Concerned about the freshness of mail order coffee

[orangecat]

Hello to everyone,

I've been drinking the local roasters blends for a while (I live in the Raleigh, NC area) and while I don't want to say that I am bored with them I do want to try some other brands. I've seen coffee from other roasters in places like Whole Foods but I've been reluctant to buy them due to freshness questions. So, if I buy beans through the mail, which I have never done, can I be a little more certain of the freshness of the beans? Does anyone have any experiences or tips that they're willing to share?

Thanks.

Kevin Timmons

[Mark08859]

I would think a lot of us get our beans from mail-order online roasters. Obviously, the beans should be roasted to order or it isn't even worth the consideration. There are lots of good places out there. Here are just a few suggestions:

Terroir
Caffe Fresco
Barefoot Coffee

The beans are usually still degassing during shipping. However, if it is a major concern, many roasters offer a choice of shipping methods for a little more money. No doubt, others can give suggestions of roasters they like. Trying new coffees is half the fun. Enjoy!

[roblumba]

I'll second Barefoot. I'm fortunate enough to have Barefoot Coffee roasters less than 10 minutes from where I work. My two favorites are their Element 119 and Sweetness. They only roast Element 119 and Sweetness once a week or every other week. Usually they roast in Mon, Tues, and Wednesday. So I wouldn't say it's roasted to order. One time I called ahead of time and they told me they were roasting Element 119 the next day and that I should come in the evening to get it. However, when I arrived, they hadn't roasted any. That, and reading about all the cool roasters around the country prompted me to try some mail order again.

I've tried Stumptown Hairbender, very different. I just received Cafe Fresco's Ambrosia and Daterra Reserve. Ambrosia actually reminds me of Barefoot's Sweetness.

The packing from each place had it's pluses and minuses. Cafe Fresco used a soft envelope package that didn't provide much protection, but the plastic bags have the one way valve. Stumptown used a box that provides better protections, but the coffee was stored in brown paper bags.

Anyhow, the Hairbender took a couple days to arrive but lasted long and stayed fresh for just as long as the locally roasted Barefoot beans.

It's still cool weather now, but I wonder if the beans will take more abuse during the hot summer days when they are subjected to heat during travel.

[JonR10]

Hello to everyone

Hello

So, if I buy beans through the mail, which I have never done, can I be a little more certain of the freshness of the beans?

The good artisan roasters all have the roast date on the package, so there's no uncertainty. The better roasters all also very lovely PEOPLE who CARE about what they do, and us (the customers) as well.

You can be confident ordering from any of the following (from my experience)

Caffe Fresco (Tony's is awesome - try "Ambrosia")
Metropolis (Tony is awesome - try "Redline")
Intelligentsia (lovely folks there as well - try "Black Cat")
Cuvee Coffee (Mike's terrific - try "Meritage")
Coffee Emergency (Jason is a great guy - try "Code Brown")

If you ordered any of these I would be surprised if it arrived to you any older than 4 days out of roast, but if you're REALLY concerned get them to ship by Fedex.

[cpl593h]

Another plug for Caffe Fresco: I place an order late Monday night, it was roasted and posted on Tuesday, and it made its way from Pennsylvania to Santa Cruz, CA in only two days. So yes, the espresso arrived while it was still too fresh for use.

[CaffeFresco]

I just received Caffe Fresco's Ambrosia and Daterra Reserve. Ambrosia actually reminds me of Barefoot's Sweetness.

Caffe Fresco used a soft envelope package that didn't provide much protection, but the plastic bags have the one way valve.

Hi Rob, You are the first to question Fresco's packaging, which are heat-sealed one-way valved foil coffee bags that are wrapped in heavy-duty kraft paper before they are carefully stuffed into the reliable U.S.P.S. envelope. No one to date was had any quality issues with this packaging. Let me know if you ever have a problem with it.

