Hi,
My local roaster closed, and with it, the availability of fresh, great beans twice a week. I would appreciate recommendations for a sweet, European style Espresso. Doesn't need to cut through a lot of milk.

Also, given shipping costs, it seems buying by the pound is the minimum and freshness suffers (a pound can last me a few weeks). Any creative ideas on this?

Thanks very much!

Freeze 1/2 lb. in a jar or other airtight/one-way valve container. It will last a good bit of time. Just take it out of the freezer the night before you want to use it, and avoid opening it till the whole thing comes to room temperature.

Using this method, you could order several pounds at a time if you are interested in saving on shipping. If you do so, I would recommend separating into individual jars sized to about what you use in a week or less. I do not know what the consequences of keeping one container in the freezer and taking out a little bit at a time, would be, but I would imagine it would impact freshness negatively compared to the separate packaging idea.

Scott, you list your location as "ma usa". Assuming that's Massachuetts why not:
http://terroircoffee.com/ They are highly regarded and it would probably arrive at your place before its fully off-gassed.

Or a bit further south is Counter Culture's Toscano, described as,

Inspired by the caffe dolce, or "sweet coffee" central to the venerable coffee bar culture of Siena - in the heart of Tuscany - Espresso Toscano offers the classically sweet, caramel flavors and copper-colored crema that have captivated Italaian espresso lovers for generations...

I see 2 viable options:

1. Freezing as Nick mentions above. I do this, separating the coffee into 3 portions and freezing 2 of them. Seems to work well. I use the Reynolds Handi-Vac freezer bag system.

2. Drink more coffee!!

edwa wrote:Scott, you list your location as "ma usa". Assuming that's Massachuetts why not:
http://terroircoffee.com/ They are highly regarded and it would probably arrive at your place before its fully off-gassed.

Thanks for the suggestion! I went by their offices today and picked up a bag. Can't wait to try it tomorrow. Very impressive operation. Roasting in progress. I accidentally entered through the back door -- there's a lot going on there. Very knowledgeable staff.

Hot dang! Its nice to have been of some help, every now and then I get lucky.

I just tasted my first two shots of George Howell's Daterra Northern Italian style Espresso. Wow! It reminded me why I love coffee.

As you may know, temperature control (well, any control!) in a lever machine isn't very precise. Time is the only element I can accurately play with. The first shot was about 24 seconds, including 5 of preinfusion. It was marvelous. I won't try to make up the adjectives, but it was very complex, flavorful, and just a little bit of bitterness at the end. The second shot was three seconds shorter (usually, the machine heats up significantly in the interval between shots), and was even better than the first. A bit sweeter, no bitterness. Exceptionally good coffee.

Thanks again for recommending them. I can still feel the flavors dancing on my tongue.

sc wrote:I just tasted my first two shots of George Howell's Daterra Northern Italian style Espresso. Wow! It reminded me why I love coffee.

In case you weren't aware, George Howell is one of the godfathers of specialty coffee, organizer of the Cup of Excellence, original freezer of green beans, etc., etc. Look him up. You can spend days reading about him and writings by him. If you are looking for a mentor, chatting with him in his shop is worth an encyclopedia about coffee.