To know if a coffee bean is truly high quality, consider these variables:
1. One-way valved bags
One way valves allow freshly roasted coffee beans to degas but disable oxygen from from entering the bag, resulting in lengthened freshness. Tin cans or other packaging without a one-way valve is questionable.
2. Arabica beans
The two dominant types of coffee, arabica and robusta, are immensely different. Robusta beans are the less expensive of the two and boast twice as much caffeine as arabica beans, but the quality of taste is decreased dramatically. Arabica beans tend to be more expensive but have wide varieties of flavors and scents which makes them more tailored to the specialty coffee industry.
3. Place of origin
Any roaster can print a package that claims great quality and service, but only roasters who care about every process of preparing the coffee beans will be willing to list the country, farm or variety. Look for roasters who are proud of their coffee’s origins.
4. Roast date
Here’s the main rule of thumb: search for bags that say the exact date the coffee was roasted. A “best by” date reveals that the roaster is trying to make the coffee last as long as possible on a shelf to maximize profits. Great roasters will produce a coffee so great that it never has to sit on the shelf longer than a couple days. Buy fresh coffee beans.
But where do I buy this great coffee?
1. Your local shops
You should investigate if your local shops sell retail bags of beans. If they do, make sure to ask about the origin and roast date, but if the employee doesn’t know about their coffee you can safely assume it’s not top grade. If they don’t carry retail bags, feel free to ask who does.
2. Local internet listings
If you can’t scrounge up any information on a local or nearby roaster, make sure to check the World Wide Web. Barista Magazine’s Coffee Scout is a great resource. So are Facebook and Google.
3. Buy online
It’s not the cheapest option because of shipping charges, but buying coffee beans online is completely legitimate. This method opens you up to thousands of different roasters, so make sure to discern whether or not the beans will be of the highest grade. There are also two types of payment: by subscription or individual bag. If you’re a US reader, some of the roasting giants with incredible coffee beans are Intelligentisia, and Stumptown.
You now have the knowledge and tools to find yourself some fresh, high quality coffee. Combine that with a manual brewing method and your coffee preferences will never be the same. Good hunting.