[Subjectivist]

Thanks Dino, now I am wondering what fresh picked coffee cherries taste like!

[Shaved Monkey]

Found this
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he fruit's skin is taut and snaps like a bell pepper when you pierce it. Inside there's a sweet, sticky pulp layer that tastes something like watermelon, rosewater, and hibiscus all at once. (And taster beware, as I learned the hard way: there's not much meat behind that red skin, and chomping too hard could lead to some serious dental work.)

[Keith_McClary]

I've long wondered about those valves in coffee bean bags. You guys inspired me to look it up:
Coffee Packaging and Shelf Life
It seems it is not just an evil marketing thing as I had suspected (consumers would prefer to buy the bag with the aroma to a sealed bag).

[promiseplum]

Seriously!? People love to raise everything, money money money.

[Timo]

For the past several years, i've been roasting for friends and family, and selling roasted blends of beans down at our farmer's market, occasionally. Since i started, i've noticed a very accentuated rise in prices throughout the world. Central and South America have the rust problem that's decimating Arabica crops in total. That rust is due to a changing climate that allows the rust to propogate very easily. South Pacific islands, like Papua New Guinea and Sumatra are dealing with the fallout (literally) of a few volcano blasts that have covered their crops with a deadly coat of ash. Central Africa......there's some awfully good beans coming out of Burundi and Rawanda right now. Ethiopia, too. Kenya's coffee industry is a but corrupted, and that's led to elevated prices for their beans. Other countries are (rightly) taking advantage of the problems of other parts of the world, and charging more for their product. The demand is simply greater than supply. I'm having a hard time finding the varietals that i used to find quite easily. If i am able, the price is much, much higher than before. Peak coffee. It's a sad, sad day.

[Ibon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Timo', ' ')Peak coffee. It's a sad, sad day.

[Timo]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ibon', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Timo', ' ')Peak coffee. It's a sad, sad day.