Beans at Whole Foods Market

[janry]

I've only been in our local Whole Foods Market once before but I noticed today they are roasting in-house. The guy working the roaster said all their beans have been roasted in the last 5 days. I picked up about a half pound of Sumatra beans he had just roasted and I plan to try in the morning.

What I like about this is the freshness and I can buy as small a quantity as I want. I can get 3 or 4 different beans in small quantities to try over the week and have a nice variety.

What I don't know is how good is this? Obviously, the taste will tell but am I expecting too much from a store that has "some guy" roasting. I have no idea how experienced he is or how good the equipment is. Is roasting more an art or science? Does anyone know how good the quality is in Whole Food Markets in general?

 

[PinkRose]

"janry"

Whole Foods has a good reputation for quality.

Since the guy is roasting the beans there, it's worth giving it a try to see how you like his roasting ability. They probably only have one or two people trained to roast coffee. They also probably only roast small batches, so the coffee doesn't sit around too long.

Have you ever used Sumatra beans before? If so, then you can compare what you bought with what you've already experienced. Try the coffee that you bought and see if you like it. Then try another coffee and see if you like that. You're eventually going to decide one way or another if you want to keep buying your coffee from Whole Foods.

Rose

 

[namballe]

i agree with PR. Whole Foods has a reputation for good quality. i'm sure that the "some guy" roasting has had adequate training in the roasting biz. i think it's a great idea of in store roasting. probably going to make good money at it.

 

[topher]

Personally I do not like their roasters. I feel that the coffee that it produces lacks body. I also do not think that all of their coffee is roasted on site. I believe that Allegro coffee roasters supplies a majority of their coffee.

 

[janry]

Shoot! My first brew with it was on the weak side. I will need to increase the weight a bit. I've had Sumatra before and loved it. However, I've never brewed it at home before, just gotten it at coffee shops.

The reason I was at Whole Foods is because they carry beans from some local roasters. The roaster commented on the beans I had selected favorably. He really wasn't pushing his own beans at all. In fact, he suggested I buy only a small quantity of his to test instead of putting back what I picked out from the local roaster.

 

[topher]

He was absolutely correct. I am not saying anything negative about whole foods..I actually love the place. I just am not a fan of air roasters.

 

[BurntBeans]

Did you grind them at the store? if not pour them out on a white plate and look at them in bright light. I found only about 10% of the beans out of 4 diff light roast were usable. There was a huge difference in the size and the color of the beans, with the majority burnt. i love whole foods but allegro beans have taken a dive.

 

[janry]

Today's brew was much better. In fact, it was very good. I'd say better than the Sumatra I've had before. I have no idea why yesterday's was so weak. Maybe I didn't tare the scale or something. Maybe I should have had some coffee before making the coffee.

Did you grind them at the store? if not pour them out on a white plate and look at them in bright light. I found only about 10% of the beans out of 4 diff light roast were usable. There was a huge difference in the size and the color of the beans, with the majority burnt. i love whole foods but allegro beans have taken a dive.

They look very consistent in color. Truthfully, I can't say about the size. I'd guess they are OK but I've never really compared sizes before but I will in the next bag I open. But, I'll be sure to look at the consistency in Whole Food's roast color and bean size the next time before I buy more of their beans.

 

[eldub]

A-Rod: This thread is about whole foods bean offerings and not the place for you to peddle your wares. Have you ever considered starting your own thread rather than glomming onto others' topics? WTF...

 

[rcsharpless]

Hi All,
Until recently I worked at Whole Foods as a coffee buyer. Most of the stores that roast their own beans are equipped with air roasters, but there are a couple that have converted to drum roasters. Their air roaster setup is relatively automated, so "some guy" in the coffee department probably didn't have much say in how the bulk coffee turns out, aside from weighing out the correct portion of beans, (and the correct beans for that matter). I'm not completely sure about their drum-roasting locations, but I'd imagine that there would be a bit more control offered in the roasting process.

Yes, Whole Foods buys most of their beans from Allegro, a mid-level roaster based in Colorado (actually owned by Whole Foods). All of the beans roasted in-house are from Allegro (Allegro is pretty stringent with its brand image and overall marketing in WFM stores) and will usually be in the packaged coffee section as well. Buying bulk can be a bit tricky: as soon as the coffee is roasted it starts oxidizing. The Allegro pre-packaged coffee comes in a nitrogen flushed, one-way-valve bag, and thus, cannot oxidize too much (though it is debatable whether this process effects cup flavor). The bulk section is, in large part, for show, unless you are very vigilant about buying coffee the day of/day after roasting.

If you are really into artisan coffee, I would try checking out the local roaster offerings at Whole Foods... Allegro does a decent job at what they have set out to do, but with many local roasters, you can tell the difference in attention paid by the roaster to each batch. I hope this helps!

 

[Surfer]

Hi All,
Until recently I worked at Whole Foods as a coffee buyer. Most of the stores that roast their own beans are equipped with air roasters, but there are a couple that have converted to drum roasters. Their air roaster setup is relatively automated, so "some guy" in the coffee department probably didn't have much say in how the bulk coffee turns out, aside from weighing out the correct portion of beans, (and the correct beans for that matter). I'm not completely sure about their drum-roasting locations, but I'd imagine that there would be a bit more control offered in the roasting process.

