Do big chains like Starbucks/Caribou disclose the roast date?

#1: Post by **bogrod** » May 6th, 2007, 12:42 am

Hi everyone - now that I appear to be at least on the right track equipment-wise, I wanted to get a little more info about roast dates.

I am aware of the internet sources for beans and so forth, but my question was more locally-based. My instincts for the following question generally revolve around "No", but I wanted to ask anyway. Do the local big chains such as Starbucks, Caribou etc. inform you of the roasting dates for the whole-bean coffee that they sell? The reason why I ask is I want to know whether it's worth my while to even consider these places for beans.

#2: Post by HB » May 6th, 2007, 10:30 am

They may give you clues about the roast date. For the most conscience of grocery stores selling boutique coffees, the "best by" date is anywhere from 30 to 90 days post roast, simply because stores aren't willing to store a non perishable [sic] with less than 90 days shelf life. According to specialty roasters I've asked, they'll grudgingly agree to 60 days. For the Starbucks and Caribous, assuming the "best by" date represents a maximum of 90 days post roast is optimistic.

Personally I see no reason to buy whole bean coffees without knowing the precise roast date.

#3: Post by **ebprod** » May 6th, 2007, 1:00 pm

bogrod wrote:Hi everyone - now that I appear to be at least on the right track equipment-wise, I wanted to get a little more info about roast dates.

I am aware of the internet sources for beans and so forth, but my question was more locally-based. My instincts for the following question generally revolve around "No", but I wanted to ask anyway. Do the local big chains such as Starbucks, Caribou etc. inform you of the roasting dates for the whole-bean coffee that they sell? The reason why I ask is I want to know whether it's worth my while to even consider these places for beans.

My daughter used to work at Caribou. The stuff they sell on the shelves is not anywhere close to fresh. On the other hand, if you ask for the coffee they use behind the counter, it should be no more than a week old. I have actually gotten fairly good results with their coffee- much better than Starbucks anyway.

-Joe

#4: Post by **Compass Coffee** » May 6th, 2007, 1:26 pm

HB wrote:For the Starbucks and Caribous, assuming the "best by" date represents a maximum of 90 days post roast is optimistic.

Indeed, I believe it's 6 months for *$ (or more.) Just saw a couple cases of *$ for sale on Craigslist, one of the case's "best if used by" date of Sep 15, 2007, over 4 months from now!

#5: Post by **DigMe** » May 10th, 2007, 12:08 am

Compass Coffee wrote:Indeed, I believe it's 6 months for *$ (or more.) Just saw a couple cases of *$ for sale on Craigslist, one of the case's "best if used by" date of Sep 15, 2007, over 4 months from now!

Someone over at CG contacted Starbuck's and asked them and they actually got a reply.

Starbucks says the date is 7 MONTHS past roast date. I'd previously thought it was 6 months as well.

bc