buying fresh roasted beans in Los Angeles

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Date: 03 Sep 2006 10:18:03
From: forlino
Subject: buying fresh roasted beans in Los Angeles

I'm new to this group (and to Google groups in general). I couldn't
find a group exactly with this topic in Yahoo Groups. Please bear with
me, and I apologize if this topic has come up before, but can ANYONE
please help me with a little advice, for which I'll be very grateful:
I live in West Los Angeles. Does anyone know of any place (not on-line
but an ACTUAL STORE) in my area (W.L.A., Santa Monica, etc.) where I
can buy coffee beans that are actually roasted right there on the
premises, so that I can be sure -- for instance if I ask them how LONG
it's been since these beans or those beans were actually roasted, they
can tell me, and thus I'll be assured that the beans weren't roasted
somewhere else many days (weeks?) ago? Also, is it sometimes possible
to buy half a pound, or even less than that, in a shop that roasts and
grinds coffee beans? Or generally does one have to be at least a full
pound? I love good coffee but can't drink more than 2-3 cups per week
because of the caffeine.

This sounds like a wonderful group, by the way, and I'm really happy to
have joined. My e-mail address is forlino@comcast.net. Thanks in
advance for any info.

Paul Miller ("forlino")

Date: 05 Sep 2006 21:57:27
From: forlino
Subject: Re: buying fresh roasted beans in Los Angeles

MANY thanks to everyone who wrote in to give advice on this subject, in
response to my questions. I really appreciate it, and I'm having fun
reading all of this, let alone becoming better informed about coffee.
And Jon Goll e-mailed me, to inform me of Scott Bros. Coffee, whose
very interesting website I'm now checking out.
The only problem with decaf is, quite simply, that the only
reason I drink coffee is for the stimulating effect -- well, perhaps I
should say, the MAIN reason (of course I do love the taste of good
coffee and the pleasure of the experience of drinking it per se). I
love a little fresh cream or half-and-half in my coffee, although I
have a feeling that the very mention of adding sugar or cream might
elicit horrific reactions from serious lovers of truly good coffee..
In any case I cannot drink more than 2-3 cups of coffee per week.

Re Whole Foods (where I go to buy the excellent Lundberg brand of
organic long-grain brown rice, and also Cardini's salad dressing!), I'm
having second thoughts about getting coffee beans there since I read
PeterK's post.

By the way, I've read that compared to 40-50 years ago and prior,
coffee beans now have a higher caffeine content than they used to. I
wonder if that's one reason why so many people are so impatient and
anxious and hyped-up nowadays, and I also wonder whether the coffee
growers of the last few decades are trying to get more people more
hooked..

Paul

Date: 05 Sep 2006 12:02:27
From: DavidMLewis
Subject: Re: buying fresh roasted beans in Los Angeles

shall wrote:

> I'd also take a serious look
> at decaf. It's improved a lot in recent years (or, so I'm told).
>
It has indeed, particularly because of the advent of the Royal Coffee
decaffeination plant in Mexico. They're sending some very good coffees
down to that plant. I'd say that the variety is less than with regular
coffees, and I don't see that changing, but still there are some very
good ones. I'd also second your recommendation of home roasting, since
decafs in my experience stale much faster, both green and roasted, than
regular coffees. I've always assumed this to be because of the beans
having been physically compromised during the process. Fresh-roasted
decaf can be excellent, but aside from vacuum-packing and freezing
right out of the roaster, I've never had one more than a couple of days
post-roast that tasted very good.

Best,
David

Date: 03 Sep 2006 22:01:00
From: I->Ian
Subject: Re: buying fresh roasted beans in Los Angeles

Date: 04 Sep 2006 07:16:24
From: PeterK
Subject: Re: buying fresh roasted beans in Los Angeles

On Sun, 03 Sep 2006 22:01:00 GMT, "I- >Ian" <someone@nowhere.com>
wrote:

>Rocky Roaster and Village Coffee Roasters are two other local
>roasters, if you happen to be in the SF Valley and want to check them
>out.
>
>http://www.rockyroaster.com/
>http://www.villagecoffeeroaster.com/
>
>Graffeo on Rodeo in Beverly Hills
> My sister in law loves them.
>I give 'em a miss.
>http://www.graffeo.com/

Have you tierd Village Coffee? I've stopped in for drip at Village
Coffee several times and purchased beans from them a few times and was
always unimpressed. The espresso beans yielded lots of crema but the
taste seemed "off".

