ricoffee wrote:We certainly welcome all HB users to order from us, we are ever increasing our selection available to the public. We just added branded espresso tampers at a decent price and are bringing in some Baratza's which will be packaged with a bunch of our coffee.

I ordered one of these tampers - $24.95 with a coupon for free shipping - It weighs 12 oz with the flat base and has a nice look and feel to it. The package ships with a convex bottom that screws into the wooden knob so you don't have to make a choice over which style to choose. I like it.





I like the Cannonball Espresso a lot - it is easy to work with to get tasty shots.

coffeestork wrote:A question for Patrick from Reunion -

The first tip in my article on the importance of coffee freshness and parameters I insist on ...

"If I don't know the roast date, I don't buy the coffee. Best before dates don't count, except they usually indicate a roaster that chooses to ignore the importance of freshness."

As a consumer, having to decode special codes on a bag is difficult. I would invite any comments on my article if you have a chance to read it. Thanks ...

We commend your commitment to freshness, and I understand your concern. Our 12oz bags are meant for average consumers, for that reason we have the best used by date on it. Our 1kg bags are meant for higher volume consumption like cafés and only have our date code on them for tracing purposes. We opened these up for purchase to consumers due to demand, but we are in the process of creating a more retail oriented packaging as opposed to institutional. I like the idea of having the roast date in addition to a BUB, I'll pass that along, as well as your article. Thanks, we appreciate and encourage all comments from consumers.

Ahh Just visited Socials roastery today. Picked up a 18g VST basket as well as 2 bags of people's espresso. Gonna give it a try tomorrow as they were just roasted yesterday. They are some really friendly people and strongly believe in freshness. .

Patrick - the best compromise that I see for coffee snobs and regular consumers is the following label:

Roasted on Sept 21, 2011
Best used within a month