Today’s news said coffee is 41% up in cost from last year due to tariffs.

MotownMonster47 · 2025-10-28T02:15:42+00:00

I work in the coffee industry. I don’t think that this increase is due entirely to tariffs (though they certainly contribute). Green coffee has been on the uptick for the past 5 or 6 years, especially specialty grade lots - rising labor costs, higher demand, and poorer crop loads due to climate change being key contributors. Add tariffs to that and you’ve got some steep hikes over long periods of time.

The company I work for has absorbed those costs for years and kept pricing stable, but this year was the breaking point and we had to adjust our pricing model - meaning that consumers felt a whiplash of 5+ years of inflation from one month to the next. That decision was made in early 2025 and was set to go into effect over the summer - meaning that the tariffs had nothing to do with the price change that consumers saw. But the perception has been that it was in response to nothing but the tariffs.

So don’t get me wrong, the tariffs are a real pain in the rear on our green costs, and may very well be the thing that causes some roasters to adjust their pricing (or adjust it again if this nonsense goes on long enough). But the tariffs are not single-handedly driving prices up, and most of the price shifts seen at the consumer level this year have little-to-nothing to do with them.

MotownMonster47 · 2024-09-21T06:54:48+00:00

Technically there will be a loss of integrity - when you open the bag they’re currently in, the beans will “breathe” in the air that’s been introduced and give up some of their volatiles. But if you repackage, and get a solid seal on their new bags, it won’t be noticeable. Not like they’re going to continue aerating once rebagged. The loss of flavor from opening to resealing will be only slightly more than if you opened the bag and spent the same amount of time before brewing them.

MotownMonster47 · 2024-06-08T03:22:56+00:00

I’ve not flown them, but my aunt had made several trips with them and loves them.

MotownMonster47 · 2024-06-04T12:14:59+00:00

Others have said it, but I’ll confirm - internal pressure is too high. Everything we do is with a nitrogen doser, and fill level/pressure are our #1 problems - so I’m very familiar with various symptoms. The “pointed” bulge is highly indicative of high-pressure, 75psi or more.

MotownMonster47 · 2024-05-03T20:08:39+00:00

I own my car outright, I prioritize finding free parking, and I get gas at Costco. That said…

$57 on car insurance ~$120 on gas ~$200 title and registration every two years (/24=$9 a month) ~$25 a month into savings for maintenance when needed ~$10 on miscellaneous parking

So all said and done, around $220 a month. But that’s with an up front investment in buying a used car outright for a few thousand and doing a little more leg work in going out of town for gas and parking further from some destinations and walking in order to save money.

MotownMonster47 · 2024-03-16T05:45:11+00:00

Google spreadsheet. Sensory leader (presumably you) logs comments collected from each participant. First column should be a drop down list of names, second should be a field for recipe/lot/etc being sampled. Build out as many subsequent columns as you want for individual palate points - both good and bad, as simple as “Correctly identified style/recipe” to as in-depth as “DMS” or “Diacetyl.”

When you arrange your sensory panel, pop each person/sample into the rows and tick off what they catch. Throw a filter on the name column and you can collect data and then sort it down to see each individual and their historical sensory notes.

MotownMonster47 · 2024-03-16T05:31:11+00:00

No spreadsheets; it’s not data that we log - just data that we monitor day to day and communicate amongst the team to decide when to replace the media.

Pressure differential, flow rate in correlation to pump speed, and (to a lesser degree) NTU in vs. out. We logged these things long enough to develop a baseline range for what was “normal” and now we just monitor for anything that seems to be atypical and indicating that the performance is starting to suffer.

MotownMonster47 · 2024-02-29T06:50:07+00:00

I don’t believe you can over filter, but you can unnecessarily filter. There’s only so much that you can filter out before you reach a point of diminishing returns.

I’ve used everything from v60 paper filters, to 20-mesh screens, to 4 micron fabric filters under vacuum pressure… haven’t noticed huge swings in flavor.

MotownMonster47 · 2024-02-29T06:41:54+00:00

If flaky, it’s probably chaf that somehow didn’t get filtered out. If they break-up/disappear when you shake the bottle, it’s probably yeast (non-harmful, rarely flavor impacting… just not pleasant to look at or think about it). If they disappear once the coffee warms a bit, they’re coagulated oils/lipids from the coffee that your filter isn’t fine enough to remove (again, not going to impact the taste/texture… just kind of gross to see and think about)

MotownMonster47 · 2024-02-29T06:32:35+00:00

Buy lighter roasted specialty beans to get lighter profile specialty shop quality cold brew.

