is that a customer experience is not always as simple someone walking into your business and buying coffee.

If it were my business I would print a "roast date" as much for the customer as for me.

Example: I buy a kilo of roasted beans and take them to work. I use 500 grams and then put the bag in the cupboard where it sits for 3 months. Joe comes along and finds the beans (with your brand and logo on the packet) and uses the coffee to find that it tastes like crap, not knowing when it was roasted. Joe walks away with a mental note not to ever buy coffee from "named brand".

Would a roast date not serve to protect both you and the consumer?

[caris1965]

Re: A coffee rage thread. AAAARRGGG!!!

I have to say I am very surprsied by the replies in this thread.

Too often, forum participants seem to rush in to give one sided support and feed the indignance of the poster, instead of taking a more unbiased and very probably more helpful (to all parties) view.

I have been in the coffee game all my life and I have never, ever come across anything like "...The beans were that stale they crumbled and turned to dust when I tried to grind them.. Not even a whiff of an aroma or anything. They even stank like dust...." 

If this is the case I for one would like to get a sample shipped to me to verify first hand that this could happen.

You could say a lot of things about stale or foul coffee, but the above simply does not strike any chords with me.

Ive seen this kind of thing in CS before and said nothing, but if participants are really here to learn about all things coffee, then they also need to know when something they write didnt make sense.

In the absence of any more information the only correct answer then, is to take the coffee back to the place of purchase and respectfully seek assistance.  Not outwardly to demand money back, but to find out what the problem is, period.

A professional supplier will take the enquiry seriously and spend as much time as is necessary to work it out. 

You can throw the beans away and say nothing, and then you didnt learn anything ( never mind the supplier).

Rgdz,
Attilio
very first CS site sponsor.

Well, to start with, I was not indignant nor was I trolling for biased replies to my thread starter. I had no intention then or now to name and shame anyone as this type of cheap tabloid behavior is of no interest to me.

It was just a conversational thread that intended to convey my surprise that coffee that stale would be sold as fresh.

Also, if I knew I was going to be accused of dishonesty and fantasising I would have gladly kept the beans and posted them to whoever was interested. And thank you Attilio, for taking the time to tell me how to behave whilst returning the beans. Otherwise I would have screamed, farted loudly and generally been obnoxious.

I did return the beans. The young attendant had very little knowledge about anything to do with coffee and said they were roasted last week. Which was obviously rubbish. She was the only one there.

There was nothing else to be gained except to graciously accept the offered refund.

I await with tttrembling tamper to learn more along my coffee journey.

And hopefully Attilio your chords are struck tunefully in the future.

[cuppacoffee]

Re: A coffee rage thread. AAAARRGGG!!!

It was just a conversational thread that intended to convey my surprise that coffee that stale would be sold as fresh.

So, its a conversational thread as long as people agree with your approach and opinion.

The young attendant had very little knowledge about anything to do with coffee

How condescending of you. :P

[TC]

Re: A coffee rage thread. AAAARRGGG!!!

If it were my business I would print a "roast date" as much for the customer as for me.

Some of the majors roast origins into silos and then create blends from the origins. If those origins happen to be roasted on different days, which day do you choose to stamp the bag with?

[cjt10]

Re: A coffee rage thread. AAAARRGGG!!!

Chris, you make a very good point but I am sure that someone far more intelligent than I could come up with a reasonable solution to this problem.

How is the Date of Manufacture/Use By Date for foods with multiple ingredients and components worked out?

[caris1965]

Re: A coffee rage thread. AAAARRGGG!!!

So, its a conversational thread as long as people agree with your approach and opinion. 

Nothing to do with approach or opinion. It was the immediate assumption I was, at best exaggerating. I wasnt. It was not my opinion that the coffee was stale. The coffee was stale.

How condescending of you.  :P

It was not condescending. It was an observation. At no time did I adopt an air of superiority, defensiveness or  condescension. Characteristics you are obviously well versed in.

Anyways - this thread is too wobbly for me. Im outa here. Oh all right. Im being defensive.

[TC]

Re: A coffee rage thread. AAAARRGGG!!!

Wow....Nastiness again

Can we have a mod and mop and bucket in aisle 12 please?

[fatboy_1999]

Re: A coffee rage thread. AAAARRGGG!!!

Chris, you make a very good point but I am sure that someone far more intelligent than I could come up with a reasonable solution to this problem.

How is the Date of Manufacture/Use By Date for foods with multiple ingredients and components worked out?

Foods with multiple ingredients have a best by or use by date - not a made on date.
To figure out the best by or use by date usually entails having a dedicated Quality Assurance area that do MANY tests on the product in question, over a period of time. And having worked for a confectionary maker in the past, I can tell you it is a constant process.

For a snob like me, coffee is a different story.
It is still drinkable for quite a lot longer than many of us would ever keep it. This is why we lean towards a roasted on date, but as you said, Chris makes a good point when it comes to component roasting.

I dont think there is a simple answer from a commercial perspective. I just say try it. If you like it, give them your repeat business and if you didnt, let them know why and see what happens.