Using up old beans

[Duffyjr]

First off I hate being wasteful and since I have been ordering beans online I use them until there gone. Most of time I just drink it black like usual but I also add a powdered cappuccino mix like mocha, french vanilla etc.... I've also tried the flavored liquid creamers which isn't to bad.

Just wondering what every one else does with older beans that aren't the freshest.

 

[ensoluna]

i am also kind of cheap and frugal person, so I hate throwing away stuff. Totally opposite of my wife :+)
anyway, for me, I tried to use up old roasted beans. As the bean gets old, more sugar I put into it. but haven't tried capp mix, mocha, Vanilla..etc yet.

However, I try not to buy big bulk of roasted beans.
I buy enough to last couple of week and buy new ones.

 

[Elairo]

Instead of drinking the old beans, you could grind the coffee beans and reuse them as acne/face scrubs or use it for planting. Their are a lot of different ways to use coffee grinds, I might write an article soon about it.

 

[wmark]

Old roasted beans ? I use to fertilize my tomatoes.
Old green beans? I use to clean my roaster drum

 

[Elairo]

Old roasted beans ? I use to fertilize my tomatoes.
Old green beans? I use to clean my roaster drum

Yes great way to fertilize your plants!!

Haha didnt know old green beans could be used to clean. How did it come out?

 

[Duffyjr]

For you guys putting grounds on tomato plants how long before hand can you start saving the grounds? I would image this time of year I can start tossing them on the ground now where I will plant them this spring, would that work? Sorry I really don't have a green thumb but I don't like using chemicals like miracle grow, never have. I figure I get what I get just using water.

I have a small backyard so I only plant two tomato plants, usually a lemon boy and sweet 100's and this year I'm going to try one yellow bell pepper.

Is it possible to put to many grounds on one plant?

 

[LoveCoffeeLife]

Left over coffee? I'm afraid my coffee doesn't stick around long enough to get old, my friend. LOL I prefer it that way to ensure I'm getting fresh all the time. I usually will only buy 5-12 oz at a time which will last me a week or two.

All these awesome revelations about varying uses of coffee are blowing my mind! Cleaning? Fertilizing? Wow! I'll keep that in mind for the tomatoes.

 

[Kudzu]

As others have said, I avoid having old coffee by buying only what I can use quickly. I buy coffee freshly roasted, from a local roaster, and use it up within seven days. To me, freshly roasted coffee, ground just before brewing, is a large part of the better coffee equation.

 

[Duffyjr]

You guys are just killing me here, what I would give to have just one local roaster. Nearest one is 75 miles, cheaper to pay shipping.

We have four coffee shops here (that advertise as coffee shops), two are sit down and two or drive thru and none of them have fresh beans to sell me. When I asked one lady "if I buy some beans can you tell me when they were roasted" she looked at me like I was crazy and shrugged her shoulders. I didn't even bother to ask her if she could find out.:roll:

 

[shadow745]

That is one of the many reasons I started home roasting. Can save 30-40% on cost depending on source of greens, have fresh coffee when I want it and can roast to the flavor profile I like instead of being stuck with 5# of something not 100% appealing. Currently I can do a 19 gram double shot for just over 30 cents. Even though roasting for espresso is rather demanding, I am very satisfied with my results and don't miss buying roasted coffee from any artisan roasters. Especially knowing that most espresso blends average $12/lb at the very lowest end of the spectrum.

 

[DLRuth]

You guys are just killing me here, what I would give to have just one local roaster. Nearest one is 75 miles, cheaper to pay shipping. We have four coffee shops here (that advertise as coffee shops), two are sit down and two or drive thru and none of them have fresh beans to sell me. When I asked one lady "if I buy some beans can you tell me when they were roasted" she looked at me like I was crazy and shrugged her shoulders. I didn't even bother to ask her if she could find out.:roll:

You should solve that problem by roasting your self. It is quite easy to learn and you will always have fresh coffee. You can start for real cheap with a whirleypop popcorn maker (been doing it that way for about a year and a half now). If a coffee shop doesn't know when their own beans were roasted that doesn't sound very comforting to me.

 

[Duffyjr]

You should solve that problem by roasting your self. It is quite easy to learn and you will always have fresh coffee. You can start for real cheap with a whirleypop popcorn maker (been doing it that way for about a year and a half now).

I've actually started tossing that idea around some. Garage sale season is coming up so I told the wife if she runs across an air popcorn popper to call me and I'd come look at it.

If a coffee shop doesn't know when their own beans were roasted that doesn't sound very comforting to me.

I've actually asked at least one employee from each of the coffee shops if they knew when the beans were roasted and none of them could tell me.