I'm curious if their are certain "things to look for" when selecting a single origin coffee to work well or even have potential to be exceptional brewed as an espresso. I realize I can just take some leads from others about what's good, but what about when I am at a shop and trying to choose from 10 different green beans for roasting at home? I ask the roaster and he makes a suggestion or two, but I want to know what to look for. Is it just trial and error? If so I'd have to buy a few different beans, maybe a pound of each, roast each of those few with different profiles and/or levels, proceed to experiment with rest time, dose, temperature, extraction time... By now I've used up $20 of beans and maybe found one that I like, but who's to say when I go back for more, that they'll still be available; and if they are, if they are still that good; and if they are, were they really worth that investment of time and money, and how long will they be available, and when they are gone, does the process start over?! I hope that English teachers' nightmare is not in vain. What I am looking for are terms to look for in bean descriptions, sights and smells of greens to be aware of, and anything else that might clue me in on a good, maybe exceptional coffee for espresso. I really hope there is something because I searched for a while and couldn't find anything on this topic.

As Jim implies, trying to find good beans for SO espresso use can and often is an exercise in frustration. I have found some WP Ethiopians that have worked well, although most WP Ethiopians will not. Before the onset of the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange, you could have purchased most high end dry processed Ethiopians and have had a semi-decent chance of ending up with a suitable bean. Nowadays, the DP Ethiopians are so irregular in quality that I have stopped buying them with rare exceptions.

Online advice of vendors can be useful, but more for weeding out unsuitable choices than for finding really good ones. I have found that if Tom at SM's does not mention that a bean is suitable for SO use, that it seldom or never is. I have also found that the great majority of beans he recommends for SO use are "usable" in the sense that they aren't awful, but few produce anything truly worth the effort.

In summary, the easiest thing you could do would be to stick with blends from roasters and bean sellers you trust. If you trust and like a particular blend, it will probably not disappoint you anywhere as often as attempts at buying SO-suitable beans. Anyone who is interested in SO espresso will have to be willing to buy a lot of "duds" on the way to finding that great coffee that actually works. When I do find a coffee like that, I load up the truck and put away large quantities in the freezer, because one never knows when the next one will appear.

ken

Ken do you freeze them green or roasted or does it not matter? I have heard some things about green bean freshness. I have heard that if properly stored they can stay "good" for years, but I have also heard that an exceptional bean may only be exceptional for a few months and then start to be less than exceptional. Is this true or is there more to it? Because if I find an exceptional bean, is it likely to still be exceptional the next time I buy it or the next time it is harvested?

So far I am looking for high end DP or semi-DP beans. How do you know which beans are high end? Just price? Or word of mouth from a trusted farmer/buyer/roaster?

Next, my roaster roasts several SOs and blends and each gets tried as an espresso (they always switch up what they brew for espresso which I think is really cool, and it is often a SO). I have heard him mention that a Peru he had might have been good as espresso but had too many defects. What are these defects that he speaks of that make a bean bad for a SO espresso? Is it visible in the green beans? I have noticed some tiny or slightly different color beans in a bag of greens. Are these defects?

Lastly, if I am wanting to dig deep into SO and try a lot of beans to find that one that is great, can cupping accelerate and/or ease the process of finding a suitable or possibly exceptional single origin green bean for espresso? If so what kinds of things am I looking for in a cupping? Are the qualities found in a cupping the same as or parallel to the qualities resulting in an espresso or not really? How might I set up a cupping differently to be geared toward and favor an attempt at selecting an SO for espresso?
Sorry for all the questions and I hope they don't sound too ignorant. I really admire your guys' knowledge and am honored to receive your advice.

jonny wrote:Ken do you freeze them green or roasted or does it not matter? I have heard some things about green bean freshness. I have heard that if properly stored they can stay "good" for years, but I have also heard that an exceptional bean may only be exceptional for a few months and then start to be less than exceptional. Is this true or is there more to it? Because if I find an exceptional bean, is it likely to still be exceptional the next time I buy it or the next time it is harvested?

On the "Features" page of this website is a link to a couple of studies I was involved in dealing with freezing roasted beans; I won't comment on that any further here. The first I ever heard of freezing green beans was one of the early pieces I read about George Howell, an ultra high end importer and roaster in Massachusetts. Later, I heard of other high end roasters doing the same with their greens. I started doing this a year and a half ago with beans I intended to have around for more than a month, and that I thought were "special." Room temperature storage will allow what is special in a special bean to dissipate over a period of a few months. It won't end up being really bad for a year or two, but it will lose its specialness without freezing. I have had very good results with freezing greens. What I do personally is to double bag them in freezer zip lock bags, and I store them in a cold chest freezer.

jonny wrote:So far I am looking for high end DP or semi-DP beans. How do you know which beans are high end? Just price? Or word of mouth from a trusted farmer/buyer/roaster?

Hard to answer, but after you have been following greens for a while it will become fairly obvious. Price is certainly one guide, as is pedigree.

I have company coming over for dinner in a couple of minutes, so perhaps I'll get to the rest of your questions later when I have time.

ken