How many lots of beans have you THROWN out!

beanflying

Just having a chat before about bad roasts and how bad they have to be before you actually throw them out.

So a poll maybe interesting also some idea as to if they were commercial or home roasts? Not wanting to name or shame commercial people either as it serves little to no purpose and feedback is best directed back to them.

How bad does it have to be before you don't drink it?

In the last 3 or 4 years I have removed in disgust 5 partial bags of beans to the bin after nearly killing my taste buds and seeing no possibility of improving the result in the cup regardless of method.

Bag 1 was in hind sight most likely a stale bag of robusta based blend with a best before date on it. Horrid was the only call I could make about it and G...... still sucks even when it is well made and 'fresh'. Purchased in desperation due to a lack of home roast.

Bag 2 Last year as things went nuts and I went and brought a bag of contract roasted blend from a local guy. 3 weeks old and smelly socks was being polite about it so in the bin after 3 shots, I have tried this blend elsewhere prepared by others and never got better than average/poor.

Bag 3 I was doing some work for a major chain franchise outlet last year and was given a 1kg bag. After David left I placed 3/4 of the kg that remained in the compost heap where I hope to at least get 'some' benefit from it.

Bag 4 Jonty was 'given' some beans earlier this year on a trip to Melbourne. In theory a very nice Tanzanian but in reality such a WRONG roast and what apparently was an experiment that was released to the public  :pan before cupping or testing the roast. Tried it as Espresso, Latte and Siphon and FAILED.  :'( Sad when good beans get murdered by those who shoud know better.

Bag 5 was one of mine in the CCR. Experimental Ethiopian Gambella Naturals for brewed. Simply didn't work. In spite of being just after FC it was better although still rubbish as Espresso instead of the intended Siphon. Binned the remains. I have had another roast or two that have been below what I would like but still better than some commercial offerings from an EX supplier of mine.

True I have used some that were less than grand but all in all buying fresh and reasonable preparation gets a far better result percentage wise than the average cafe. I also tend to be fairly choosey where I buy my beans from and I have a fair idea of roast styles based on history.

mycuppa

I budgeted 300kg (5x 60kg bags) to get the new roaster working properly, e.g. being able to set and manage automatic profiles and do a whole lot of fancy stuff with the cooling fan, stirrer and destoner at the end of the roast. etc. Alas, it is looking like we need closer to 400kg although some issues with burner control failures wasted an extra 120kg. So, let's say 300kg in the dumpster in the space of 6 hours - in fact, I could only fit about 200kg in the dumpster and managed to lay a fabulous coffee carpet in the courtyard at the back.

Kelsey

I've dumped about three of my own roasts and at least four of commercial roasts. Costa Noosa is the last one that comes to mind. Also Coffee Guy in Bris, who I used to think was the ants pants while I still drank Nespresso. Not quite so much now. Not bad, just not worth continuing with.

The Tempest

Far too many to mention (or count), sadly. When i started roasting i went overboard and pretty much bought one of everything so i ended up with a ridiculous amount. I gave some away but a far greater amount was binned. These days i probably still buy too much but i only buy every few months, only buy what i consider high end beans and only buy in 1kg lots.

Lacehim

I've never dumped my own roasted. If they go pear shaped I just drink them anyway because for me it's all part of the experience.  Sometimes I do have to discard beans because I can't keep up and no one has come to visit me for a coffee, but it's usually when I've bought beans AND roasted myself.    Don't you feel sorry for me?  Maybe you should come visit for a coffee to cheer me up.  Anyway, I put the beans in my worm farm (makes the worms horny) or in my compost. Commercial roasts I've dumped quite a few manily because they seem overly stale to start with.  My little sis bought me 3x 100gm bags from Buderim Coffee Co.  No dates, and the pours I was getting was far too fast, even on the lowest grind I could go with the Vario.   Only one poured okay, so I drank them.  A mocha Kenya I think. Anyway, went for a visit at this place in the Big Top (which is a shopping centre in Maroochydore - total dive!), and the beans are all out in plastic lined metal buckets.  Customers can come along and handle them, cough on them etc, and they are going nice and stale.  Coffee was crap, and the woman running the place came out with a plastic bag of coffee (about 5kg I would say) and fills another bucket!  There must have been 10-15 buckets already there with different beans in them.  Won't be going back!  That went well off topic eh?

Kelsey

There's a place in caloundra that does something similar - no handling, but big non airtight glass boxes with scoops.