PeterK

Date: 05 Sep 2006 16:59:55
From: I->Ian
Subject: Re: buying fresh roasted beans in Los Angeles

On Mon, 04 Sep 2006 07:16:24 -0700, PeterK <seepost@NOSPAM > wrote:

>On Sun, 03 Sep 2006 22:01:00 GMT, "I->Ian" <someone@nowhere.com>
>wrote:
>
>>Rocky Roaster and Village Coffee Roasters are two other local
>>roasters, if you happen to be in the SF Valley and want to check them
>>out.
>>
>>http://www.rockyroaster.com/
>>http://www.villagecoffeeroaster.com/
>>
>>Graffeo on Rodeo in Beverly Hills
>> My sister in law loves them.
>>I give 'em a miss.
>>http://www.graffeo.com/
>
>
>Have you tierd Village Coffee? I've stopped in for drip at Village
>Coffee several times and purchased beans from them a few times and was
>always unimpressed. The espresso beans yielded lots of crema but the
>taste seemed "off".
>
>PeterK

Tried Village Roasters a few times. They tend to roast too dark for my
taste, or lack thereof.

Never made espresso from any of their beans or tried an espresso in
the shop.

The OP asked for 'fresh' which is an relative absolute, whereas 'good'
is a value judgement. ;-)

Date: 03 Sep 2006 18:39:48
From: Marshall
Subject: Re: buying fresh roasted beans in Los Angeles

On 3 Sep 2006 10:18:03 -0700, "forlino" <forlino@comcast.net > wrote:

>I'm new to this group (and to Google groups in general). I couldn't
>find a group exactly with this topic in Yahoo Groups. Please bear with
>me, and I apologize if this topic has come up before, but can ANYONE
>please help me with a little advice, for which I'll be very grateful:
>I live in West Los Angeles. Does anyone know of any place (not on-line
>but an ACTUAL STORE) in my area (W.L.A., Santa Monica, etc.) where I
>can buy coffee beans that are actually roasted right there on the
>premises, so that I can be sure -- for instance if I ask them how LONG
>it's been since these beans or those beans were actually roasted, they
>can tell me, and thus I'll be assured that the beans weren't roasted
>somewhere else many days (weeks?) ago?

Roasting on the shop floor is no greater guaranty of freshness than
roasting across town. Many shops have centralized off-site roasting,
even if they roast their own. Some of the shops that have more distant
sources still have excellent freshness policies.

The more important questions are:
1. Does the roaster understand and care deeply about which beans they
buy?
2. Do they know how to roast them to get the very best out of them?
3. Can your retail shop tell you when it was roasted?

Personally, I'd much rather have 4-day old coffee from a roaster who
knows her stuff, than same-day shop-roasted coffee from a roaster who
just looks for the best price and roasts everything to an oily lustre
"'cause that's how Starbucks does it."

>Also, is it sometimes possible
>to buy half a pound, or even less than that, in a shop that roasts and
>grinds coffee beans? Or generally does one have to be at least a full
>pound?

Yes. Many shops sell half pounds (sometimes for a bit more than half
the price of a full pound). But, what's this "grinds" business? If
you're letting the shop grind it (I hope not), you've just turned your
fresh roasted coffee into a guaranteed-stale bag of grounds.
Everything else you say you care about freshness becomes irrelevant.

>I love good coffee but can't drink more than 2-3 cups per week
>because of the caffeine.

I don't say this very often to people in L.A. (in fact never), but
you'd be a great candidate for home roasting. Buying one of those
little air roasters that roasts 2-3 oz. at a time is the only way
you're going to keep your coffee fresh. I'd also take a serious look
at decaf. It's improved a lot in recent years (or, so I'm told).

>This sounds like a wonderful group, by the way, and I'm really happy to
>have joined. My e-mail address is forlino@comcast.net. Thanks in
>advance for any info.

