Posted Tue Dec 21, 2004, 12:20pm Subject: Freshness of Green Beans
When I started roasting my own beans, I was buying the green beans from a local roaster. He used to own a cafe that roasted in town, but now he just roasts from his home. I think he probably has had most of his green beans since his shop closed down a few years ago. Is this the reason why the green beans I get sent up from JJ Bean taste so much better? The most noticable difference is with the decaf. I've heard that you're supposed to use decaf within 3 months of it being decaffeinated, but I didn't think it would make such a huge difference. Another thing I've noticed is that JJ Bean selects only Grade 1 beans and on the website of the roaster I have previously used it says "Premium" beans. Grade 1 = Specialty, Grade 2 = Premium. So it's probably both the grade and the green bean freshness that effects the taste, right?
malachi Senior Member Joined: 5 May 2002 Posts: 1,758 Location: SFCA Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Monster Mia (for now)_ Grinder: Monster Cimballi Junior Vac Pot: Not any more Drip: never Roaster: Ecco, Stumptown, Intelli,...
Posted Wed Dec 22, 2004, 1:59pm Subject: Re: Freshness of Green Beans
freshness matters without a doubt grade of beans also matters then again -- it's unlikely that you are comparing equal bean quality either. folks like JJ Bean will cup hundreds if not thousands of lots of beans in order to select the beans they offer. there are a lot of roasters who just order "the colombian" from a distributor.
Daryn Senior Member Joined: 6 Aug 2004 Posts: 23 Location: Durham, NC Expertise: Professional
Posted Thu Dec 23, 2004, 8:09am Subject: Re: Freshness of Green Beans
Lots of factors affect the freshness of a green coffee. While green is certainly much more stable than roasted, over time the moisture content in the bean will decrease, and that will definitely effect how they roast and taste. The accepted life cycle of a green bean is usually about one year, and when a new crop is available, any coffee left over is then referred to as "past crop". How the green coffee is processed by the grower is also of great effect. Terms like "natural", "washed", and "semi-washed" are all used to describe different methods of cleaning and drying green coffee before it is bagged and sold. The drying method will also have great effect on the "life" of the green coffee. Was it dried on mats, in trays, or in a machine? Was the coffee cared for well and kept dry when in rained? Was it dried to the correct moisture content to begin with?
The process of decaffeination is one with significant impact on the coffee, no matter what method is used. I believe that C02 or water processed coffees certainly retain their flavors the best, but it is certain that most decafs will "crash" at some point. But so will regular coffee, it will just be longer before it does so.
Posted Fri Dec 24, 2004, 2:10pm Subject: Re: Freshness of Green Beans
As for the grade as you can see at [Sweat Marias Click Here (www.sweetmarias.com) about Ethiopian Yirgacheffe (Grade Two) there is no grade 1. Tom at Maria's says that it is based on bean size and doesn't reflect the cup quality of Ethiopians since they tend to have small bean size. With other beans I dunno I'll just take Tom's word for it.
Michael ======================= so much coffee, so little time
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