RapidCoffee wrote:Agreed, an outstanding trip report. And two big surprises: downfall of the mighty Clover, and validation of preground coffee. I just don't get the latter. Whenever I use preground, even just a few hours old, my espresso suffers. In particular, there's a noticeable reduction in crema. How was the preground sample stored after grinding? Vac pac I assume...

The preground coffee was exposed to the open air in room temperature for 10 days. Surprised the heck out of me too. But keep in mind that we tested it as brewed coffee, not espresso. It is a completely different ball game when it comes to espresso and deserve its own test, which we can all conduct at home.

Compass Coffee wrote:They didn't say sample 2 pre-ground 10 days tasted good, just that it didn't taste as bad as sample 3 one year burlap stored in the roast room greens roasted and then fresh ground!

You got it. On its own it was not that great.

I have been vacuum packing my greens in heavy vacuum bags and storing them in the deep freeze (around -20F) for a few years now. I have gotten two years out of a bean that tends to tank in around 8 months (Brazil Poco Fundo).

I store my 'to be used' beans in two pound cotton drawstring bags. Once empty, I retrieve the frozen greens, remove my next lot, vacuum them back and back to the freezer. I move quickly so the beans don't have time to unthaw. While one freezing appears to work good, I would imagine that repeatedly freezing and unfreezing would do more harm than good.

That looks like it was fun and thank you both for sharing the experience.

Abe and Jim, thanks for the write up....

I like the stethoscope draped over the roaster control board in the first few photos. Not having any roasting experience, is that a common tool used by roasters to hear whats going on in there?

Peter Lynagh makes me feel old.... man he looks really young.

And the Eva Solo is on my want list.... thanks for the mention. I thought a vac pot would be next, maybe not.

Question, did they elaborate on the temperature they store the frozen greens at, or is that a trade secret.

jesawdy wrote: Peter Lynagh makes me feel old.... man he looks really young.

I believe Peter is 25. A great talent. There is a young squad among the high end roasters that I believe will carry the quality torch a great distance. Miguel Meza from Paradise comes to mind. As to the stethoscope, I have no idea.

simplicity you say, huh..
funny that the Eva solo was the winner.

another_jim wrote:Frankly, the test made me wonder how often I've dissed coffees just because they were poorly stored or shipped.

Thanks for the great trip report, and for an astonishingly generous gift of time from George and Peter. If vacuum packing at origin makes that kind of a difference, surely keeping the vac-bagged coffee from sitting in a hundred-degree warehouse or ship is also. I remember several years ago, Terroir mentioned flying the coffees. I assume they gave it up because of the cost, and because in most growing areas the trip from farm to airport is no less fraught with peril than that from farm to dock. Did you talk about that? Given George's philosophy, it must be the next step for him.

Best,
David