Bought a sampler at Mountain Air. $30 for a kilo delivered seems like a great price, and allows some adventure right away. Since I am expecting both the grinder and the Sowdens this week, better have some great beans on the way. Gotta read up on preserving even a kilo before they get here. It'll take me about a month to go through that much I'm guessing.

I got: Taza Dorada #1 | Sidama Grade 1 | Black Balsam | Fazenda Furnas

Their 5 pound bag seems like an amazing price, but how do you preserve the freshness? I don't have a freezer that goes to -40. It seems like an impossibly large order for the typical coffee drinker at home.

I take a casual approach to freezing and generally only keep 2 or 3 mason jar's worth in my normal freezer. Or i just cover the valve with tape (after trying to expel as much has from the unopened bag) and put it in the freezer. I used to keep track of when it was frozen but I've been lazy lately

_rob_ wrote:Their 5 pound bag seems like an amazing price, but how do you preserve the freshness? I don't have a freezer that goes to -40. It seems like an impossibly large order for the typical coffee drinker at home.

A dedicated deep freezer probably helps but my regular side by side refrigerator/freezer works remarkably well too! It can keep coffee fresh enough for several months before I can see much difference in the flow rate or taste with espresso. Drip/pour-over takes even longer.

I just use old spaghetti sauce jars and single dose right out of the freezer. The jars actually "burp" the first time I open them after being stored for months!

OK, well I have a chest freezer in the basement, and a decent freezer in the kitchen, so I will see what I can get for bean life. This means a 5 pound order becomes pretty feasible.

I got price quotes on some real cold freezers. -40 degree C 3.1 cu ft. freezer is about $3600. -85C/-121F is about $5200. I can afford to throw away a lot of beans at those prices. Never mind the cost of running them. I was saddened by the pricing. I thought it would be super cool to have a -121 degree F freezer. (The pun was inadvertant, but it shall remain in place.)

So with my Kilo on the way, I am also planning on leaving work early friday and going to George Howell's place if he is open, as I have a poker game that evening 15 minutes from there.

Grinder arrived today. I am expecting some fresh coffee tomorrow, but didn't want to wait. Had 12oz of Picacho that is probably stale, so I thought I'd try a cold brew based on Lorenzo Perkins' recipe. Dumped 100g of beans into the hopper. Got 98.7 grams out the other side. Seems pretty reasonable.

Did the 60 second hot steep and then iced water. Now only have to wait 11 more hours before it's ready. Based on how the beans smell, I am not expecting much out of this tomorrow. Based on how well the grinder worked, I am looking forward to fresh beans. I was very impressed with the grind consistency, the solid feel of the unit, and the low noise. I think I'll be pretty happy with this thing. Let's see if I can start brewing some good coffee.