Spawned from a comment in a different thread...

How often do you change coffees?

In this case - this one question actually contains two "nested" questions.

1 - How often do you change TYPE of coffee (ie "I stick with Ecco Reserve for 2 weeks, then switch to Hairbender for 2 weeks - so I switch every couple weeks")?
2 - How often do you run the same BATCH of coffee (ie "I'll run the same batch of coffee for on average 5 days and if I get to 7 days I'll throw it out - so I switch every 4 to 6 days")?

I never use the same coffee two bags in a row. Since a pound lasts me 5-7 days, that's how often I change coffees. I keep temperature, grind and dosing notes on each coffee to minimize the "dialing-in" waste.

I rarely purchase, or roast, less than 2 pounds of anything, so every 12 to 16 days. I split the pounds into halves and remove them from the freezer to keep the aging in a 4 to 10 day window.

FWW,
I use about a ½ pound a week. I like to change coffees then. I may keep notes on a bean I would like to try again. I do keep roasting notes when I roast at home.
-Richard

since i have been able to find only one roasting company here in beijing and am not a home-roaster, i don't change roasters/companies. i change types of coffee probably every two weeks or so as i am still blending different roasts as i chase down the "perfect" blend for Silvia.

Last time I cleaned and switched coffee in the MaxH, about 30g remained. Assuming an equal amount of the next coffee is required to clear all remnants, 225g leaves about 160g of 'pure' roast. Doing the math, 60 / 160 = 37% of the coffee could be indeterminate.

I'd get frustrated futzing with grind, dose and temperature every other day.

I used to feel very comfortable changing coffees on a regular basis. With my doserless Super Jolly, virtually every grind that made it out of the burr chamber was swept into the basket. With the Robur... fuggedaboudit!

I like to change coffee about every week--I get a pound at a time in general. I don't have any rules about changing blends every week, but it seems like it works out that way most of the time.

As far as the Robur, I like to take the hopper off and wash it out every 2 weeks or so. when I do this, I pulse it out as well as I can. Between shots I brush out the large chute. I've never gotten the impression that it was holding more than a little bit of coffee in it--not worse than my Super Jolly. That is, excluding the significantly larger, tightly packed wall of coffee that forms between the bottom of the top burr assembly and the vanes of the lower burr carrier. I don't really worry about this part; I never got the impression that it mixed in particular with the fresh ground coffee. I disassemble probably once a month, I suppose just in case.

Variety is the spice of life, but everybody eats bread and butter. That's how it is with me, I guess. I change often, but I definitely have my usual blend as well.

Twice a day this week. I was drinking some Hairbender and then got the itch to look at lever machines, so while in the Good Coffee Company I bought some beans. These should run out about the time I get my next shipment from PT's Coffee, and I will probably stay with that (Gizmo) for two weeks until it is gone, then back to local stuff.

There are usually 3-5 half pound jars of my roasts, of different coffees in the stash. I rotate among them during a given week. A week to ten days later there will be a different set of coffees in the rotation. My usual consumption is 3 shots per day, but never the same coffee twice in a row.

About every 5-6 days, that is how long a pound lasts me. Then I get a different blend, or roast something different. I don't usually change mid bag but now and then I will.

I typically roast around 150 grams of three different coffees once a week or so. I then rotate these three coffees throughout the week, experiment with blends, etc. I find it keeps things interesting, though admittedly it doesn't give me much time to really dial in a particular coffee.

I just finished roasting an Ethiopian Misto Valley, some 4 year old Sulawesi Toraja (hope it's good) and a Brazilian Santos.

Other, ok explain. Very very seldom the same coffee back to back cups for personal consumption at home. Yet probably 4 out of 7 days start the day with an Esmeralda Americano the past 6 months or so, kind of addicted. But then again daily pull at least one shot of Delirium for myself at the cafe to test it, often a number of shots tweaking the shot parameters versus the day before or earlier in the day. And every day or two pull shots of my other espresso blend (D'Spro) even though don't routinely use it at my cafe. Then there's the cafe SO grinder to check, currently still pulling Esmeralda. (Quite interesting though a bit unbalanced as a straight shot and makes a mean machiatto ) Obviously not talking strictly home-barista realm here...

I usually have at least two but sometimes up to five different coffees in small quantities that I rotate between for espresso and two or so for drip or other consumption. This includes all the coffee drinkers in the house.

malachi wrote:1 - How often do you change TYPE of coffee (ie "I stick with Ecco Reserve for 2 weeks, then switch to Hairbender for 2 weeks - so I switch every couple weeks")?

• I generally stick with Espresso Vivace Dolce.
• I have yet to find anything I like in my home better.
• Once every 2-3 months, I'll switch to a different roaster (e.g.: Intelligentsia, Ritual, and so on), but we (my wife and I) have always returned to Vivace.
• So . . . I switch every 2-3 months.

malachi wrote:2 - How often do you run the same BATCH of coffee (ie "I'll run the same batch of coffee for on average 5 days and if I get to 7 days I'll throw it out - so I switch every 4 to 6 days")?

• I buy two pounds at a time from Espresso Vivace (saves on shipping).
• I freeze the beans in one-half pound bags.
• A half-pound lasts me 3-4 days (i.e.: I go through a pound a week).
• So . . . either I switch every 3-4 days, or every 2 weeks.

Cheers,
Jason

I roast four to five coffees every week. One or two for brewing, the rest for espresso.

I home-roast and go through about a pound a week. I usually get the blends and some single origins from SM's.
Jen

I go through a little over a pound a week, most of the time switching after one bag, and sometimes also have more than one open at once. (I don't home roast but recently I've been experimenting with blending other people's roasts, in particular adding a little Sidamo or other Ethiopians to more caramel or citric coffees, or even three-ways, adding nuttier coffees to more citric or floral offerings, etc.)