How long do beans stay fresh?

[totalbeginner]

I am going to order some brown beans on line through this website but am unsure if I should order 500g or 1kg. We go through about ikg of beans a month (6910 & 0480).

Also, I bought some Vittoria beans from the supermarket today to tide me over and when I opened them they were quite oily - is this good or bad?

[Gavin1]

Re: How long do beans stay fresh?

I wouldnt order a kilo if you consume 250g a week. 500g would be alright if you split them into two individual bags and seal one.

Also, I bought some Vittoria beans from the supermarket today to tide me over and when I opened them they were quite oily - is this good or bad?

Id say everything form the supermarket is crap....

As roasted coffee age, the oils migrate to the surface.

A sign of stale coffee is excessive amounts of oil of the surface of the bean.

Hope that helps

Gav

[flynnaus]

Re: How long do beans stay fresh?

Go the 500g. You can always buy more later

Not all supermarket beans are bad but, unlike supermarkets, you are pretty much guaranteed of getting freshly roasted coffee when buying from CoffeeSnobs.

A sign of stale coffee is excessive amounts of oil of the surface of the bean.

Im not sure what you mean by excessive but I take it you havent tried the Ugandan Busamaga. It come out the roaster so oily looking that I thought it had somehow got wet when I dumped it. I imagine there are other beans that are naturally oily.

[totalbeginner]

Re: How long do beans stay fresh?

the oil is quite visible on the beans, they look very shiny. and if you run your fingers through them you would need to wipe them. They are certainly not dripping with oil but it is very visible.

[Lovey]

Re: How long do beans stay fresh?

Gday TB,
a lot of oil on a bean can also be a sign of a dark roast, and not that the beans are stale.  In this case though, the supermarket beans are almost certainly stale though  :P.

Where are you located? There may be a roaster thats close by and then you can get hold of fresh roasted whenever you want them.
The next step of course is home roasting, so you can guarantee that your coffee will always be fresh.
Steve.

[redzone121]

Re: How long do beans stay fresh?

It come out the roaster so oily looking that I thought it had somehow got wet when I dumped it. I imagine there are other beans that are naturally oily.

Done several of these Flynn and never had any oil :-/. Yep some do oil up easier than others usually at quite a dark roast level and as has been said as some age they can oil up as each day passes. Unless you like your traditional italian dark roast its usually a better idea to have your oil in the bean not out IMO anyways

[totalbeginner]

Re: How long do beans stay fresh?

I am near Hamilton in western victoria - any suggestions?

[flynnaus]

Re: How long do beans stay fresh?

Done several of these Flynn and never had any oil

Hmmm...interesting. I missed the start of second crack and it was well into RSC when I dumped it. Fortunately not charred.

As you and Lovey mention...

a lot of oil on a bean can also be a sign of a dark roast,

...which probably explains it. It was my second corretto roast ever.

Something Ive learned today.

I am near Hamilton in western victoria - any suggestions?

Yep, buy a popper and a CS starter pack and try roasting your own. Its not hard. You can do small batches of 80-100g.

[totalbeginner]

Re: How long do beans stay fresh?

So, how long do beans remain fresh for? If I go through 1kg a month will they still be ok at the end of that month?

[Shilling]

Re: How long do beans stay fresh?

darker roasted coffee will age quicker whereas lighter roasted beans wont.

i would rather opt for 500g every 2 weeks than 1kg every month.

ask the place where you are buying it off to tell you at what age do their beans taste best, theyre the ones drinking it all the time so they will have the best understanding.

hope this helps

luke

[flynnaus]

Re: How long do beans stay fresh?

ask the place where you are buying it off to tell you at what age do their beans taste best,

What? The Woolies checkout chi...err ..operator? ;D

Luke is right. Some beans taste better a few days post roast; others will develop after 10 - 14 days. Much of it is personal preference. For me, most beans are at their best after 10 or 11 days. Ive had beans that still taste good up to a month after roasting.

Depends on how you like your coffee made as well. Milk and sugar will dilute or disguise coffee tastes. Espresso drinkers would be more particular but I have to say that I cant speak that well on behalf of espresso drinkers as I am still mostly milk-based even if it is a macchiato.

The real fun of being a coffee snob is finding out what you like. Listen to others as a starting point but dont be ruled by it. Its important to learn to listen to your own taste buds. You are drinking the coffee, not someone else.

[Dimal]

Re: How long do beans stay fresh?

For me, most beans are at their best after 10 or 11 days. Ive had beans that still taste good up to a month after roasting.

Similar for me...

Rarely crack a bag of beans earlier than 10 days and sometimes out to 14 days. The beans still taste great if used earlier than this but a lot of the intrinsic varietal characteristics dont become obvious until the beans have been allowed to develop in an air-tight 1-Way Valve bag. If you would like to hasten the flavour development, this can be done at the expense of longevity, by allowing the beans to degas and develop open to the atmosphere for a couple of days before closing/sealing the bag. The unfortunate side-effect of doing this though, is to accelerate the time it takes for the beans to stale so the "peak flavour" plateaux can be quite short.

To find out what you like though, you need to experiment with all of this and then plan your roast vs. consumption accordingly. All part of the fun.... 8-)

Mal.

[bwilks]

Re: How long do beans stay fresh?

I would buy them every two weeks like Luke said if you can.

When I started here I said I would never roast my own; 50kg of green later and on to my second roaster I could not go back. I have learned so much from reading the CS forums here and roasting my own.

Why dont you give it a try?

[phrostyboi]

Re: How long do beans stay fresh?

Buy a popper and starter pack (poppers from K mart are good if you have one near you), itll set you back about 60 bucks and the coffee alone will last you about 2 months if you use a kilo per month

from then on in its really all savings, not to mention a stack of fun

roasted beans are about 40 bucks a kilo and unroasted are about 10 - 15, you do the math

[Shilling]

Re: How long do beans stay fresh?

roasted beans are about 40 bucks a kilo and unroasted are about 10 - 15, you do the math  

i cant remember the last time i paid retail for coffee. actually, i cant remember the last time i paid for a cup of coffee.

theres another upside to home roasting. it gives you a greater appreciation to the professional roasters that do it for a living. well, the good ones, anyway.