Stopped into Barrett's Coffee again this week and picked up a bag of Ethiopian Yirg Konga - haven't brewed it yet but it packs quite a punch when pulling shots; excellent as a macchiato or cortado; but may be a bit much as a straight shot for some. Also took home a sample of their new Ecuador, which should be up on their site soon I think. First shot I pulled this morning tasted just like pineapple juice - never had anything like that before, but I'm not familiar with Ecuadorean beans either.

"Free shipping" is never actually free. I see some of the roasters are selling 10 oz bags for the price that some of our roasters sell 16 oz bags. Not hard to ship for free then.

^^^ Scott, your shade is duly noted. We can do math!

Randy, thanks for the feedback.

Added Bar Nine.

sweaner wrote:"Free shipping" is never actually free. I see some of the roasters are selling 10 oz bags for the price that some of our roasters sell 16 oz bags. Not hard to ship for free then.

Add shipping to the 16 oz and it's now 6$ more. I love how you think you're providing striking revelations

sweaner wrote:"Free shipping" is never actually free. I see some of the roasters are selling 10 oz bags for the price that some of our roasters sell 16 oz bags. Not hard to ship for free then.

Yup, "free shipping" more often than not is a marketing ploy to make you think you are getting something for nothing... when in reality, none of these roasters would stay in business very long if they shipped 1/2 pounds or full pounds and ate the shipping cost. Conversely, as you mentioned, I also notice that many, if not all, of the roasters in this thread are MORE expensive with their "free shipping" than I pay for a full 16 oz bag WITH shipping. In fact, I find many of those mentioned here a tad pricey as you noted with their 10 and 12 oz bags. I took a look at 4-5 of the links provided, and was actually quite surprised at the per pound price compared to what I am paying, both locally and on the net.

One interesting note, the 10 or 12 oz bags only make it harder to figure the true per pound cost and compare! But like the OP said, we are all able to do the math, and we all have a choice.... it does not take much to see these "free shipping" suppliers are not giving any better deals than those that charge shipping.

That is why I brought up the option I did earlier - I tend to look at the full cost out the door, and the roaster I mentioned is very hard to beat. Add to that their quality is very high, what more could I ask? Just sharing my experience... not trying to make any converts, nor do I have any affiliation to that roaster.

As they say, nothing is free.... and I am not discounting that the roasters here may provide outstanding coffee, maybe better than I drink. Since I can't try them all, I am forced to balance cost, value and reputation and do my best to get a good coffee for a good price (like we all do). But I do not see that the roasters mentioned here and their "free shipping" are providing any better value than other roasters who do not. YMMV.

brianl wrote:Add shipping to the 16 oz and it's now 6$ more. I love how you think you're providing striking revelations

That is a very short sighted conclusion. You need to look at the total out the door price - many of the roasters mentioned here are much more expensive than I have ever paid per pound - free shipping or not.

This is all pretty well covered in the first post in the thread. Clearly, you can "do the math" and decide if it makes sense, but a lot of times if you're looking to try out a single bag from a roaster "free shipping" can work in your favor. There's no right or wrong here, just a list of roasters who offer "free shipping" with no minimum purchase.

Agreed. I was not trying to state right or wrong, just replying to what I thought was not providing an accurate picture to the other side of the equation... the reply earlier by brianl was a tad adversarial to what I thought was a very valid point by sweaner.

CrabRangoon wrote:Stopped into Barrett's Coffee again this week and picked up a bag of Ethiopian Yirg Konga - haven't brewed it yet but it packs quite a punch when pulling shots; excellent as a macchiato or cortado; but may be a bit much as a straight shot for some. Also took home a sample of their new Ecuador, which should be up on their site soon I think. First shot I pulled this morning tasted just like pineapple juice - never had anything like that before, but I'm not familiar with Ecuadorean beans either.

How light do they roast? What would you compare them to?

Those Ethiopia and Ecuador beans I just picked up are their two lightest offerings at the moment, but TBH their current Kenya is what I just finished and I think it was nearly as light as the Yirg. They offered the Ecuador when I asked what their lightest roast currently was. I don't have a ton of experience with other roasters that may be known for being light (such as Heart, I believe?) so I can't compare them terribly well.

The Ecuador was 18.5g in and 32g out and I'll be trying it some more in the morning.