nuketopia wrote » Fri Jun 23, 2017 1:11 pm

"I will not buy coffee without a roasted-on date, period.

It only serves the interests of the vendor, not the consumer, not indicating the roast date."



Your logic is solid although reluctant I have to agree with your decision. I did/do sometimes purchase without a roast date and have had good results but I have to say by doing so I have been screwed over more times than not. Now very rarely do I purchase without a roast date and plan to do so even less.

I have to stand by your advise it has proven sound in my experience.

RyanJE wrote:Now this is an informative post. As one can imagine, the statement from Mr. Epresso goes against everything I have learned over the past couple years. And that is a lot thanks to HB!

Tom,

I believe you are a bay area resident. Do you have much experience with Mr. Espresso coffees? Also, I was looking at some of the items they termed "light" roasts, not just their more developed espressos. Would those maybe not be as good after 2 weeks?

Before I drop $100 on coffee, want to make sure its not going to be wasted.

I've bought their roasts intermittently over the years and provided some feedback when asked, by Luigi, the founders son and VP of sales/director of marketing. But he was mainly gauging my opinion on the newly redesigned packaging for their bags, which I pointed out how much I want "roasted on" dates put on them. This is back when I did the photo-writeup for this site of the tour I took of the roastery and the new Coffee Bar locations.

I think they're great roasters, I think they make excellent products that miss a wide segment of the current coffee market due to two things: 1) They still are a bit shrouded by the shadow of the past when Mr Espresso coffee and machines here in the bay area were often found in dirty counters of corner deli's and the product wasn't kept up to standard. This isn't a fair judgement on them, since back in the 80's and 90's the typical cafe (and more obviously, small deli's) didn't practice the way most modern coffee shops now do in terms of maintenance and cleanliness, not leaving oily coffee sitting stale in the hoppers after a month, etc.. And 2) They won't put roast dates on their bags.

I'd happily recommend them, I know you'll get a good product. Your coffee won't arrive stale or faded. Anything up to just before their darkest roasts will be spectacular. They cup the hell out of their coffee and keep on top of every little detail. John, the other (eldest) son and head of roasting probably has more knowledge about coffee than 95% of the commercial coffee industry and he's quiet and humble as can be. To call him an asset to the company is an understatement. He had his father's vast experience of classic Italian coffee culture and roasting to learn from, paired with decades of sourcing and honing in on quality coffees and building relationships with farmers before it was even popular or common to do so.

I'm rambling, but thinking about their offerings at the moment makes me thirst for some, so I'll probably order several this afternoon. Their stuff won't pucker you up like a snare drum with acidity, but it will taste very good.

TomC wrote:I've bought their roasts intermittently over the years and provided some feedback when asked, by Luigi, the founders son and VP of sales/director of marketing. But he was mainly gauging my opinion on the newly redesigned packaging for their bags, which I pointed out how much I want "roasted on" dates put on them. This is back when I did the photo-writeup for this site of the tour I took of the roastery and the new Coffee Bar locations.

I think they're great roasters, I think they make excellent products that miss a wide segment of the current coffee market due to two things: 1) They still are a bit shrouded by the shadow of the past when Mr Espresso coffee and machines here in the bay area were often found in dirty counters of corner deli's and the product wasn't kept up to standard. This isn't a fair judgement on them, since back in the 80's and 90's the typical cafe (and more obviously, small deli's) didn't practice the way most modern coffee shops now do in terms of maintenance and cleanliness, not leaving oily coffee sitting stale in the hoppers after a month, etc.. And 2) They won't put roast dates on their bags.

I'd happily recommend them, I know you'll get a good product. Your coffee won't arrive stale or faded. Anything up to just before their darkest roasts will be spectacular. They cup the hell out of their coffee and keep on top of every little detail. John, the other (eldest) son and head of roasting probably has more knowledge about coffee than 95% of the commercial coffee industry and he's quiet and humble as can be. To call him an asset to the company is an understatement. He had his father's vast experience of classic Italian coffee culture and roasting to learn from, paired with decades of sourcing and honing in on quality coffees and building relationships with farmers before it was even popular or common to do so.

I'm rambling, but thinking about their offerings at the moment makes me thirst for some, so I'll probably order several this afternoon. Their stuff won't pucker you up like a snare drum with acidity, but it will taste very good.

