Melitta? Peet's?

[forlino]

I saw the following excerpt on the Melitta site:

"Coffee can be stored in the refrigerator, with all precautions taken.
Do not store coffee in the freezer at all. Freezing will coagulate the
natural oils and crystallize the moisture. Ice particles will adversely
affect the flavor and aroma qualities."

Is this good advice?

Also, does anyone have any opinions about Peet's coffee? I'm in the
process of going through their interesting website. Forgive me if this
topic has already been discussed in the past.

"Forlino" (Paul Miller in W.L.A.)

[Marshall]

Post by forlino
"Coffee can be stored in the refrigerator, with all precautions taken.
Do not store coffee in the freezer at all. Freezing will coagulate the
natural oils and crystallize the moisture. Ice particles will adversely
affect the flavor and aroma qualities."
Is this good advice?
Also, does anyone have any opinions about Peet's coffee? I'm in the
process of going through their interesting website. Forgive me if this
topic has already been discussed in the past.
"Forlino" (Paul Miller in W.L.A.)

Just the beans or to drink in the shop? Drip or espresso?

Personally it's one of my favorite places to sit and enjoy a cup of
coffee. If you think all dark-roasted coffee has to be burnt and
awful, and drip blends are boring, they may change your mind.

Marshall

[Marshall]

Post by forlino
"Coffee can be stored in the refrigerator, with all precautions taken.
Do not store coffee in the freezer at all. Freezing will coagulate the
natural oils and crystallize the moisture. Ice particles will adversely
affect the flavor and aroma qualities."

A lot of highly respected coffee authorities agree with this, although
I wonder if it isn't based more on theory than experience. But, the
experience of several regulars here (including me), is that roasted
beans will stay pretty fresh for at least a couple of weeks in a
standard freezer compartment of a fridge and much longer in a serious
freezer. But the beans should go in as soon as possible after
roasting, and once removed, they should stay out. Their container
should not be opened until at or near room temperature to avoid
condensation on the beans.

My normal practice is to buy two pounds of fresh roasted beans at a
time and toss one in the freezer.

Marshall

[Kyle]

Post by forlino
Also, does anyone have any opinions about Peet's coffee? I'm in the
process of going through their interesting website. Forgive me if this
topic has already been discussed in the past.

If I had to restrict myself to one coffee for the rest of my life, it
would be Peet's Ethiopian Fancy. But I've never bought coffee (in bean
or beverage form) from Peet's that wasn't good. I rarely buy coffee
blends, but I make an exception for Peet's blends. They *are*
dark-roasted, so keep that in mind.

[i***@wwsphoto.com]

Post by forlino
"Coffee can be stored in the refrigerator, with all precautions taken.
Do not store coffee in the freezer at all. Freezing will coagulate the
natural oils and crystallize the moisture. Ice particles will adversely
affect the flavor and aroma qualities."
Is this good advice?
Also, does anyone have any opinions about Peet's coffee? I'm in the
process of going through their interesting website. Forgive me if this
topic has already been discussed in the past.
"Forlino" (Paul Miller in W.L.A.)

Hi Paul

I have found that freezing the coffee in the foil bags unopened does
not seem to affect the flavor of the coffee as long as I let the bag
come to room temp before I open it. I have gone as long as 3 months but
the 3rd month is a bit long and i did detect some loss of flavor. I
use only fresh roasted coffee to do this as i know the beans are not
old beans to start. Check out www.ccmcoffee.com for a great coffee, I
know these beans are roasted and shipped the same day. I perfer their
Supremo and espresso.

Wally

[forlino]

Many thanks to Wally, Kyle, and Marshall for all of your interesting
responses. I've now read so many seemingly diametrically opposed
opinions on freezing vs. refrigerating coffee vs. not doing either(!)
that I'm beginning to think that, as Marshall suggests, this might be
more theoretical than true in actuality. I've posted a couple (maybe
3 or 4) new topics (such as this one) in this group, but the trouble
is, I forget what or when I've posted and consequently forget to check
whether there're any responses. I just now searched by typing in
STORAGE FORLINO and found my way to this page and it refreshed my
memory. I'm going to "save" each topic I post in my Internet Favorites
menu, to be able to conveniently click on each one in the future to see
who's posted a response. I made a folder called COFFEE, and then a
sub-folder "GOOGLE GROUP". Sorry for that digression. In Peet's I
bought a quarter pound each of New Guinea, House Blend, and Columbian.
I told them to grind it relatively fine but they ground it finer than
I was expecting. At home I made sure the water wasn't too hot, so that
it wouldn't make the coffee bitter or burned-tasting. I wish I could
find some good old-fashioned "regular" coffee, not dark-roasted. Any
opinions about Melitta's ground coffee? I'd like to try it for the
heck of it, and I hope they don't roast their beans as darkly as
Peet's. Peet's gave me a little sample of their (just-brewed) New
Guinea, and it was really bitter, and so strong that I could barely sip
it. But as I was leaving I added some milk and it smoothened the
coffee out and it was so much more palatable. Anyway I'm learning more
and more about coffee, each time I read the responses here. Also, do
any readers here who practice the drip/filter method have any opinions
about paper filters vs. nylon filters? I read that paper filters can
leave a slightly "papery" taste.

Paul

[Marshall]

Post by forlino
Many thanks to Wally, Kyle, and Marshall for all of your interesting
responses. I've now read so many seemingly diametrically opposed
opinions on freezing vs. refrigerating coffee vs. not doing either(!)
that I'm beginning to think that, as Marshall suggests, this might be
more theoretical than true in actuality. I've posted a couple (maybe
3 or 4) new topics (such as this one) in this group, but the trouble
is, I forget what or when I've posted and consequently forget to check
whether there're any responses. I just now searched by typing in
STORAGE FORLINO and found my way to this page and it refreshed my
memory. I'm going to "save" each topic I post in my Internet Favorites
menu, to be able to conveniently click on each one in the future to see
who's posted a response. I made a folder called COFFEE, and then a
sub-folder "GOOGLE GROUP". Sorry for that digression. In Peet's I
bought a quarter pound each of New Guinea, House Blend, and Columbian.
I told them to grind it relatively fine but they ground it finer than
I was expecting. At home I made sure the water wasn't too hot, so that
it wouldn't make the coffee bitter or burned-tasting. I wish I could
find some good old-fashioned "regular" coffee, not dark-roasted. Any
opinions about Melitta's ground coffee? I'd like to try it for the
heck of it, and I hope they don't roast their beans as darkly as
Peet's. Peet's gave me a little sample of their (just-brewed) New
Guinea, and it was really bitter, and so strong that I could barely sip
it. But as I was leaving I added some milk and it smoothened the
coffee out and it was so much more palatable. Anyway I'm learning more
and more about coffee, each time I read the responses here. Also, do
any readers here who practice the drip/filter method have any opinions
about paper filters vs. nylon filters? I read that paper filters can
leave a slightly "papery" taste.
Paul

Well, here's something everyone agrees on: all the advice you read
about brewing great coffee is worthless and will continue to be
worthless as long as you continue buying pre-ground coffee. You can
buy a blade grinder for about what that pound of coffee cost you, and
it will make a world of difference (remember to shake it while it's
grinding).

How did you measure the water temperature to determine it wasn't too
hot? What temperature were you looking for?

Consider the possibility that your unpleasant experience with the
Peet's PNG was the shock of having coffee brewed freshly ground and at
proper strength, instead of the watered-down, stale coffee normally
served in the U.S. You might develop a taste for it with more
experience!

Marshall