Yes, Whole Foods buys most of their beans from Allegro, a mid-level roaster based in Colorado (actually owned by Whole Foods). All of the beans roasted in-house are from Allegro (Allegro is pretty stringent with its brand image and overall marketing in WFM stores) and will usually be in the packaged coffee section as well. Buying bulk can be a bit tricky: as soon as the coffee is roasted it starts oxidizing. The Allegro pre-packaged coffee comes in a nitrogen flushed, one-way-valve bag, and thus, cannot oxidize too much (though it is debatable whether this process effects cup flavor). The bulk section is, in large part, for show, unless you are very vigilant about buying coffee the day of/day after roasting.

If you are really into artisan coffee, I would try checking out the local roaster offerings at Whole Foods... Allegro does a decent job at what they have set out to do, but with many local roasters, you can tell the difference in attention paid by the roaster to each batch. I hope this helps!

Our Whole Foods roast, but yeh, it's pretty bad lol. They all have a nice artisan coffee section with either small local guys or other known roasters. But I noticed over the years it's always old, the chance of getting some fresh beans at the store is slim to none, think the freshest I've seen was 4 week old Counter Culture other wise if you go through the bags you'll see dates going back 4+ months even for Counter Culture and other similar roasters. But the avg shopper I'm sure doesn't care or know better. Now if I can only figure out how to make that insanely delicious WF Mac & Cheese they have in the hot bar....lol

 

[CoffeeJunky]

Hi All,
Until recently I worked at Whole Foods as a coffee buyer. Most of the stores that roast their own beans are equipped with air roasters, but there are a couple that have converted to drum roasters. Their air roaster setup is relatively automated, so "some guy" in the coffee department probably didn't have much say in how the bulk coffee turns out, aside from weighing out the correct portion of beans, (and the correct beans for that matter). I'm not completely sure about their drum-roasting locations, but I'd imagine that there would be a bit more control offered in the roasting process.

Yes, Whole Foods buys most of their beans from Allegro, a mid-level roaster based in Colorado (actually owned by Whole Foods). All of the beans roasted in-house are from Allegro (Allegro is pretty stringent with its brand image and overall marketing in WFM stores) and will usually be in the packaged coffee section as well. Buying bulk can be a bit tricky: as soon as the coffee is roasted it starts oxidizing. The Allegro pre-packaged coffee comes in a nitrogen flushed, one-way-valve bag, and thus, cannot oxidize too much (though it is debatable whether this process effects cup flavor). The bulk section is, in large part, for show, unless you are very vigilant about buying coffee the day of/day after roasting.

If you are really into artisan coffee, I would try checking out the local roaster offerings at Whole Foods... Allegro does a decent job at what they have set out to do, but with many local roasters, you can tell the difference in attention paid by the roaster to each batch. I hope this helps!

Thanks for the info. It make sense now how WFM carry their coffee.
thanks again

 

[janry]

I still go back to Whole Foods to buy my coffee but everytime, I've bought what they carried from a local roaster. One of the roaster's beans are delivered every Thursday or Friday and I like what they have. As far as the Whole Food's beans, the first bag ones I bought were pretty good. Since then, the beans have resembled charcoal. My wife did want to try their breakfast blend so we bought enough for a couple of pots. It was pretty bad. I'm going to keep an eye on their beans and if I find something I like that looks like a medium roast, I'll try some again.

 

[Surfer]

I still go back to Whole Foods to buy my coffee but everytime, I've bought what they carried from a local roaster. One of the roaster's beans are delivered every Thursday or Friday and I like what they have. As far as the Whole Food's beans, the first bag ones I bought were pretty good. Since then, the beans have resembled charcoal. My wife did want to try their breakfast blend so we bought enough for a couple of pots. It was pretty bad. I'm going to keep an eye on their beans and if I find something I like that looks like a medium roast, I'll try some again.

If you go there frequently, your best bet is to make buddies with the person in control of coffee buying and they'll let you know apprx when various products are ordered and delivered (kinda like how you found with the local guy). I don't go there enough but a friend that works at whole foods told me that. Last time I was there the freshest roaster bag I found was a bag if Counter Culture a few months old, others were the same or older. So people must go in there and pick and choose or do what I said above lol.

 

[rcsharpless]

If you go there frequently, your best bet is to make buddies with the person in control of coffee buying and they'll let you know apprx when various products are ordered and delivered (kinda like how you found with the local guy). I don't go there enough but a friend that works at whole foods told me that. Last time I was there the freshest roaster bag I found was a bag if Counter Culture a few months old, others were the same or older. So people must go in there and pick and choose or do what I said above lol.

You hit the nail on the head. If you are on good enough terms with your WFM coffee buyer, you could try requesting that they start carrying a roaster, or at least special order something (they may or may not direct you to guest services for a special order, but it's worth a shot).

Hopefully more Whole Foods than not update their local offerings often. At mine the goal was twice a week (though it is pretty tough to sell through all that local stuff... Allegro sells really well... understandable due to how much marketing and physical space they claim on the shelves). The sight of 4 month old Counter Culture rends the soul, no?