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  • Roasting old beans

    I have had a little break from roasting after I almost burnt my shed down and ruined all my gear (and also having another baby) and have just gotten back into it. I checked the dates of my last purchases and I havent bought any new green since 07....time has flown with the 2 bubs....
    I roasted a few of my favourites (yemen, guatamalan and dominican) and found that while they dont taste bad they seem to be pretty bland (it could be my roasting). Has anyone tried roasting older beans, and if so what were your findings? I have about 100kg of green sitting in the shed laughing at me. It makes cry to think about it.

  • #2
    Re: Roasting old beans

    Gday "frad"....

    Sorry to hear about your misfortune there but glad you and yours are OK....

    Re: the beans....
    Probably comes down to how they were stored, the ambient conditions, etc.... In ideal circumstances of Cool, Dark, Dry and Well Aired the beans can withstand surprisingly many years of storage before flavours deteriorate or taints become detectable.

    How did your store your 100Kg?

    Mal.

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    • #3
      Re: Roasting old beans

      Do the beans look like they still have good moisture content ?

      KK

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      • #4
        Re: Roasting old beans

        They were stored in raised cupboards in garden sheds, and they look like they are a bit paler than fresher beans, and do seem to be dryer...  Ill have to sort through and inspect them all tomorrow.
        At least I can practice on them 
        The beans on the left are fresh Peru Ceja de Selva Estate and the right are old Guatemala Huehuetenango. 

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        • #5
          Re: Roasting old beans

          That image was a bit large "frad" so pulled it back to ~100KB...

          Is it likely that the garden sheds get pretty hot during Summer? If so, Id be looking for a better location in the house somewhere; preferably away from walls that get direct sunlight so that local storage conditions remain stable.

          Will probably be a bit tricky with the Huehue but you can try pushing the roasts through a little quicker than usual, especially the ramp up to 1st-Crack. This will heighten the flavours that still remain and make for reasonable results in the cup. Why the Huehue might be a bit difficult in this regard, is that it is such a hard bean and pushing it might result in uneven roasting throughout the beans. You could give it a go though, and see what happens - Nothing to lose, eh?

          All the best mate....

          Mal.

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          • #6
            Re: Roasting old beans

            Whats those dark patches on the Guatamalan Hue?

            Just roast some and keep an eye on the roast. Use a trier (can be a spoon of some sort) and check your beans often.

            Goodness gracious! 100kg of beans sitting in the shed.
            Im happy with 10 kg in my plastic storage containers.

            Gary at G

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            • #7
              Re: Roasting old beans

              Originally posted by 746E636270667E7474070 link=1305705008/5#5 date=1305734347
              Whats those dark patches on the Guatamalan Hue?
              I think its just the quality of the photo Gary....

              I tried to clean it up a bit when I resized it but more work would take too much off my coffee drinking time... :P

              Mal.

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              • #8
                Re: Roasting old beans

                Very good advice from Mal throughout this topic 

                There is nothing wrong with older greens. They just lose moisture and therefore some character, and in this instance shame about storage in a garden shed....

                If after playing around with different profiles to see how you can "push" each origin for a better result, you still think the coffee is bland, dont discount making up blends (again subject to you playing around) for best effect.

                Rgdz,
                Attilio
                very first CS site sponsor

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Roasting old beans

                  Originally posted by 407463756E59456960606363060 link=1305705008/7#7 date=1305791565
                  Very good advice from Mal throughout this topic 
                  Thank you Attilio....

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Roasting old beans

                    Sweet, thanks guys, thats given me a bit of direction. Ill roast the older beans with smaller batches to reduce roast time.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Roasting old beans

                      I am a natural experimenter & I am thinking out loud so bear with me

                      What would happen if you were to increase or rehydrate the moisture content of the green coffee beans through various ways

                      Please note - I have never done it myself
                      If you send me a sample of a few beans I will test the theory of rehydrating

                      I will send you samples of roasts in return

                      KK

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                      • #12
                        Re: Roasting old beans

                        Sounds like a plan Ill send some samples. Which would you prefer? Ill pick out the driest looking ones, but these are some of what i have:
                        Guatemalan,
                        El Salvidor san emilio farm
                        Yemen bani ismail
                        kenyan
                        ugandan
                        dominican baharona AAA
                        sulawesi torajah kalossi gr 1
                        costa rica tarrazu dota coop
                        costa rica turrialba
                        panama rfa gran del val bajo mono canyon estate
                        red sea blend
                        cuban altura altitude blend
                        ethiopian harrar naturals
                        brazil datura



                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Roasting old beans

                          Hi Frad,
                          You havent disclosed your method of roasting, but I had recently picked up about 4 x 2.5kg of CS greens, the previous owner said to be 3 years old.
                          In my Behmor I found doing 14oz using 1 P2 B profile taking it well into a darker roast, bought out some very palatable flavours with my Isomac Venus. Earlier lighter roast of these beans turned out somewhat blandish for my tastes.
                          The Yemen is well worth the effort even as an older bean. The oldest bean in that group of 4 would be the Hara Longberry -Oromia Fair Trade. The CS bag is plain with a ribbon tie. Someone older CS members may be able to estimate how far back those bags were in use. The others are Mountain Top Estate and Ethiopian Yirgacheffe Kochere. All have roasted up very nicely so far. All stored in a closet about two feet from my bed.  8-)
                          Have to agree with Mal; a quicker roast is the best option.
                          Cheers,
                          Kevo 

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Roasting old beans

                            Originally posted by 5F4B585D390 link=1305705008/11#11 date=1305802565
                            Sounds like a plan Smiley Ill send some samples. Which would you prefer? Ill pick out the driest looking ones, but these are some of what i have:

                            I will send you a PM

                            KK

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Roasting old beans

                              While we are on the subject of theoretical stuff......

                              When the green beans lose their own natural moisture, with it they lose substances that give the coffee whatever character it has.

                              If you rehydrate, you are not adding back the original natural substances that were lost on dehydration and gave the original character.......???????????????

                              However it could be possible to add different characters back to the beans depending on what you add into the moisture for rehydration.........??????????

                              That should put you all into a head spin hehehehehe!

                              Rgdz,
                              A. 

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