Ok ok now you have me intrigued. Let us know which coffees you pick and your thoughts. I was eying a few of their SOs and 3 of the espressos toward the medium roasts.

I just ordered their "Espresso Experience Trio". I'm certain I've tried at least one, and maybe two of the selections in that group but can't remember each individual name so it was worth a go for me. I like to bank a few classic Italian roasts in the chest freezer to intersperse with the lighter fare.

TomC wrote:I just ordered their "Espresso Experience Trio". I'm certain I've tried at least one, and maybe two of the selections in that group but can't remember each individual name so it was worth a go for me. I like to bank a few classic Italian roasts in the chest freezer to intersperse with the lighter fare.

Awesome! Let us know your thoughts.

I might still grab a bunch while I'm in the area.

It's a shame they haven't opened up to roast dating like you suggested...

I don't agree with the idea that bags don't need roast dates. They do, and it's a simple process to simply put a roast date on your retail coffee. My roaster doesn't put the roast date on the bag because he only does wholesale . I have my coffee roasted and delivered every Monday so I simply write the roast date with a sharpie. I will say this though; our current iteration of our flagship espresso blend is best at days 13-18. Starting at day 14 there's a sweet peanut butter flavor that balances with black cherry acidity that doesn't show itself prior to day 12-13. This is a more traditional milk based blend and it definitely breaks most rules associated with 3rd wave espresso. So don't dismiss a coffee based on it being 15 days post roast..... it could surprise you and be balanced/delicious/sweet.

I think Mr. Espresso also runs coffee shops in San Francisco under the name Coffee Bar (one is on Montgomery). When I was there last December they had the Mr. Espresso beans for sale and were freshly roasted. I only held off buying some because I was heading out of town the next day.

I know the company well also, having toured their roastery, met the sons and father, and hosted events with coffee provided by them. Sure, I prefer roast dates on the bag, but if you buy from them or at one if their shops the coffee will be fresh. If it tastes really good you can freeze it airtight so you'll have time to run through it.

Since they've been doing this since the 1970's I'm not about to tell them they must put the roast date on their bags. Sure, I prefer that but it's our market preference and not necessarily their customer base. They supply many restaurants and their own shops and they have staying power.

TomC wrote: I think they're great roasters, I think they make excellent products that miss a wide segment of the current coffee market due to two things: 1) They still are a bit shrouded by the shadow of the past when Mr Espresso coffee and machines here in the bay area were often found in dirty counters of corner deli's and the product wasn't kept up to standard. This isn't a fair judgement on them, since back in the 80's and 90's the typical cafe (and more obviously, small deli's) didn't practice the way most modern coffee shops now do in terms of maintenance and cleanliness, not leaving oily coffee sitting stale in the hoppers after a month, etc.. And 2) They won't put roast dates on their bags.

Tom, your post reminded me of the time back in the late '80s when a cappa from Mr. Espresso-sourced beans and La Marzocco was an essential staple of my existence every weekday morning. I got it at The Cheese Board in Berkeley, when I worked about a block away. The folks who pulled shots were very good baristas for their day, their beans were fresh, and their machine was meticulously immaculate, probably because they were so focused on quality, they were selling perishable food and got it that there were certain standards about cleanliness, and they were just a stand-up outfit all around. Good days.

I'll have to pick up some of their beans the next time I'm in the Bay Area and do a little blind taste test with Lionshare, my current default morning brew.

So, I ordered the trio of their espresso's which span their defined range of Medium-Light, Medium and Medium-Dark. They arrived on 06/27/17

I include the arrival date for reference because each bag has a code now that is different from the "enjoy by" dates they used to have stamped in the past (I could be incorrect about the exact wording, but any wording is now omitted). I'd speculate that we now can extrapolate a roasted on date, even though it's not clearly stated.

The Neapolitan Espresso is stamped 061918

The Tuscan Espresso is stamped 062618

The Triestino Espresso is stamped 062618

I've only tried the Neapolitan so far and it's fragrance coming out of the grinder is a reminder of how enticing the non-3WOJ espresso can be. Like my current favorite blend, Caffe Lusso GMC, one of these blends are probably going to remain in my regular rotation.