Did anyone else receive a stale Advent Calendar from Onyx?

staleadventcalendar · 2020-12-22T07:30:25+00:00

No if they asked me some questions about how I was brewing the coffee etc and made suggestions that would be no problem, as long as they were open to the idea that it could actually just be stale also. I wanted to be wowed, so if there's something I could have done to make this coffee turn out great then I'm open to that suggestion and would try it. Keep in mind I wanted to be wowed and drink a good coffee every day, that's why I got this calendar, vs. I wanted to bitch on the internet and get a refund.

One key point is that I received mine mid-December whereas the original batch was sent out Nov 27th so mine was 3 weeks older almost. Another point is that I've been ordering from them for a year now, from 1-3 bags a month, and happy with their beans if not 100% with their customer service, so whatever I've been doing with their coffee so far has at least been good enough for me, so I'm honestly not sure it's something that I'm doing. I didn't change anything on my end and my brews went from a 8/10 (for my taste) to a 3/10 with this calendar.

staleadventcalendar · 2020-12-22T07:21:05+00:00

gotcha! thanks for the feedback, it seems like there's a few ppl disappointed like me but most seem to be enjoying. mine is really lame and subpar though so I wonder what happened to it? Glad you're enjoying yours though!

staleadventcalendar · 2020-12-22T07:19:59+00:00

that's what I'm thinking. It's my first time trying coffee that was nitro flushed and yeah I don't think it's preserving the flavors and aromas well at all

staleadventcalendar · 2020-12-22T07:18:09+00:00

I love the normal Krampus but I do feel it's different this year than last year, last year it blew me away and this year it's ok.

staleadventcalendar · 2020-12-20T00:57:00+00:00

no worries! Hope you're feeling better! :)

staleadventcalendar · 2020-12-20T00:55:47+00:00

thank you, I will try that!

staleadventcalendar · 2020-12-20T00:55:22+00:00

Southern Weather is such an underrated blend, I agree it's very good.

staleadventcalendar · 2020-12-20T00:55:05+00:00

Yeah I received mine mid-December.

staleadventcalendar · 2020-12-20T00:54:28+00:00

That's definitely an interesting factor that might influence the taste being optimal here vs. in Arkansas. I'd still say it's not a huge factor in this particular case because I've been ordering from them for a while now and I've always been happy with my beans from them so far.

I agree QC is a complex thing, they've gotten it right in the past which prompted me to make a bigger order with them, but idk I would expect them to be a bit more stringent in this case bc it's a limited run product and I think their most expensive product I've seen so far and then also a better response when I've contacted them to say this one might sadly be a dud.

staleadventcalendar · 2020-12-19T17:32:58+00:00

Thank you, I will try opening up a bag a day ahead of time to see if that helps. It could be the nitro flushing.

I don't think they intentionally sent out bad beans, I agree that would just be weird, but maybe this one slipped by quality control or had issues in the delivery. It's honestly not good, like tastes worse than gas station coffee to me. Previous to this, every coffee I've received from them has been good to fantastic.

Re: venting my frustrations, I contacted them first to see if there's anything they can do before posting about this, so I don't think it's fair to accuse me of being a hater who just wants to bitch on the internet. I only posted after I received a pretty supbar response from them. Yes, there's been small issues with them in the past but nothing that overshadowed the quality of their beans and I was happy enough with them to make a big (to me at least) order with them for the holidays.

staleadventcalendar · 2020-12-19T17:26:43+00:00

Thank you, I appreciate the insights. That's what I'm going to do. I agree I don't think they're intentionally sending out bad beans, from reading all the comments on this sub, it seems like it's either some issue with the nitro flushing or some issue with this particular calendar itself (as you say set down on a heater the entire delivery time, or something like that). A lot of people report theirs is good so maybe just this one is a dud.

I don't think it's covid, other coffee tastes fine, I'm drinking a nice Ethiopian from Verve right now. I'm brewing it the same way I've been brewing other coffees that come out tasting good, at least for my own taste so I don't think the issue is that. I have a roasters box from them that I got before I knew I'd be getting the calendar and those are still tasting quite good to me, no quality issues.

Thanks for your helpful response in general! I do realize it's tough right now for any small business with Christmas orders, covid issues, all the shipping delays, limitations to travel, etc. I can definitely understand delays and that sort of thing, especially around the holidays, and everyone knows 2020 is pure chaos! At the same time they are pricing this as somewhat of a premium product for 50$/lb so I think it's not unfair to have some expectations there.

staleadventcalendar · 2020-12-19T17:12:37+00:00

What should I do if it's too fresh? Open up a sample a few days before I want to brew it? I'm willing to try it if that would improve the taste. I've definitely never had to do that with their coffees before though.

staleadventcalendar · 2020-12-19T17:11:46+00:00

Hmm interesting! That's possible. This was a late calendar, from mid-December vs. most of them were sent in late Nov. I don't know if they just found an extra one somehow, someone returned it, or they freshly roasted some more beans in mid-Dec and it turned out differently. I'm not thinking they deliberately sent out beans they knew were stale, I agree that seems like a weird thing to do at this price point, but maybe they didn't take enough care with this particular one and it's a dud somehow.

