FAQs

Got coffee? Yes! Got questions? Yes!

Explore coffee roast levels, coffee grinding and brewing techniques, and find the answers to your percolating coffee questions here. If your question isn't answered below, or answers lead to more questions, feel free to write us from our Contact Us page or email us directly at info@coffeebytheroast.com.

Exclusively from Coffee by the Roast™ -- Retail pouches of our 100% Arabica, specialty grade coffee. Each pouch starts with 600 grams of raw, unroasted, green coffee. You pick the coffee. You pick the roast level. Our small batch roasters minimize waste and maximize quality to give You the best coffee for the best possible price.

The weight of each roast varies between 1 pound and 1.2 pounds depending on the variety of coffee and the roast level you choose.   Coffee by the Roast™ packages each roast in a clear/gold foil, zip pouch with a degassing valve and ships within 24 hours of roasting. Whether you prefer your coffee drip or espresso, flavored or decaffeinated, Coffee by the Roast™ ensures you get the freshest, most flavorful coffee.

Browse our online store and order a pouch or two. With our flat $9.00 shipping and handling rate, the more coffee you order, the better your day.

Welcome to Fresh Coffee!

Coffee Roast Levels

With most coffee, the best drip is made with a City to Vienna roast. The best espresso (where you do not want the acidity) is made with a Northern or Southern Italian roast.

Different coffee cultures traditionally roasted their coffees to different levels. Americans traditionally bought the best coffee and roasted it very light. The Northern and Central Europeans bought lesser coffees and roasted them darker. The French, Spanish and Latin Americans used the worst coffee and roasted it very dark. This has changed completely since WWII with the Europeans and Japanese buying most of the premium coffees and the large American roasters using Robustas and the low quality Arabica beans.

Brewing Coffee with a French Press

Brewers, Grinds and Brewing Ground Coffee

Different Brewers (from French Press to Keurig®-style single cup) and Grind Levels affect the character and flavor of your coffee.

Coffee begins to stale about twenty-five minutes after grinding.  At Coffee by the Roast™, we encourage all our customers to grind their own coffee immediately before brewing. Since different grinds work best for different brewers, here is a quick look at the most common brewer types* and the grind that works best for each.

The correct grind is essential to brew a good cup of coffee. For other cures for the “less than perfect” cup, see our Trouble-Shooting chart.

Some of our customers have asked us to grind their whole bean coffee before we ship it. If you would like to try fresh roasted coffee, but don’t have a grinder, just click “the special instructions to merchant” link on the page with the final “pay now” button (or drop us an email) and ask for the coffee to be ground. Let us know what kind of brewer you use and we will happily grind your coffee before shipping it to you.

Trouble-Shooting Guide

My coffee doesn't taste right!  What is going on??

The most important part of brewing a good cup of coffee is choosing the right coffee beans, but sometimes even the best beans can brew into a disappointing cup of coffee. Brewing coffee is a dance between three factors: Water temperature, amount of coffee used, and the grind. Here are the most common reasons for the less than perfect cup and what you can do about them.

Frequently Asked Questions

Find your question below, leave us a message on our Contact Us page or send us an email at info@coffeebytheroast.com.   

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 by the Roast™ 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.)  in the "Additional Instructions" box when you're paying for the coffee.

3.  Once I receive my coffee, how do I keep it fresh?  If you'll drink a whole roast (a little over a pound) in two to three weeks, leave your coffee in the polyfoil degassing bag at room temperature. If you want to keep your coffee fresh longer than 3 weeks, freeze it in the original packaging. Freezing will slightly reduce the aroma of your brewed coffee, but will preserve the fresh flavor for up to three months.  Whatever you do, please DO NOT refrigerate your coffee. Coffee is like baking soda. It will absorb any odors in your refrigerator resulting in a fresh-smelling 'fridge and strange-tasting coffee.

