I won't name the blend as I don't want to put a downer on these beans if this is maybe somewhat normal or a fluke on the bag of beans I got. I have noticed a lot of shells & shards of beans in a particular bag which makes me nervous. Don't know if these shells/shards can damage burrs? Thanks.

These are what the shells/shards look like:
userpix/8133_lots_of_coffee_shards__amp ... 8463BK.jpg

They won't damage your burrs.

Your opinion, if this is a rather expensive roast, wouldn't you say that is a lot of waste? Thanks.

Shouldn't be a problem as far as your grinder burrs are concerned, since it's just coffee bean material. I have seen the rare bag with a few pieces, but not to the extent shown. It wasn't from one of my usual or forum recommended roasters, but part of a multi-roaster subscription as I recall. My thoughts on it are that the more broken up the beans, the more abuse they have had (machinery) or there might be a roast or bean quality issue. I imagine broken beans to that extent loose their freshness much quicker than whole beans.

Before naming names, I would contact the roaster and give them a chance to show how much they care. It may be that someone swept the work area and unfortunately poured it into a bag they shouldn't have.

I have contacted them, but know you guys are an abundance of knowledge so wanted opinions here. I didn't plan on naming names. Appreciate your response and Yak's though. Gives me a sigh of relief that they won't damage my beans.

The broken beans and the shells are considered secondary defects, not as bad as primary defects but can still affect the flavor. More details here: https://www.coffeestrategies.com/wp-con ... ndbook.pdf

That is a lot of shells and crushed beans. Was that the bottom of the bag or typical for each dose?

I had a bag once that had a lot of shells, shards and posted on this forum. I hand picked them out, but I don't think I had as many crumbs as you.

Small Amount of Hollow Coffee Beans Mixed In Bag

One member collected enough to make a shot. .

Ken

Bag was roasted on 7-7, started using it on 7-15 (like 99% of my beans on day 7 or after of roast date). I was noticing some prior to what I took a picture of. Then I just went through the rest of the bag last night & picked out all the shells & shards. Not in bottom of bag either as I have been buying 12 oz. bags so I can try various blends, and I still have about 4 days left---but I noticed this prior to picking them out.

I did share with the vendor, and they basically told me 'that these smaller pieces of coffee beans are a normal part of the picking and roasting process and will have no negative impact on your grinder'. I am debating whether I will continue ordering from them as I do really enjoy this roast, but don't know if I agree that this many (probably more--as I was picking them out before I took this picture) shells/pieces/shards are normal especially in only a 12 oz. bag.