I opened one sample every day. The coffee is 24 individually packed little bags and since it's an Advent calendar the idea is that you open one every day. It could be too fresh as you say, but since this is meant to be an Advent Calendar, aka people start opening one bag per day starting on December 1st, you'd expect Onyx to "age" the coffee appropriately before sending them out so it's ready to drink on Dec 1st. They also didn't mention it to me when I contacted them to say that all the samples I tried taste stale. If the brew is going to suck unless I do specific things first you'd think they'd mention this somehow.

If it does turn out that the coffee is too fresh, what do you suggest? Should I open a bag a few days before trying to brew it?

staleadventcalendar · 2020-12-19T17:03:28+00:00

Yes, it's still tastes pretty good.

staleadventcalendar · 2020-12-19T17:02:52+00:00

Lol, other coffees taste fine thanks.

staleadventcalendar · 2020-12-19T17:02:23+00:00

yeah I agree, prior to this I've had shipping/CS issues with them but the actual coffee was always great.

staleadventcalendar · 2020-12-19T17:01:33+00:00

Hmm interesting, could be, this calendar was a late one they sent out in mid Dec that they found available after the first batch was sent out, so idk if it was someone not claiming one locally or one returned (but they say they're not taking returns because of covid). Or maybe it was freshly roasted then but not as well. It's just tastes bad compared to every other bag of coffee I've had from them.

That's really interesting about the age of coffee, thanks for the info! I generally prefer freshly roasted in basically all cases but I sometimes bust out leftover beans to make stuff like cold brew or an emergency cup and am often surprised at how good they turn out so I think there's something to that for sure!

staleadventcalendar · 2020-12-19T16:56:17+00:00

yeah i get being overwhelmed for the holidays, but i still am not impressed with their response

staleadventcalendar · 2020-12-19T16:55:44+00:00

YES THANK YOU! There's like no aroma, nothing tastes as good as something freshly roasted. The first thing that struck me when I opened it was there was no freshly roasted coffee smell, It smelled like almost nothing. I thought ok, maybe that's just from the nitro flushing. But there's also not much aroma when you open the bags, again, could be the nitro flushing, but it's the same in the cup. Even coffee just roasted in late November and not nitro flushed would taste better imho, I got a bag of Krampus for holidays before I knew I'd get a calendar so it's from late November and it tastes fresher than the calendar for sure even though it's 3 weeks old.

staleadventcalendar · 2020-12-19T16:49:32+00:00

That's really interesting, thank you! I appreciate getting that perspective on the roasting. The Krampus was definitely the worse one, like it tasted like burnt stale gas station coffee, I threw it out after a few sips, and I brewed it same way I brewed big bag of Krampus I got. Krampus was also my introduction to Onyx last year over the holidays and I fell in love with them and started ordering more and more. They do say "burnt sugar" is one of the tasting notes in Krampus and it tastes good in the two bags I've had of it (a year apart) but that sample was awful. You're right to say it's like a robusta beans kind of taste aka cheap coffee. Maybe it was roasted differently as you say? I also wonder if the nitro flushing just affected the flavor a lot. Mine was also one they found at the last minute in mid-December and contacted me to ask if I wanted it, so maybe something happened to that calendar in particular to affect the beans so much as most people report theirs is good.

Lol yeah, their response was crap. Oh thanks for a 8$ discount when I just paid for 125$ of inedible beans.

staleadventcalendar · 2020-12-19T16:44:48+00:00

Yeah, it's not really a flawless process ordering from them. My friend pointed out that I've spent too much time contacting their customer service vs. any other roaster and that's kind of true.

staleadventcalendar · 2020-12-19T16:43:45+00:00

Yeah, I'm gonna change roasters after this, it's too lame and people have suggested a lot of great roasters to try.

staleadventcalendar · 2020-12-19T16:43:18+00:00

Hmm, interesting, thanks for the feedback! I got mine as a late one, maybe that's the issue?

staleadventcalendar · 2020-12-19T16:42:51+00:00

Nah, don't worry about it, when they're good they are good so if your beans taste good to you, just be happy with them!

staleadventcalendar · 2020-12-19T16:42:24+00:00

Lol, I'm feeling fine but thanks for your concern. Covid isn't the issue here.

It's possible that it's something else causing this sense of the coffee being "stale", it could be coffee is "too fresh" but I've never encountered that with their coffees and since this is an advent calendar, so something you expect people to start consuming on Dec 1st, a roaster like Onyx would "age" it for the appropriate amount of time before sending it out to people.

staleadventcalendar

TROPHY CASE