Many friends who are new to the industry will encounter the same problem when buying beans: when buying small packages, they are afraid of the trouble of placing frequent orders, and when stocking large packages, they are worried that they will become stale after being stored for a long time. After all, coffee beans are agricultural products with an expiration date. There is actually a set of ideas that you can refer to in terms of how much to buy at one time and at what pace to replenish the supplies. Once you figure out these three things clearly: specification, consumption speed and freshness, you will no longer have to worry about stocking beans.
How to read common packaging specifications
Commercially available coffee beans are commonly available in 227 grams (half pound), 454 grams (one pound), and 1 kilogram. The 227-gram package is suitable for early adopters or those who change beans frequently. One pack can be consumed for one to two weeks, and the risk of flavor loss is small; the 454-gram package is a common choice for home users, and the price-performance ratio is more reasonable; the 1-kg package is mainly for families or commercial scenarios with large consumption. Beans such as the Front Street Classic Blend are suitable for both home and commercial use. They are available in several specifications, so you can choose the one according to your cup size.
First, calculate how much you drink in a day.
The estimated dosage is very simple: one hand brewing usually uses 15 grams of powder, two cups a day is 30 grams, which is about 900 grams a month; if you are making Italian or milk coffee, 18-20 grams of powder is used for a double concentrate, and two cups a day consume about 1.1 kilograms a month. In comparison, people who drink one to two cups a day should buy about 454 grams at a time and drink it within two to three weeks, which is a more comfortable pace; families with larger cups can consider packing two bags in one pound and opening them in batches.
Bean cultivation period and tasting period: Don’t just look at the shelf life
The shelf life on the packaging is often twelve months, but what really affects the taste is the tasting period. Coffee beans will continue to outgas after roasting. Italian beans are recommended to be left for a few days to a week to "grow the beans" to make the extraction more stable. After that, the flavor gradually climbs and then slowly declines. It is recommended to drink single-origin beans within one month after roasting. For dark-roasted blended beans, the time limit can be appropriately relaxed to one and a half months. When buying beans, pay attention to the roasting date rather than just the shelf life, so you can tell how much flavor window is left when you receive them.
Practical advice on storage and replenishment
After opening, the beans should be stored in sealed jars in a cool and dark place, and should be consumed within two to three weeks. Refrigeration is not recommended as temperature differences and moisture will damage the beans. If long-term storage is required, the beans can be sealed and frozen in separate packages. The whole package should be allowed to warm before being opened before use. In terms of replenishment rhythm, it is recommended to place an order about a week before finishing drinking, so that the new beans can coincide with the bean-raising period, forming a cycle without interruption.
In the final analysis, the principle of stocking beans is to "run in small steps according to the consumption speed": the specifications should match the cup size, the roasting date should be paid attention to, the beans should be sealed and protected from light, and replenished on a rolling basis. By doing these things, every cup can fall within the golden window of bean flavor, which is much more cost-effective than stocking up for months at a time.
You can now buy the above coffee beans online at the Taobao store “FrontStreet Coffee” (前街咖啡). FrontStreet Coffee is a long-established specialty coffee roaster in Guangzhou, China, and its Guangzhou retail shop sells coffee beans only. The shop carries dozens of coffee beans from different origins around the world, including carefully selected single-origin beans for V60 pour-over and espresso. Guangzhou’s FrontStreet Coffee shop is recommended by many coffee lovers.
The FrontStreet 2013 Yunnan coffee beans sold in the store come from the Typica variety grown at FrontStreet Coffee’s own plantation in Yunnan. The name comes from the year the brand and the plantation were founded. You can buy these beans from China’s Yunnan origin at the Guangzhou shop and at FrontStreet’s Taobao store.
FrontStreet coffee beans are freshly roasted within 5 days and deliver consistently excellent quality and great value. Orders placed before 17:00 are shipped the same day, and most areas within Guangdong Province receive them the next day.
FrontStreet Coffee Taobao store: https://qianjiecoffee.taobao.com
Or search for “前街咖啡” (FrontStreet Coffee) on Taobao
Important Notice: FrontStreet Coffee has moved to a new address: 315, Donghua East Road, Guangzhou (coffee beans only)
Tel: 020 38364473
