Ray and mcook, Thanks for you advice and tips. I also live near Phila. in SNJ and need to check out Chestnut Hill Coffee. I believe they were given a thumbs up in the Inky by LaBan in last December's writeup of Espresso machines. That article by the way is what inspired me to get a good machine.
Tom Glasgow On Oct 2, 10:16 am, "Ray Sachs" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Right, one way valve - I'm not sure how perfectly it works when the plastic > is frozen though, so I tape it to be safe. I think I learned about the best > way to freeze from that study that some of the Alt.coffee / Home Barista > guys did a year or two ago. Before that, I was buying the orthodoxy that you > shouldn't freeze beans. Since then, I guess I buy the orthodoxy that there's > no problem storing beans :). > I think, per that study, the things to avoid are thawing and refreezing, > grinding frozen beans, opening and closing the bag of frozen beans, etc. > Once you freeze 'em, keep 'em frozen until you're ready to use them, thaw > them in the bag, before opening, and you should be good. Pretty much all > decent freezers these days are down around 0 degrees (F) and that's plenty > cold to keep the beans from staling. > > -Ray > > > > On Thu, Oct 2, 2008 at 9:55 AM, Ben McCafferty <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Hi Ray, > > That valve is one-way. If a roaster is going to the trouble to use sealed > > bags with that valve, they usually are also flushing with nitrogen when > > filling, so you shouldn't have any air in there—only nitrogen and co2. > > Interesting process—thanks for posting. > > bmc > > "Faith will move mountains, but you'd better bring a shovel....." > > > ------------------------------ > > *From: *Ray Sachs <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > *Reply-To: *<[email protected]> > > *Date: *Thu, 2 Oct 2008 07:36:56 -0400 > > *To: *<[email protected]> > > *Subject: *Re: Cafe Vivace > > > On Wed, Oct 1, 2008 at 7:37 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > wrote: > > > In regards to freezing, do you notice any drop in flavor over time? I > > know this has been debated many times on other coffee boards, but > > curious if you have noticed anything? > > > No, I don't notice any drop in flavor over time as long as I follow a > > couple of simple procedures. Vivace ships in half pound bags. When I get > > 'em, they've had a couple of days to de-gas. I push all of the air/gas out > > of the bag and then put a little piece of tape over the air-hole in the side > > of the bag before freezing them. When I pull them out of the freezer for > > use, I let them thaw completely in the same bag without opening it or > > otherwise letting any air get in. Only after they're thawed fully do I open > > the bag. Ten pounds usually lasts me 2-3 months, depending on the time of > > year and whether my kids are home or off at school. In that amount of time, > > no difference between the first bag and the last one I open. > > > I'd think about a subscription service, but my usage is too inconsistent. > > Sometimes we go through a lot, sometimes we go through it pretty slowly. The > > other advantage of buying a LOT is that each batch can be a little bit > > different, but each bag within a batch tends to be very consistent, since > > they were all roasted together. So once I get the temp dialed in on a new > > batch, I don't have to mess around with anything except grind for quite a > > while. I had one batch of Dolce that was best at 95, for example, but most > > seem to be best at 96. Also, the shipping charges aren't that much more for > > ten pounds than for two, so shipping bigger volumes less often is cheaper. > > > Depending on where you're located in PA, there's a great shop in north > > Philly on Chestnut Hill called, appropriately enough, Chestnut Hill Coffee, > > that roasts their own espresso blend. Their roaster and head barista is a > > very well-known Seattle transplant named John Hornall. He's only become a > > roaster over the past couple of years, but is getting it down. I've bought a > > few bags of their espresso blend and liked it. No as much as Dolce, but > > about as much as Black Cat. Its not an overly dark roast. It's really > > awesome when they make the shots, but I still get better results with Dolce. > > I still tend to buy mail order because they're a half hour drive and I don't > > get in there often. But if you're in Philly, its a quick ride up the R-8 and > > they're about two blocks away. Worth checking out anyway. > > > -Ray- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Brewtus" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/brewtus?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
