Search Results for: coffee beans

Caffeine for TEOTWAWKI, by N.E.S.

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…what would happen if the coffee beans became scarce or not available for a long period of time–such as in TEOTWAWKI. I have been experimenting with coffee storage for quite some time now. Coffee that has been roasted prior to buying at the store has a pretty short shelf life. After some research online I came up with roasting green coffee beans at home. My hubby likes a really dark roast, almost espresso dark and was having a hard time finding that roast at my normal stores that I frequent. We got away from going to Starbucks etc. as we did not have that extra money at the time and we live pretty far out of town. That is when I started doing research on roasting at home. Green coffee beans can be bought in bulk from several sources. I am lucky enough to have a green coffee seller in…


Household Basics in TEOTWAWKI- Part 6, by Sarah Latimer

…them in our Mason jars, vacuum sealing them, storing them in the dark and in a dry, cool/moderate temperature environment and indefinitely. Hugh, who is one of my coffee drinkers, took the lead on procuring green coffee beans and testing this out. It worked! We have had green coffee beans that were stored at room temperature in our vacuum sealed jars for four or five years, successfully roasted, and used to create what was described as a marvelous cup of coffee. Our friends couldn’t believe the beans were years old. One friend said it tasted fresher than his Starbucks he’d bought that morning. In fact, now most of our friends prefer our black coffee over Starbucks, if they can give up all of the flavorings that are used to cover up the stale taste of stale coffee. At first, when Hugh was shopping for green coffee beans, he struggled with…


Coffee in a Post-Collapse Society, by T.R.

…subsides remove the pan from the heat store and continue to stir. There will be a lot of chaff, you do not want this in your beans so I put mine in a colander and toss them out side and either let the breeze remove the chaff or blow across the beans to remove as much chaff as possible. Let the beans cool before grinding. Once you grind your first truly freshly roasted coffee you will be amazed at the depth of flavors. In some coffees you will not have to add milk or sugar. Bitterness that is in brewed coffee comes from staleness not the true nature of brewed coffee. In a post-collapse society a hand operated coffee grinder will be necessary and can be found online as well. As for brewing your coffee in the absence of an electric coffee brewer, the Cowboy coffee and French press coffee…


Wood-Fired Coffee Roasting – Part 2, by J.P.

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…beans: Merle at Appalachian Mountain Coffee would be happy to help you out. He is a master, full service coffee roaster. His web site does not list raw beans, but just ask and he’ll take care of you. My orders are filled and delivered to me in Alaska in three to four days. – Appalachian Mountain Coffee – 594 Grubb Church Rd – 570-374-3836 – web: cirruslyfreshcoffee.com ________________ re. serious and sobering questions – yes and Amen. Animal House SaraSue, I got my green (central american country) coffee beans years ago; I think I ordered from amazon. They came in large burlap bags and I repackaged them into 5 pd bags, wrapped them in freezer paper and put in the freezer. I pulled out a bag last year, took 2 cups of beans out, then resealed the freezer paper and put it back. First time roasting the beans in a…


Letter Re: Canned Coffee Beans

…sealing, none of it works all that well. The roasted beans will go stale faster than you want, guaranteed. Now for a definition of stale coffee. Most Americans are used to coffee purchased at a grocery store, and most restaurants usually serve the same bad coffee made from stale beans. Any coffee (beans or pre-ground) sold by a grocery store is going to be stale by default. The large coffee companies store their roasted beans for weeks before they ever see the inside of a retail outlet. Stale, stale, stale. Most Americans are used to drinking coffee made from stale beans. Another thing about grocery store coffee, it’s usually pre-ground. Ground coffee goes stale about twenty minutes after it comes out of the grinder. Storing ground coffee is even more of a losing proposition than storing whole roasted beans. Don’t even think about it. You might as well gather up…


The Survivalist’s Coffee Cup, by Matt M.

…Maria’s, which not only supplies the beans but also roasting equipment and advice. Most of their equipment is expensive and electric-powered, but they have good prices and good advice. Other sites include Bald Mountain Coffee, Marlton Coffee, and Our Coffee Barn. Local organic food stores may also stock green beans. Shop around, save your cash. I have managed to see cost savings approaching 50% over roasted coffee beans. Given how easy the roasting can be, you might wonder just what you’re getting for your money when you go to Fourbucks. While cheaper than roasted beans bought at the store, coffee is a commodity, and subject to inflation. After all, its value stays constant, as green beans can be kept almost indefinitely, but its cost rises as the dollar depreciates. Buying now will cost more today but pay off later. Buying small quantities over time will likely be the most economical…


SurvivalBlog’s News From The American Redoubt

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…Bozeman: Treeline Coffee. o o o In Great Falls: Morning Light Coffee Roasters. o o o And for sheer variety of blends, there is Colter Coffee Roasting, in Kalispell.   Eastern Oregon (Coffee Roasters) While most of Oregon’s coffee roasters are west of the Cascades, there are a few that are located in the Redoubt side of the state: o o o Backporch Coffee Roasters has two locations in Bend. o o o With locations throughout eastern Oregon, Sorbenots Coffee is perhaps the best known coffee roaster in the region. Their roastery is in Baker City, but they also have outlets in LaGrande, Ontario, Hermiston, and Pendleton.   Eastern Washington (Coffee Roasters) Cravens Coffee Company has been well-known in Spokane for more than 25 years. o o o Thomas Hammer Coffee Roasters is well know in the Redoubt, because of its high profile outlets that stretch from Boise to Coeur…


Wood-Fired Coffee Roasting – Part 1, by J.P.