I am glad you are liking or are favorable of the Ambrosia Espresso at day 3 out of the roaster. Your order was received on the 8th, roasted on the afternoon of the 9th and posted within minutes of the close of the post office that afternoon. Fresco is serious about freshness. If you are favorable of Ambrosia Espresso while it is this young and gas-y (three days out), wait until you taste it after proper rest and comes into it's prime flavour window between days 7 through 14.

Be Well,

TonyS

[orangecat]

Hey all,

Thanks for the great input. I ended up ordering some Ballerinaberry single origin from Barefoot. I tried to order from Inteligentsia too but I had a bit of trouble with their web site so I'll try again tomorrow. I'm excited to try some new coffees.

Thanks again to you all.

Kevin

[orangecat]

Hey all,

Just to follow up--I placed my order with Barefoot on 2/12 and I get an email from FedEx that it won't be delivered to me until 2/21. That's 9 days! IMHO that's too long for the coffee to be sitting in a truck or a warehouse.
Would choosing US Priority Mail (the only other option available) have made a difference? Those of you who order from Barefoot--do you usually wait this long for a delivery?

Thanks.

Kevin

[JonR10]

Hey all,

Just to follow up--I placed my order with Barefoot on 2/12 and I get an email from FedEx that it won't be delivered to me until 2/21. That's 9 days!

What day was the order roasted and what day was it shipped?

I've never purchased from Barefoot but the vendors I do buy from usually roast my order after I place it, and then ship that same day or the day after. I've never had anything show up more than 4 days after roast.

btw - have you considered oredring from a source more centrally located?
If you're in NC, maybe a NC, PA, MA, NB, TX or IL roaster would have quicker shipment times

[HB]

I placed my order with Barefoot on 2/12 and I get an email from FedEx that it won't be delivered to me until 2/21. That's 9 days!

Sometimes FedEx's quoted delivery date is much later than the actual (generally not the case with UPS). Here's hoping...

Would choosing US Priority Mail (the only other option available) have made a difference?

USPS claims 2-3 day delivery from anywhere in the continental US for their priority mail, and that's been my experience. Once or twice I've had unacceptable east-west coast delays with UPS and FedEx, especially if it falls over a weekend. For the most part, I follow Jon's advice and order from central or east coast roasters. For example, Intelligentsia ships on Tuesday, it arrives Thursday (UPS). Same with Caffe Fresco and Paradise Roasters (USPS). Counter Culture is about 10 minutes from my office in RTP.

[roblumba]

Yeah, don't assume that it's sitting in a truck or warehouse 9 days. Call them and ask what happened. It's amazing what a phone call can do.

But if you read my earlier post, I suspect that they didn't roast until 3 or 4 days later. If you walk into their coffee store Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday during the day, you are likely to smell the coffee roasting and see the guys busily roasting in the back. However, that doesn't mean they are roasting the exact coffee that you wanted. In my case, I was wanting either "Sweetness" or "Element 119". They hadn't roasted any for over a week and I didn't get any info on when they planned to roast again.

Granted, their coffee is awesome. Heck, it made that Food and Wine top 5 list. Barefoot is no joke, they have awesome coffee. However, they are still a small roasting operation, so some amount of patience and cooperation is needed.

It sounds to me like they waited to send you fresh coffee. Heck, when I walked in, there was 1 week old Element 119 on the shelves, but I was a little stubborn to buy it. It probably was still good and worth it's weight in gold, but I stood around dumbfounded and frazzled. So they found a fresh bag of Redwood for me. In your case, they might have been able to send you the coffee off the shelf, but perhaps they sent you the next fresh roast.

All Barefoot bags have the roast date printed on them. So you should be able to check it when you get it. If it's not what you expected, then give them a call and let them know. They are a friendly group. They usually have their hectic line of people during lunch, etc, but during the lulls, there are a number of people who would be more than glad to talk with you. I've talked with them on several occasions. Even watched them pour from their naked portafilter.