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Changing coffee beans: What do you do when there aren't enough beans to make a final brew?

In our house, we generally go for variety in our coffee beans. That means when we are finishing one bag, we're going to open a different bag with totally different beans inside.

What do you do if there aren't enough old beans to make a full serving of coffee?

It may be heresey, but I mix the final old beans with a few beans from the new bag and call it my "bonus blend".

21 comments
  • Honestly? I just fill the remaining weight in the grinder with whatever I've opened to brew next. Unless the old beans are getting stale, then I just bin the tiny remaining amount.

  • Unless it's a single origin bean, it's probably a blend anyway. I just blend the leftovers with the new beans and call it a good cup. I'll try to find a complimentary roast, though. e.g. mixing a light roast with a dark roast leads to an odd cup.

  • Sometimes if I'm feeling classy I'll grind the rest and set them aside to make cold brew with later. That's more forgiving so I do it to use up old, stale beans that I end up with for whatever reasons.

    Most of the time I don't care and I just top off the weight with whatever I'm using next and drink whatever comes out. It's usually fine, and when it's not it's at least novel.

  • I buy two bags at a time for flavor variety and to reach the free shipping threshold. I have one in the morning and the other in the afternoon.

    I’ll usually order more before running out and will mix whatever seems like a good combo if one bag gets too low for a full dose on its own.

  • Same, we got good quality beans and expresso machine anyway, so having a blend is a surprising but wonderful cup of coffee.

  • If there is like 12gr left, I’ll adjust my recipe a bit and make smaller cup. Especially if the coffee is very bold or funky.

    Otherwise I’ll mix it with beans that are similar. I usually have four or five bags open.

21 comments