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Animal House Although I do not drink coffee, my kids do and 1st thing in the morning they MUST have their coffee…or else. So I store raw coffee beans in the freezer for that purpose. I love the smell of fresh roasted coffee beans so I am eager to learn from your experience. SaraSue What a fun article!! Krissy Ditto for me! Kate I was really hoping to learn a good source for purchasing green coffee beans. Anyone?? Just Some Guy Funny this topic just came up. I will be starting coffee plants soon and plan to roast my own beans. Unfortunately, it can take 7 years for the plant to bear fruit so I will be buying beans to roast in the mean time. John Good info on coffee roasting J.P. Can’t wait for part two.i really like your culvert cooker. Michael An article that “lifts the COVID haze”…


Four Letters Re: Coffee in a Post-Collapse Society

Sir: In the recent article Coffee in a Post-Collapse Society, the author is talking about Arabica coffee being only cultivated near the equator. Robusto green coffee can be grown in the southern states like Florida, south Texas (same latitude as Cuba, a coffee producing country) basically any place that citrus can grow, Robusto coffee can grow. Robusto coffee can grow at low altitudes although it is not know for it’s high quality taste. Robusto coffee beans that are used mostly for instant coffee and a blend with Arabica beans in espresso for a creamier foam. Yields for Robusto coffee are about 1-2 pounds per bush. For more information, visit the Talk About Coffee web site. Coffee bean trees are sold as ornamental plants in the south. Available at nurseries that sell ornamental houseplants. Regards,. – M.B. James Wesley: Following the link in the coffee article to purchase a [hand-crank coffee] grinder,…


Two Letters Re: Coffee

Hi Sarah, I took great interest in your article about coffee, as I am one who loves a good cup or two of coffee daily. My concerns in a SHFT would also be how do I ensure that coffee would be available. Currently, I keep 10 lbs on hand of whole bean coffee. I do not refrigerate or freeze as I thought that would destroy the flavors. The coffee is in 2.5 lb bags and rotated. I purchased a hand grinder and also bought a French Press, which makes delicious coffee and uses no electricity. My setup is fine for the short term. I don’t know why I never heard of green coffee beans but found your article very interesting for my pursuits of something long term. I’m definitely going to look into this. I’m wondering, however, about the storage for long term. You said you put your green coffee…


Letter Re: The Survivalist’s Coffee Cup

Dear James Rawles, I wanted to add some useful additional information on the use and storage of green coffee beans, home roasting and on the use of chicory. Canned vacuum packed ground coffee is horrible tasting after one year. Great for soil amendments at best. I have bought and stored green coffee beans for more than 10 years as a part of our survival and barter larder. The oldest left in rotation to date in dry storage is seven years. I purchase in bulk yearly when the season is harvested from my favorite coffee bean varietals. I started off buying bean samplers of geographical varieties obtained from a local roaster (search the web for green coffee beans) and now purchase most of my beans from Sweet Maria’s to try out the different taste qualities of various beans from different new country offerings. I also study my history of keep ability…


The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods:

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SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods— a collection of news bits and pieces that are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper. Today’s focus is on roasting coffee beans at home. Roasting Coffee Beans at Home A consulting client asked me about coffee storage, in various forms. Unless you want to drink icky freeze dried coffee, then the three remaining options are: Storing ground roasted coffee, storing whole roasted coffee beans, and storing green coffee beans. These each have their drawbacks, but in terms of flavor, nothing beats freshly roasted coffee. Rather than “re-invent the wheel”, I will defer to a great primer that was posted by The Art of Manliness site, a few years back. Here, they wisely did their roasting outdoors, using a gas grill and a steel popcorn popper with an agitator. Coffee can indeed be frozen, with varying degrees of effect on…


Letter Re: Coffee

Sarah, I have tried grinding my own coffee and do prefer it. However, buying only a few pounds at a time I found that the beans cost more than buying the ground coffee! That goes for the green coffee beans too. It reminded me of the old Heathkit radios that everyone said you paid for the privilege of putting together. Perhaps they would be cheaper if bought in volumes of 100 or 500 pounds, but I can not afford such a purchase on my own and there is no one in my family, friends or acquaintances who are willing to even try coffee beans; they are happy with their store bought coffee. I finally had to give up, after the price of under 10 lb quantity kept increasing, and I went back to store ground coffee. So, in a TEOTWAWKI situation I guess I will have to live without coffee!…


Letter Re: Do It Yourself Coffee Roasting

After reading some information in SurvivalBlog about roasting green coffee beans I thought I could offer some useful info on the subject, since I’ve been a coffee supplier and roaster for about 10 years. Let’s assume the grid is down—how does one roast coffee? You can do it over an open flame such as a propane burner, or campfire. In the days of cattle drives the cook would roast in a cast iron pot just stirring the beans constantly. If you do that then a peaberry type coffee bean works best because they are more round, and my research tells me that that’s what many of the old cooks packed. Regular beans have a flat side and have a tendency to burn some of the beans on that side regardless of how much you stir. But here is the method I’ve tried and it worked reasonably well. Use a good…


Letter Re: Comments of Storing Coffee and Grinding Whole Wheat Flour

Mr. Rawles, In your new book [“How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It“], which I ordered on “Book Bomb day” you mention that coffee is hard to store, and suggest using the vacuum-packed bricks. I have found that the key to stocking up on coffee for the long term is to buy green coffee beans that have not been roasted yet. They have the potential to keep for up to two years in just a burlap bag, or much longer if actually packed like you would wheat berries. Roasting can be an art in itself, or as simple as frying in a pan. (Just the beans, no oil of course.) A source for roasting information and ordering of green coffee beans is Sweet Marias. I roast my beans using a Fresh Roast II coffee roaster every few days, and plan on roasting them in a…