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Walmart/sams club Coffee

I'm going to go with Jessy on this one. Of course, if you'd like to explain why you advise as you do so that we can all learn something, I'll respond in kind and explain why it's not as black and white as you appear to imply. I once thought like that. Roast, grind, cup, and learn.
So, you're saying frozen coffee is better than freshly roasted coffee?
 
So, you're saying frozen coffee is better than freshly roasted coffee?

I don't think anyone is saying that. What we're saying, is that often times it's much more convenient and cheaper to purchase a bulk amount of coffee and freeze what you won't immediately use. Most of us can't keep up with ordering a pound each week. Many specialty roasters offer discounts at 5 lbs, etc. Of course it's best to brew the coffee within a certain timetable, but in practice, that's not always possible. Freezing is an easy and accepted solution to this problem. For what it's worth, there are 2 local roasters near me, but only one allows people in the store to purchase, the other is mail order only (and it's less than 5 miles from my house). Also, their offerings aren't nearly as good as Counter Culture, Paradise, Stumptown, etc. Just because it's local doesn't mean it's better. I'm also perfectly fine with waiting until day 3 post roast before brewing coffee. Even when I roast myself, I notice the coffee is better on day 2 or three than day 1.
 
I use freshly roasted coffee from local vendors almost exclusively, and in my experience you get used to the taste of the fresh roast, making it difficult to go back to big-box brands or ordering from Starbucks. I buy a bag about once a week, keep the beans in a coffee jar, and grind per-use. Even if all you can get is grocery-store brands, whole bean is still a better way to go than ground, which goes stale really fast. But then you get into the grinder discussion. . .
 
To the OP's question. For years we used the "Bucks County" brand whole bean from Sam's Club and really enjoyed it and I still recommend it. It became quite expensive over time, but is still great coffee. My wife's sister is a coffee vendor for office buildings, etc. and she now gets us the coffee she uses and it's WONDERFUL!! As to the discussion about post roast freshness, my experience is the "vendor" coffee (it has no brand name on any of the packaging) comes to us in boxes containing 10-1lb vacuum sealed foil packages. We have been through 1/2 a dozen of these cases and the last package is as good as the first. We don't refrigerate or freeze them. The the sealed packs are the answer. YMMV

Ronnie
 
I don't think anyone is saying that. What we're saying, is that often times it's much more convenient and cheaper to purchase a bulk amount of coffee and freeze what you won't immediately use. Most of us can't keep up with ordering a pound each week. Many specialty roasters offer discounts at 5 lbs, etc. Of course it's best to brew the coffee within a certain timetable, but in practice, that's not always possible. Freezing is an easy and accepted solution to this problem. For what it's worth, there are 2 local roasters near me, but only one allows people in the store to purchase, the other is mail order only (and it's less than 5 miles from my house). Also, their offerings aren't nearly as good as Counter Culture, Paradise, Stumptown, etc. Just because it's local doesn't mean it's better. I'm also perfectly fine with waiting until day 3 post roast before brewing coffee. Even when I roast myself, I notice the coffee is better on day 2 or three than day 1.

And, while a frozen coffee is certainly not at it's peak...

Frozen quality coffee = slightly warm quality ale.

It's still better than the freshest mass-produced product served under the best of conditions.
 

Alacrity59

Wanting for wisdom
I'll go along with that except for the ale bit. Maybe we can open a thread in the speakeasy for that. Actually there is such a thread. Click Here.
 
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I've had the members mark fair trade whole bean coffee and find it to be good for a store brand coffee. I'll take the bag and divide it into small mason jars to put in the freezer. That way I'm only unthawing small batches at a time.
 
The Sam's Club Columbian is great stuff, for me. I've been buying it for about a year, and the quality/flavor has been consistent. As good as the freshly roasted, super-expensive stuff? Probably not. But still a fine cup of coffee.
 
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