Would roasted coffee be ruined if I bought it from abroad

[R-James]

I really want to try superb coffee, possibly from ristretto roasters form what I've heard of the praise they get here, and I was wondering if it would survive the cross atlantic trip.

If it would not, is there any top of the line online or B&M UK roasters??

[Dinder1]

Unfortunately shipping coffee overseas in a timely manner is ridiculously expensive.
I would first look for a small local roaster. If you can find a roaster that also has a cafe, you may be able to sample different offerings before you buy.
Good luck!
DJ.

[R-James]

Thanks for the response, now I need a UK chap to chime in and let me know if there are any round here!

[Wisdom]

Hello, R-James..

On occasion I purchase my coffee from a company in Seattle, but I live in Miami, so shipping for you is still going to be a bit more troublesome.

The company sells coffee through its website: www.intelligentsiacoffee.com and has shipping options including next-day air.. they have strict shipping windows so you may have to wait for them to ship, but this ensures the minimum time lost between roasting and receipt of coffee.

I usually buy the Roasted Whole Bean, since I have no roaster. The beans are so good that I've heard they've been banned from some Espresso competitions. You may want to dilute the shipping cost by buying in larger quantities and if you get a roaster, you can order green beans and more or less keep them indefinitely..
-\Visdom

[TimmyBoston]

DJ - In your opinion how quickly should coffee be consumed after it is roasted?

[egraaf]

I really want to try superb coffee, possibly from ristretto roasters form what I've heard of the praise they get here, and I was wondering if it would survive the cross atlantic trip.

If it would not, is there any top of the line online or B&M UK roasters??

You could try http://www.hasbean.co.uk or http://shop.squaremilecoffee.com/

I believe both are quite good, although I have not personally bought coffee from Square Mile yet.

[Scotto]

DJ - In your opinion how quickly should coffee be consumed after it is roasted?

I'm not DJ, but I'll offer my less educated opinion. In my opinion, coffee begins to stale almost immediately after roasting. My palate can easily tell week old coffee from a day or two. That being said, there are many proponents of resting coffee after roasting; the flavors change, sometimes in a positive way. Some of the complex dry-processed coffees from Yemen and Ethiopia will benefit from a couple of days rest, while others fade away. I would say on average, flavors peak about 2 days after roasting, and by 7 days I think they have lost their allure. Personally, I prefer to drink the stuff I roast the next day, when the aromas are at their peak. There is nothing like a Kenya 12-24 hours after roasting, IMO.

Espresso is another story. The beans need rest to release CO2 or you won't get a good extraction. I routinely rest my espresso blends for 5-7 days.

[Dinder1]

DJ - In your opinion how quickly should coffee be consumed after it is roasted?

Scotto pretty much covered this, but I always say-approach buying and storing coffee like you would if you were going into a bakery to buy a fresh loaf of bread. Would you buy a loaf of bread that had been sitting on the counter for a week? Or would you rather have the loaf that the baker just pulled out of the oven?

[R-James]

I am going to place an order from a company called pumphreys who are based not a million miles from my home, and see how there stuff tastes, hopefully it will be fresh.


Although they do sell hazelnut flavoured coffee and say add milk and cream on a lot of there blends. You only live once