Drinking Espresso from the 1950s

The Grinder Giveaway has finished.

Thanks again to Ben Schofield for the opportunity to taste something so old!

Music:
"Leaf" by Nick Box

Links:

My Books:

Neewer Products I Use:

[Ratchet]

Thank you so much for the experience James! It was great to be able to get a glimpse behind the scenes, and apologies for the irreparable damage to your taste buds

[flamingocomplex]

There are few things more entertaining than an Englishman in mild discomfort.

[salihas]

James Hoffman: dont brew 2 weeks old beans
James Hoffman: brew 70 year old coffee

[nickpaokara]

James: "People out there think this should go to an antique roadshow and never be drunk and they're WRONG!"
James minutes later: "If you have some of this lying around DONT DRINK IT"

[jackula]

james: that's awful, I don't think I'm going to vomit but I'm almost there"
also james: *takes another sip*

[allarddeal]

British Museum: * finds 3000 year old coffee beans in ancient Egyptian tomb *

James Hoffman: "I must drink it"

[InnuendoXP]

Here we witness the slow transition of suave coffee enthusiast, advocate & businessman James Hoffman into the Steve1989MREInfo of coffee.

[r.osemary]

i'm obsessed with the chaotic good energy of James' "There are people out there who believe this should go to Antiques Roadshow and never be drunk—and they're WRONG"

[BoyBlue]

James’s anxiety combined with dog taking dump in background is YouTube gold!

[ChuanmingChadao]

What I learned from this: tea leaves age better than coffee beans. I've had tea from the 50s. It had an aged flavor but never tasted bad - never.

[farhannaushad]

We all get sadistic pleasure from watching James drinking decades old coffee, admit it.

[AssaultFlamingo]

I just love Ben's reaction to the gift grinder. There's something so genuine about it, you can see the exact moment when he goes from "who, me?" to "oh, neato". Good job keeping a camera on him to capture it. :)

[MrServasky]

"That was a terrible mistake", a few seconds later: "one more sip!" 10/10

[michaelarighi]

Brought back memories. I had a rather different experience with some very old coffee. My in-law's family had owned a wholesale grocery in the Midwest of the US. They roasted and sold coffee, among many other grocery items. In the '40s, they were visited by a salesman with some premium Guatemalan coffee. He left them some small sealed tins of green beans to try out. They knew, from the price point and the quality of the coffee, that their customers would never pay that much, so the tins sat there. When I was visiting those relatives with my wife in the late '70s, her grandfather pulled out an unopened tin and asked if it would be any good still. I had no idea. However, this was Seattle, a few years after Starbuck's started. So, I trundled down there--to the original Pike Place store, as it was the only one they had at the time--and asked them how long green coffee beans stored. Smelling a rat, they asked how long it had been? When I told them, they were a little dubious But green, and still sealed, they thought they might be OK, and asked me to let them know how it went. I also asked for recommendations for roasting it and, as suggested, did the beans on the stove in a cast iron frying pan over fairly high heat. What I got was some lovely, coffee-smelling beans, if somewhat unevenly roasted. Ground them up in their old wall-mount, hand-crank grinder (what they used in the grocery warehouse for tasting) and probably ran them through a paper filter (no clear memory, but that seems likely). The result was coffee. Not great coffee--it was a bit unbalanced, with too-low acid--but perfectly drinkable coffee. Better, in fact, than the dishwater we used to get in hotels in those days.

[jevvvNZ]

"Tastes of ... metal ... battery acid ... and PAIN!" Well, now we know why not to save our coffee for a rainy day. Thank you James, and thank you Ben!

[kevinpenfold]

James: Sorry it’s not your day hand grinder.

Hand Grinder: 🥺

James: Lets grind some a bit finer and pull some espresso.

Hand Grinder: 🥰

[Cimlite]

_"With notes of battery acid and pain."_

[katherinelandreth]

James Hoffmann: There are people out there who believe that this should go to Antiques Road Show and never be drunk - and they're *wrong*.
Also James Hoffmann: If you discover coffee in your grandparent's attic, maybe just keep it sealed, maybe just look at it from time to time, maybe don't crack it open and drink it.

[TsnBanks]

Steve1989MREInfo would probably say "Lets get this out onto a tray"... "NICE!"

[cherochow]

"It has got this acidity, this weird papery, cacao-ey taste that should be pleasant but is just unwelcome at the party. "

How is it possible to describe a situation (any situation) with such grace and ease, yet punctuated with deep disgust (albeit gently). I'm so entertained and very amused (or amazed) 😆