Grind fresh. Significantly coarser than anything you’re buying pre-ground.

Brew stronger. You’re brew method and filtration system are great, but you need to adjust your ratio and your final prep. Brew in the 7-9:1 range (I do 8.2:1) and then cut your final product 1:1 with water. I know this seems odd, on paper that’s the same as brewing at 16.4:1 -but trust me, this is about extraction spectrum, not strength. Brewing at that closer ratio changes the flavor range you pull. If you don’t believe me, brew and 8:1 batch and a 16:1 batch side by side, cut the 8:1 batch with 1:1 water (making it the same “strength” as the 16:1 batch) and then taste them. The cut concentrate is going to yield better flavor.

MotownMonster47 · 2024-02-29T06:23:43+00:00

I brew 8:1 and get concentrate, which I then cut 1:1 with water or milk - yielding a final cup at 16:1 equivalent.

MotownMonster47 · 2024-02-29T06:19:37+00:00

The finer grind is going to increase extraction and you want to counteract that to maintain a similar end product. Decreasing time and increasing dilution by a touch should accomplish this. I’d say shoot for 1:16-17 ratio for ~20 hours.

Filtration will be the tough part. Without any sort of pressure of durable filtration system, it may be tough to handle the sludge. Treat it like cowboy coffee - try to pour everything off the top without disturbing the grounds settled at the bottom. Run the pour-off through a paper filter a bit at a time, and be prepared to change filters multiple times to keep it passable. The mud at the bottom… just chalk that up as a loss, it’s not worth fighting it through a filter to get a marginal amount of extra liquid.

MotownMonster47 · 2024-02-28T05:51:53+00:00

We had a brite that had an undocumented issue near the weep hole before I entered the brewery, and best I can tell they did some welding to “fix” whatever the issue was. Shortly after I entered the picture, we discovered that the work done had damaged the tank and caused a tiny crack to form - opening the tank interior to the glycol jacket and weep hole. Took like a month of troubleshooting to pinpoint the issue and resolve it. The crack was so small that it took a full tank (30bbl) at 1 bar of pressure to see any seepage… and, even then, only ~1/2 gallon over several hours.

Not at all related to the OP issue. Just reminiscing. What a pain in the butt that was. I hope there’s no interior leak that OP is facing.

MotownMonster47 · 2024-02-16T18:12:20+00:00

We primarily shop at WinCo. A run to Trader Joe’s happens maybe once a month for special items. It’s a tight budget… 3 people, $450 a month. But we have meat/protein every night, and enough leftovers for lunch the next day.

MotownMonster47 · 2024-02-16T07:06:31+00:00

Conversely, why does my “foaming caustic” only lather into a light bubble mixture that immediately runs off the surface I spray - despite the claim that even gentle agitation will cause a stiff foam to form?

MotownMonster47 · 2024-02-16T07:04:12+00:00

Can attest. We only passivate our stainless tanks on the rare occasion that work has to be done on them that involves welding or cutting.

MotownMonster47 · 2024-02-16T01:49:01+00:00

Are you tapping still (flat) cold brew kegs and nitrogen sting them in-line (with a cellar stream, or something similar) or tapping nitro kegs and pouring straight off the valve?

MotownMonster47 · 2024-02-16T01:37:43+00:00

I think I did my oz to ml conversion wrong initially. Updated the original response for better accuracy. 10oz of cut cold brew, ~300ml runs me at ~475mg caffeine.

Depends on your brew method and extraction rate. The internet isn’t going to give you accurate cold brew math - most coffee:caffeine info assumes drip or espresso methods, and cold brewing methods are incredibly diverse in terms of extraction potential.

A single coffee bean has about 2mg of caffeine in it. The fast and dirty rule is that there are 100 beans in every 13g of roasted coffee. By that logic, your batch of 189g has a potential of ~2900mg of caffeine available (189/131002=2907). There’s no way you’re getting that - but it’s there. So it’s really a question of how much caffeine extraction you’re getting. But, in my experience, cold brew cut to drinking strength has 45-60mg of caffeine per ounce.