Glad you could join us!

shall

Date: 03 Sep 2006 11:18:50
From: John Frank
Subject: Re: buying fresh roasted beans in Los Angeles

And give Caffe Luxxe in Santa Monica (on Montana near 9th street) a
try, besides pulling fantastic shots the owner k might have some
ideas for you on where good beans might be locally available (They sell
the beans that they use, too--I believe that they're from Vivace? k
would be able to tell you when the beans were roasted).

Ken's recommendation of Supreme Bean is also right on the money, great
coffee and great people.

Roasting your own beans is also a great option...

Good luck,

John Frank
Topanga Canyon

Ken Fox wrote:
> Supreme Bean is the best roaster in Southern California, in my opinion and
> in the opinion of many others here. They are in the process of setting up
> an online buying site but perhaps it would be possible to pick up beans from
> them directly once they are set up for selling small quantities (less than
> 5lbs) to the public. You can call 818-506-6020 to find out if this is
> possible and if not, where you might find their beans in the LA area.
>
> ken

Date: 03 Sep 2006 11:12:02
From: dcrehr
Subject: Re: buying fresh roasted beans in Los Angeles

It's been a while since I've been over there, but last time I was
there, Whole Foods at National & Sawtelle had their beans roast-dated.
I think there is a roaster on the premises, but I don't know if they
roast all their beans there. If you home roast, of course, your
problem is solved.

Date: 04 Sep 2006 07:11:46
From: PeterK
Subject: Re: buying fresh roasted beans in Los Angeles

On 3 Sep 2006 11:12:02 -0700, "dcrehr" <dcrehr@hotmail.com > wrote:

>It's been a while since I've been over there, but last time I was
>there, Whole Foods at National & Sawtelle had their beans roast-dated.
>I think there is a roaster on the premises, but I don't know if they
>roast all their beans there. If you home roast, of course, your
>problem is solved.

Whole Foods in-store roasted beans seem appealing but in actuality
they are roasted by superket clerks who know nothing about the art
of roasting. I tried their roasts a couple of times and they were
pretty yucky. Perhaps your mileage may vary at each store.

PeterK

Date: 03 Sep 2006 12:58:29
From: ensenadajim
Subject: Re: buying fresh roasted beans in Los Angeles

On 3 Sep 2006 11:12:02 -0700, "dcrehr" <dcrehr@hotmail.com > wrote:

>It's been a while since I've been over there, but last time I was
>there, Whole Foods at National & Sawtelle had their beans roast-dated.
>I think there is a roaster on the premises, but I don't know if they
>roast all their beans there. If you home roast, of course, your
>problem is solved.

The Whole Foods, roasted-on-site beans I have seen in the San Diego
area are mostly roasted to light profiles and maybe less than that.

jim

Date: 03 Sep 2006 11:55:24
From: Ken Fox
Subject: Re: buying fresh roasted beans in Los Angeles

Supreme Bean is the best roaster in Southern California, in my opinion and
in the opinion of many others here. They are in the process of setting up
an online buying site but perhaps it would be possible to pick up beans from
them directly once they are set up for selling small quantities (less than
5lbs) to the public. You can call 818-506-6020 to find out if this is
possible and if not, where you might find their beans in the LA area.

ken

"forlino" <forlino@comcast.net > wrote in message
news:1157303883.367003.33000@i42g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> I'm new to this group (and to Google groups in general). I couldn't
> find a group exactly with this topic in Yahoo Groups. Please bear with
> me, and I apologize if this topic has come up before, but can ANYONE
> please help me with a little advice, for which I'll be very grateful:
> I live in West Los Angeles. Does anyone know of any place (not on-line
> but an ACTUAL STORE) in my area (W.L.A., Santa Monica, etc.) where I
> can buy coffee beans that are actually roasted right there on the
> premises, so that I can be sure -- for instance if I ask them how LONG
> it's been since these beans or those beans were actually roasted, they
> can tell me, and thus I'll be assured that the beans weren't roasted
> somewhere else many days (weeks?) ago? Also, is it sometimes possible
> to buy half a pound, or even less than that, in a shop that roasts and
> grinds coffee beans? Or generally does one have to be at least a full
> pound? I love good coffee but can't drink more than 2-3 cups per week
> because of the caffeine.
>
> This sounds like a wonderful group, by the way, and I'm really happy to
> have joined. My e-mail address is forlino@comcast.net. Thanks in
> advance for any info.
>
> Paul Miller ("forlino")
>