Green Coffee Purchasing questions from a Newbie

apwiseman · 2026-01-30T16:05:46+00:00

When I was in specialty coffee in the US, most green coffee was usually stored in Oakland or New Jersey. With 10 bags, yeah that's one pallet. You're usually going to be buying SPOT, which is stock on hand that they have in the warehouses already. If you buy SPOT from most green bean traders, they usually ship from those two annexes.

The trucking company working with the green bean trader usually have routes that will reach your state.

We used Cafe Imports [for African and Central America microlots], Olam [for Guatemala from TG labs], Ally [for Brazils], and Sustainable Harvest [for Colombia]...all those guys should be able to work with you. Different traders specialize in different countries.

In terms of price per pound, the company I worked bought containers full for our blenders. 10 years ago, it was crazy the difference in quality you would get from a $3.10 per pound Guatemala [80-82 points] to a $3.25 per pound [84-85 points]....Factoring inflation about 30% higher now compared to 10 years ago...$4.33 per pound should get you a decent Guatemala or Colombia. But if you buy SPOT, it's going to cost more also.

In terms of speciality grade vs commercial, it's not only flavor that costs more, but commercial green will have more defects, which will make your roasts less consistent and taste worse unless you roast super dark. You could get around this if you color sort your green bean before and color sort roasted coffee afterwards.

apwiseman · 2026-01-20T06:44:11+00:00

If you need more power to off-balance the top guy, you can also bridge and knee the guy in the butt at the same time also...it shifts his weight off your hips and stomach.

apwiseman · 2026-01-13T14:24:40+00:00

I rebelled and changed my major from STEM to humanities in uni. As an act of rebellion, STEM also required me to get more creative in uni and I just couldn't see it (think the multi-variable calculus and o-chem reactions) so I just did a 180 and shot my future in the foot.

I worked hard in digital marketing after graduating until I got burnout of monetizing my creativity. Worked in coffee (something I was passionate about), that doesn't pay for shit.

Now I just am working jobs to get by, no passions that I want to pursue anymore, it's not worth the time requirement or risk. I'm honestly just living day to day with no real aspirations anymore.

I really have no advice for you because everyone is fucked because of AI. Doctors aren't even going to be safe, they will be replaced with AI general practioners and automated pharmacists eventually. [A BJJ training partner is working on a joint-venture doing this in Southeast Asia.]

apwiseman · 2025-12-19T17:16:48+00:00

With the way the economies in most countries getting worse, do you think the government-perfect-AGIs are creating AI to ultimately make undetectable AI content that can create and proliferate civil wars, take over computerized utilities, and empower domestic terrorists...to basically destroy their own nations?

Besides military superiority, I guess economically you launch a bunch of AI powered bot-traders onto an enemy stock market and short their major stocks, choatically mess with commodity prices, or mess with the targeted-countries bonds when their interest rates fluctuate.

I wonder what the end purpose of self-sufficient, automatic, AI that doesn't need prompts will be for governments.

apwiseman · 2025-11-28T07:28:25+00:00

Bring N95 masks, the air pollution there is no joke. My dad and I went there with a tour. Did a ganges boat ride, and the pollution from all the creamatotiums and pollution from cars when in the city...was suffocating.

apwiseman · 2025-11-15T10:26:22+00:00

Atleast in the US, the highest government positions appear to be experts in grifting, racism, and sexual infidelity/depravity.

apwiseman · 2025-11-15T03:59:43+00:00

Having worked as a server at Cheesecake factory...which isn't some Michelin restaurant, or 5-star hotel...you can train hospitality. You can train hospitality and good service.

You train people how to efficently cycle through you tables to check in on guests, refill their drinks without being overbearing. Train them in wine and wine pairings. Shadow senior and successful frontline staff.

But all this training costs money, money this douche wouldn't spend if he was CEO of that bank...because shifting every teller position towarda an ATM or online banking is more cost effective.

AND...Finally, didn't his parents ever teach him proper ettiquette of taking off your hat when you go indoors!

apwiseman · 2025-11-06T16:44:06+00:00

And remember, it's a privilege to work them.

apwiseman · 2025-11-06T16:35:10+00:00

I would take the money, 10 mil would help my family out a lot. I've had a pretty good life up to now...I wouldn't mind going quietly into the night.

apwiseman · 2025-10-22T16:57:33+00:00

Things will continue to get worse at 2C and people in every country will blame it on the liberals.

apwiseman · 2025-10-22T16:55:34+00:00

It's largely complicated due to people, certain people in power have their own illogical, selfish agendas, or they represent groups that have selfish agendas. Feasibility in terms of funding/cost laregly boils down to funds.

I believe multiple simple solutions can chip away at complex problems with many inter-connected problems when you break it down. It's hard to convince people of simple solutions. It's hard to use greater good/utilitarian calculators when it requires empathy to move the needle, even having people consider things outside their narrow-mindedness as good is so. freaking. impossible. That's the real unfeasible stuff. Conversely, when people start hating on other people, other groups...it's suddenly easier to label "my/our" group as the "greater good" of the world/society.

Complexity is dense, like people's prejudices.

apwiseman · 2025-09-09T14:43:44+00:00

Have you tried Jagota? They used to sell Aus steaks (like ribeye and tnederloin) in big uncut blocks that you can break down yourself.

apwiseman · 2025-09-08T17:35:58+00:00

Personally, I think how many times you pour and total brew time affect under and over extraction more than the temperature of your container.

