Time from roasted to shipped for coffee from online retailers

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SaveFerris
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Joined: 11 years ago

#1: Post by SaveFerris »

I'm sure for a lot of you, this is a total newbie question. When you buy roasted beans from an online retailer (Madcap and Intelligentsia are the ones I'm looking at specifically), how long from the moment they are roasted to the moment they are shipped?

I've never bought coffee from an online retailer before, but after a small handful of less-than-stellar interactions at the coffee shop I go to locally, I've decided it's time to start supporting a different company. To me, coffee tastes between between 2 and 14 days from the moment it was roasted, and it usually takes me about 9-12 days to work through a 12 oz bag. So I'd hate to buy from an online retailer that has roasted 5+ days before it arrives in my mailbox.

Any input is greatly appreciated.

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JmanEspresso
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Joined: 15 years ago

#2: Post by JmanEspresso »

The vast majority of top roasters online either roast in the morning and ship that afternoon or they ship the very next morning. As for when the coffee is roasted from when you order, some roasters roast daily, and some only some days a week, but 99% of the time, the coffee is roasted and shipped within a day or two after placing the order.

Pay attention to shipping methods as well. USPS priority is, imo, the best, as its 2-3 days, cross country. Ups and fedex, for the regular ground shipping are usually unable to get coffee from one coast to the other in less than 5 business days, which ends up being as much as 7, because of weekends.

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John P
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Joined: 18 years ago

#3: Post by John P »

We only sell by subscription, but we roast the day or evening before and ship the following morning via USPS Priority. In my experience, most reputable roasters ship within 1 day of roasting. Either it's based on when you order, or some only roast on specific days, and ship immediately from there.
John Piquet
Salt Lake City, UT
caffedbolla.com

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endlesscycles
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Joined: 14 years ago

#4: Post by endlesscycles »

I ship day of when possible, but promise next day in the mailbox. I prefer USPS priory mail. Worst case, you get it four days off roast and brew it on the 5th. In my experience, coffee is not ready until day four. I buy from many roasters around the country to keep my palate sharp. Only one roaster mailed several day old coffee, getting into my brewer on day ten. It was still quite delicious. Everyone moderately well known apart from this one east coast roaster seems to mail day of or next day after roasting. It also seems USPS is the universally preferred ship method.
-Marshall Hance
Asheville, NC

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victoriacoffees
Posts: 90
Joined: 10 years ago

#5: Post by victoriacoffees »

We roast 2 days of the week - Tue and Thurs - and ship USPS Priority. As long as Saturday deliveries remain the norm, coffees should arrive 1 to 5 days post roast. Still plenty of coffee goodness to bring a smile.
John V.

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JohnB.
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#6: Post by JohnB. »

endlesscycles wrote: It also seems USPS is the universally preferred ship method.
It's definitely the preferred option if I'm ordering from the West Coast as it's normally here in 2 days. If the roaster is in the middle of the country or that's where you live & you order from either coast UPS may be a better option. USPS PM service has been unreliable for me here in New England & when ordering from the Heartland. Too many hands involved & delivery time drops to 1st Class or worse.

When ordering on line always place your order on the weekend so the coffee ships early in the week & has plenty of time to reach you before it spends the weekend in some warehouse or truck. I've had very good luck ordering through Gocoffeego.com & they have shipping specials for different roasters every week.
LMWDP 267

WSH
Posts: 291
Joined: 11 years ago

#7: Post by WSH »

I've had very good luck ordering through Gocoffeego.com & they have shipping specials for different roasters every week.
+1

Use them all the time and routinely get coffee from the west coast delivered here on the east coast in two days from the roast date. USPS Priority coast to coast for $5-6. Can it get any better?

Same thing with Mike McGinness and Compass Coffee. Great coffee, great service and a hell of a deal with the HB discount.

Bodka Coffee
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Joined: 10 years ago

#8: Post by Bodka Coffee »

We roast early in morning and ship that day and if we roast in afternoon we will ship the following day. We also use USPS Priority mail.

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drgary
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#9: Post by drgary »

One thing not yet mentioned here is coffee freezes well if it's airtight and cold and not often defrosted and refrozen. Ken Fox and Jim Schulman have posted their results.

I wait until roasted coffee has reached its peak and pop it in the freezer. So, a few days in the mail doesn't make much difference to me. More often than not I brew it right out of the freezer without defrosting. This is mostly in a kitchen freezer where I use it quickly and air getting into the container can have more impact than the coldness of the freezer.
Gary
LMWDP#308

What I WOULD do for a good cup of coffee!