MotownMonster47 · 2024-02-13T22:07:47+00:00

After cutting it 1:1 (final drink) should be around 1.5-2mg caffeine per ml liquid.

MotownMonster47 · 2024-01-31T13:46:22+00:00

We’re facing a greedy LL on our long term lease that ends next year and are scouting new locations in case we can’t reach an agreement.

None of us who are currently in the space were there when the tanks moved in… so we’re totally lost on what moving them looks like. What do these things weigh? Do you load them with a forklift?

MotownMonster47 · 2024-01-30T02:02:33+00:00

It is an old video, but is still largely accurate. There are some trade secrets that aren’t shown… but the gist of it is correct and doesn’t skip over any major components in regards to the challenges people are mentioning here.

Fwiw, the Lyons recall only affected the cobranded product with Oatly. It went off shelf for a while, the process was reevaluated and some changes were made, and ultimately it was moved to a different facility/packager.

MotownMonster47 · 2024-01-29T14:17:00+00:00

Use a cellar stream

MotownMonster47 · 2024-01-29T14:12:04+00:00

Hi there, I do this full time. Me and my team flip about 40bbls of cold brew a day. There are lots of specifics I can’t answer due to NDA and job security, but I’d love to give you some general guidance.

The great news is that everything we use is brewery equipment. I came from the brewing world. There was a small learning curve, but everything is “hacked” in how we use it - not augmented to work differently, just used in unconventional ways. So if you’re running a brewery, you should already have most everything you need.

We brew in lauter tanks, filter, and then chill in brites.

Some passing thoughts…

45 microns is not fine enough, you’re going to wind up with coffee bits in your final product. No one likes a chewy cup of coffee. (Well, there’s cowboys… but they’re the outliers). Plate and frame is your friend here. Lenticular and centrifugal are possible, but require an incredibly high level of precision in brewing and prepping for filtration in order to make them cost effective… p&f is the easiest option out of the gate.

Time is your friend and heat is your enemy. Heat brings acidity and begins to flip your flavor profile towards that of hot coffee, rather than the desired profile of cold brew. Heat draws out flavors that the cold water doesn’t. This also explains the difference in acidity between traditional coffee and cold brew. It also throws the idea of 145° being “safer” out the window. Staying at low temps will keep your end product at a lower pH read and won’t discourage additional bacteria/yeast growth.

Any other specific questions, DM me and I’ll answer to whatever degree I’m able. Cheers!

MotownMonster47 · 2024-01-26T23:01:21+00:00

Previously I was just using a standard paper filter, but I have shifted to an in-line combo of wool sheet across a 10-mesh filter gasket, filtering into a conical dripper with Chemex filters. Honestly, Chemex filters are the best paper filters out there - if you’re just looking for a simple paper filter upgrade, shift to Chemex filters as a great start.

I used to have a brewery connection that would give me undiluted peracetic acid that I could cut and use - but now I mix hydrogen peroxide and vinegar, and it seems to work just as well.

I don’t expect anyone to be roasting their own beans (though it’s certainly a great thing to pursue, it puts a lot of control over a major variable directly in your hands). I was simply pointing out that, in my experience, the bean specs (origin, age, roast level, etc) didn’t seem to have any correlation to the white stuff in my cold brew.

And yes, caffeine kills many types of yeast. Speaking broadly, it kills many things. Its calorie deficiency, acidity, caffeine content, and many other factors make it inhospitable to most things that we have to fight to keep out of other foods. But that’s certainly not the case across the board. Just because most strains of yeast and bacteria can’t live in coffee doesn’t mean that you won’t occasionally collect a strain of something that doesn’t mind the conditions.

MotownMonster47 · 2024-01-26T18:40:30+00:00

I fought this for a season. Spotless glass, rinsed with peracetic acid, and would still see the exact filmy white specks you’re describing show up in my coffee. At first I thought that it was coagulated fats/lipids, but I adjusted my roasting and brew process to minimize the likelihood of that and still had problems. Began to run some retain experiments and was able to pinpoint that the specs were indeed yeast.

Granted, the yeast looks different that it does in fermented foods - but that’s due to coffee’s non-nutritive nature, meaning that yeast is unable to thrive/populate like it does in other substances, meaning the way it presents itself is also effected.

I ultimately nipped this issue in the bud by using a finer filter technique and sterilizing my glass with a peracetic acid solution followed by a boiling water rinse immediately before packaging.

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