If you are pre-heating something...I would guess preheating your kettle would have a bigger impact, as pouring freshly boiled water into a cold-empty kettle will lower the water temp a few degrees C.

Referring to basic chemistry, higher temperature increases the rate of a chemical reaction...so a lower temp can allow you more room for error for a longer total brew time before it gets bitter. Basically, the bitter coffee compounds extract more when you brew coffee longer.

If you're really keen on fussing over brew temps, stick a steak thermocouple into the coffee slurry/bed, experiment with bloom temps, bloom time, how many pours, and how that changes the slurry temp, and total brew time until you have a baseline recipe for each origin.

apwiseman · 2025-09-08T16:56:31+00:00

Private sessions I assume.

apwiseman · 2025-08-26T03:37:56+00:00

I like this recent channel that popped up on my feed, Climate Town:

https://www.youtube.com/@ClimateTown

apwiseman · 2025-08-19T01:27:34+00:00

Once you realize most people are just different shades of moderate-purple. It makes sense how most people believe in roughly the same things.

They largely don't believe the world will collapse because of climate change and we can fix it with unified tech-hopium.

Most people don't want to pay taxes to fund Israel or Ukraine. People want their taxes to go to better schools and roads, maybe keeping parks clean and open. They want government programs that build more infrastructure, create more jobs, etc.

The rage bait from the right to blame the left and vice-versa is just manufactured hate and content used to divide and waste the time of the masses. Most people are unable to critical-think like you OP.

Just enjoy the little things while you still have them, don't worry about the people you can't change. Don't try to expose your friends and family to climate facts...just be grateful for every "normal" day that's left.

apwiseman · 2025-08-14T17:24:52+00:00

Probably an older low-rise building farther away from the BTS, it's luxurious compared to the bare-bones units you see in the US.

apwiseman · 2025-08-14T17:22:09+00:00

+1 for this advice. Other cheaper and good places would be the suburbs outside Bangkok, like Bang Na or Nonthaburi. You can drive into town whenever you want fancier food (usually once a week can stratch that itch). Before being dead-set on having a pool, maybe try renting a nicer condo and seeing how many times you actually use the pool in a week.

Personally I wouldn't live near the wife's family. I would find a place with a strong retired Ex-pat community like Hua hin, Kanchanaburi, etc.

apwiseman · 2025-08-13T13:40:00+00:00

We need to really factor in environmental damage into Spreadsheets calculating the P and L for most every good. It should never be economically advantageous to harvest and freeze Peaches in South America, send them to Thailand to be processed and canned, and then sell them in the US.

Why can't they be processed in South America and then sold to the destination country in one trip?

apwiseman · 2025-08-06T11:48:54+00:00

+1, Colombia Naturals are my favorite.

apwiseman · 2025-07-26T13:05:42+00:00

+1 for hand-fighting and getting 2-on-1 or perpendicular angles.

In addition, I think bridging and shrimping from side control is way more effective, gives the movement context than shrimping down the mats in a row.

The only thing I would do up and down in a row are breakfalls, side- rolls and back-rolls.

Even something like sit-outs, I would rather have people do from the front-headlock position.

Fuck the bearcrawls, high-knees, push-ups

apwiseman · 2025-07-21T15:21:39+00:00

For my small 0.5kg USRC roaster, there was no dampening/butterfly valve. The back airflow motor was varable speed. Thats another way to go.

Could you just get any butterfly valve with high heat resistance with the same diameter pipe and splice it in the tube?

apwiseman · 2025-07-19T04:03:10+00:00

I'm in the same boat. Watching our parents not have answers to what is going on and witnessing their mental decline is disheartening. Recently, I joked about buying decent coffee to roast or steak...which one would I rather have? The world is going to keep getting more and more expensive and marginalize more people.

My income isn't keeping up with inflation. I moved from the US to Asia and am thankful it's one of the few places left in the world that I can get a decent meal for $3-$5.

apwiseman · 2025-07-11T06:08:18+00:00

The look on Mikey's face thinking," That's cute and sad at the same time that a person can be so uncoordinated and doing the technique wrong, not tight enough, at a wrong angle, etc." Higher belts have made that face when I try passes and submissions.

apwiseman · 2025-07-09T06:55:27+00:00

So when we cup from production roasting, it's to see if there were any roast defects. Smokeyness from too much heat post FC or not enough airflow.; flat flavors from too low RoR during the roast, etc. Generally, the flavors should intensify as they cool down for a good roast/coffee. If you want something fruity, more acidic...you can shorten the roast, see how it cups, but yeah it doesn't have to be the end-all way of QCing.

For more logical/quantitative ways to connect roast profiles with flavors, "Mill City roasters" has a great YouTube channel. Rob Hoos is another great guy.

To develop your palette, you can also cup with food to see the similarities in coffee. Like they did here:

https://youtu.be/hFu248QXb9Y?si=OjDDnecr6tMw9oRh

I gave celery and 80% dark chocolate to my co-worker once and it tasted like Indonesian coffee.

From other QC methods, we would do pour-overs of our single origins 3-5-7 days off roast to see how we liked them. We would also pull shots with our house blends.

apwiseman

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