1. What is Fresh Coffee? Whole bean coffee maintains peak flavor for two to three weeks after roasting. During that time, the coffee beans release carbon dioxide gas that drives away oxygen and keeps the beans fresh. Once the coffee stops releasing CO2, the beans start to oxidize and stale. Believe me, you can taste the difference! Order a roast of fresh coffee today and see.
2. What happens once the coffee is ground? Coffee begins to stale about twenty-five minutes after grinding because the increased surface area allows the CO2 to escape much more quickly. That's why we here at Coffee Fresh, Inc. encourage all our customers to grind their own coffee immediately before brewing. If you don't have a grinder, though, or wish to give coffee to someone who may not own a grinder, we're happy to grind the coffee for you. Drop us an email or write "Please grind for" and the kind of brewer you use (Percolator, Filter System, French Press, etc.) under "Special Instructions for Merchant" before you hit the last pay button.
4. What is custom roasted coffee? Custom roasted coffee is your coffee, roasted to your order. Coffee Fresh, Inc. uses micro-roast technology to roast only the coffee you order to the roast level you specify. Each roast is 600 grams of green coffee. After roasting, the coffee weighs between 1 and 1.2 pounds, depending on variety of coffee and roast level. The darker the roast, the lighter the weight. Coffee Fresh, Inc. then packages the coffee in clear, polyfoil ziploc pouches and ships the coffee to you within 24 hours of roasting.
5. Don't most artisan roasters offer custom roasted coffee?
While many artisan roasters offer custom roasted coffee, their reliance on older roaster technology requires them to roast between 10 and 100 pounds of green coffee at a time. Unless your order is for exactly the amount their roaster holds, they must throw the extra coffee away or sell it to someone else. Rather than increase prices to pay for discarded coffee or sell coffee ordered by one customer to another, Coffee by the Roast guarantees that you get all the coffee you order, roasted to the level you choose and shipped fresh...all at the best possible price.
6. Can I order more than one roast of a coffee? Absolutely. Coffee Fresh, Inc. is happy to custom roast as much coffee as you want. Just select your coffee, the number of roasts and roast level. We'll do the rest!
7. I don't know which roast level to choose. What do I do? You can check our roast level chart or the roast level recommendations in our coffee descriptions. If you still can't decide, ignore the "please select..." drop down menu and the option will come up blank. Our roasters will then roast your coffee at the default roast level for that coffee. You can also email us with any roast level questions.
8. I know the level I want for my coffee, but it's not one of your options. What do I do?
Drop us an email. The roast level options on the website include the most popular roast levels for each coffee. If you prefer something different, your espresso light or your flavored coffee dark, for instance, drop us a line. We'll be happy to oblige. Coffee by the Roast means getting YOUR coffee, YOUR way, every time.
9. I don't see my favorite coffee (or coffee flavor) on your list. What do I do?
Email us. Coffee Fresh, Inc. offers many varieties of coffee and flavored coffee options that are not listed on the website.
10. The descriptions of your flavored coffees refer to the flavoring not the coffee. What kind of coffee does Coffee Fresh, Inc. flavor?
We at Coffee Fresh, Inc. believe that customers who enjoy flavored coffee deserve the same high quality coffee as any other customer. We start with a high quality, mild coffee, roast it to order and stir in just the right amount of flavoring to give you a sweet, flavorful cup.
11. Why do some coffees cost more than others?
Coffee Fresh, Inc. pays more for some green coffees than for others. We charge our customers a set amount over our cost for each roast of coffee. More expensive or less, the only difference is the difference in our cost. The only exception is our Coffee of the Month. Every month we choose one coffee to highlight, a very special coffee we hope our customers will love as much as we do. To encourage our customers to try the Coffee of the Month, we keep the price steady at $8.99 per pouch, regardless of how much the green coffee costs. After the month is over, the Coffee of the Month continues to be available for $11.49 per pouch.
12. Your prices are by the roast. How much does your coffee cost per pound?
Most of the coffee at Coffee by the Roast costs less than $10 a pound. The exact amount depends on the coffee and roast level you choose. The darker a coffee is roasted, the less it weighs. For any variety of coffee, a pound of French Roast takes more beans than a pound of New England Roast. All our roasts start with 600 gr. of green coffee beans. The end weight after roasting will vary between 1 pound and 1.2 pounds, with an average weight of 1.15 pounds for most coffees at a medium roast level. If you want to estimate your cost per pound, divide the price of your roast by 1.1 for dark roasts, 1.15 for medium to light roasts and 1.2 for decafs or flavored coffee. At $8.99 per roast, our Coffee of the Month will be under $8.00 per pound at most roast levels, a real bargain!
13. Are the more expensive coffees better coffees?
No. All our coffees are the highest quality available. Coffee Fresh, Inc. pays producers an average of 40% over C-Market (the coffee exchange) to ensure we get the very best coffee. The differences in price between coffees reflect other factors, such as shipping and distribution costs, the cost of government run auctions, and certification premiums such as Fair Trade and Organic.
14. Fair Trade? I don't
see any Fair Trade coffee on your list.
As part of supporting a sustainable coffee culture, Coffee Fresh, Inc. sells several Fair Trade coffees and is
currently in the process of obtaining Fair Trade Certification. Once we receive our certification, we will add
the Fair Trade logo to the coffees' descriptions.
As long as your coffee is shipped to to a US or US military address, your cost for shipping and handling will be a flat, $5.00 per order. Order one roast or twenty, the shipping and handling fee remains the same.
16. Can I get Coffee by the Roast shipped to an APO address?
Absolutely! Coffee Fresh, Inc. is happy to ship anywhere in the US or to any US military address for our flat shipping and handling rate of $5.00 per order. (Please note that the return address will not show Coffee Fresh, Inc. Too many packages with our name on the address label have gone missing when sent to Iraq and Afghanistan. A plainer return address results in more coffee arriving at its destination.)
17. I live outside the US. Can I still order Coffee by the Roast?
Yes. Please drop us an email with your order and we'll calculate the shipping costs for your approval before we custom roast your coffee. Okay the order, give us your payment information, and we'll roast and ship your coffee.
Coffee Fresh, Inc., 2321 Davis St. Unit C, North Chicago, IL 60044
(847) 578-0772