4.  What is custom roasted coffee?  Custom roasted coffee is YOUR coffee, roasted to YOUR order. Coffee by the Roast™ 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. We package the coffee in black rice paper/polyfoil ziploc pouches and ship the coffee to you within 24 hours of roasting.

5. What is 4th Wave Coffee? Fourth Wave Coffee focusses on bringing out the different flavors and nuances inherent in coffee beans from different origins. This attention to flavor extends to blends, where the highest quality beans are mixed together to bring out a specific flavor profile. Unique to this emerging coffee wave, Fourth Wave Coffee is all about the coffee drinker. Instead of the roaster determining which flavors to highlight, Fourth Wave Coffee seeks to highlight the flavor preferences of the coffee drinker.

6.  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.

7.  Can I order more than one roast of a coffee?  Absolutely. We are 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!

8.  I don't know which roast level to choose. What do I do?  There are roast level recommendations in the coffee descriptions. Choose any of those roast levels, and you can be sure the coffee will taste great! Or select the "Roaster's Choice" roast level option, and we'll roast the coffee the roast level we like best. You can also call or email us with any roast level questions.

9.  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 or leave a note in the "Additional Instructions" box.  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 or give us a call.  We'll be happy to oblige.  Coffee by the Roast™ means getting YOUR coffee, YOUR way, every time.

10.  Are the coffee bags in the product pictures the actual bags for my green coffee?  The photos of burlap bags are actual coffee bags, but they are not necessarily the bags your coffee came in.  They are photos of the nicest looking bags for that kind of coffee.

11.  I don't see my favorite coffee (or coffee flavor) on your list.  What do I do?   Email us. We offer many varieties of coffee and flavored coffee options that are not listed on the website.

12.  The descriptions of your flavored coffees refer to the flavoring not the coffee.  What kind of coffee does Coffee by the Roast™ flavor?  We believe customers who enjoy flavored coffee deserve the same high quality coffee as our other customers.  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.

13.  Why do some coffees cost more than others?   We pay 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 $19.99 per pouch, regardless of how much the green coffee costs. After the month is over, all Coffees of the Month continue to be available for $23.99 per pouch.

14.  Your prices are by the roast.  How much does your coffee cost per pound?  Most of the coffee at Coffee by the Roast™ costs about $24 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 very dark French Roast takes more beans than a pound of  very light Cinnamon 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 $19.99 per roast, our Coffee of the Month is about $17.38 per pound at most roast levels, a real bargain!
  
15.  Are the more expensive coffees better coffees?  No.  All our coffees are the highest quality available.   Some of our coffees are rare and particularly expensive, but we pay producers an average of 40% over C-Market (the coffee exchange) for all our coffee to ensure we get the very best.  The differences in price between our other coffees reflect factors, such as shipping and distribution costs, the cost of government run auctions, and certification premiums such as Fair Trade and Organic.

16.  Fair Trade?  I don't see any Fair Trade coffee on your list.  Coffee by the Roast™ is not Fair Trade certified, so we are not allowed to sell the Fair Trade coffees we buy as "Fair Trade."  We prefer to spend the money certification costs on the green coffee beans so more of it goes directly to the small growers and cooperatives who provide our coffee.

17.  How much do you charge for shipping and handling?   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 $9.00 per order.  Order one roast or twenty, the shipping and handling fee remains the same.

18.  Can I get Coffee by the Roast™ shipped to an APO address?  Absolutely!  Coffee by the Roast™ is happy to ship anywhere in the US or to any US military address for our flat shipping and handling rate of $9.00 per order.  (Please note that the return address will not show Coffee by the Roast™  Too many packages with our name on the address label have gone missing when sent overseas.  A plainer return address results in more coffee arriving at its destination.)

19.  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.

20.  If I have another question for Coffee by the Roast™, is there a phone number I can call?  Yes. 847-578-0772.  Please leave a message if no one answers and we'll get back to you within one business day.