FAQ

Contents

 

Membership Benefits

 


What perks come with membership in Green Beanery?


Price matching
Extended warranty
Deep discounts 
Special promo codes

 

Is there a fee to become a Green Beanery member?


What is the Coffee of the Week Club and how does it work?

 

Coffee Credits

What are Coffee Credits?

Coffee 

How long do green coffee beans last?
How long does roasted coffee stay fresh? 
How should I store roasted coffee?
What roasts do you offer, and how do they differ from one another? 
How long does it take to roast coffee?
What are the advantages of roasting your own coffee? 
I am an espresso fan. What do you recommend? 
I don't see my favorite coffee. Can you get it for me?  
Why are some of my favorite beans out of stock for so long? 
Can I use a popcorn popper to roast coffee beans? 
Should I use boiling water when making coffee? 
On the rare occasion, small stones and rocks may make their way into an order of beans. Why does this happen?

Coffee Credits

What are Coffee Credits?

Payment

Why can’t I use PayPal to purchase Cuban beans?
How long are outstanding Green Beanery orders kept for?

Pricing

What happens when your posted price is in error?

Searching Our Site

Can you help me find what I’m looking for?
How do I find Bunn products on your site?

Shipping

Can I pick up my purchases?

What other things should I bear in mind about your shipping timelines and terminology?

 Membership Benefits

What perks come with membership in Green Beanery?

Green Beanery membership – which involves subscribing to our mailings – brings a wealth of benefits:

    1. Deep discounts, every week. These are unbelievable offers unmatched anywhere on the web, and only available to members. We've even given away home roasters just for continuing to buy coffee from us. 
    2. Price matching. Another perk available only to members. We will match any currently advertised price on equipment by any major retailer, or by any authorized dealer. To match a price, the products and the offers must be identical – same model number, same color, etc. We do not match prices by unauthorized dealers – often these are bootleg products that the manufacturer will not warrant. We also don't price match on coffee beans, since the quality can vary greatly.
    3. Extended warranties. If you have been a member continuously since purchasing warrantied equipment from us and have met the conditions of the original warranty, you are entitled to an extended one-year warranty on new merchandise. The extended warranty is only applicable to products that have extended warranties listed for purchase (this fee is waived for members). We will honor that extended warranty either by repairing the equipment at our expense or, at our discretion, by providing you with a credit for the remaining life of the extended warranty, using the following formula: purchase price divided by months in the total warrantied period times the number of months remaining in the total warrantied period. Our extended warranties do not cover items subject to normal wear and tear such as accessory parts or parts (gaskets, filters, glass, etc).
      Warranty on products purchased via Amazon: For Green Beanery products purchased through Amazon, the manufacturer's warranty applies. The warranty coverage we offer [see Warranty Information] is applicable only to purchases made via our website (Greenbeanery.ca) and not to purchases made via a third-party vendor, like Amazon. This also applies to bonuses, discounts and other offers attached to product sales via the Green Beanery website - purchases made via Amazon are not eligible for these deals. 
    4. First dibs – and freebies – on all the latest coffee equipment. You’ll be the first to learn of new products coming in, whether updated models of top-of-the-line espresso machines or new gizmos for coffee lovers. With each announcement, you’ll also get a product code that will entitle you to a cash discount or free coffee – again, only for members.
    5. But please note: Any promotion we offer, such as our Coffee of the Week discount, cannot be combined with a concurrent promotion, such as our Beyond the Bean deals. Only one promotional discount per order. Special notice as of March 1, 2020: We are no longer offering our Birthday Bonus Beans promotion.

Is there a fee to become a Green Beanery member?

Membership is free, and lasts as long as you remain a subscriber. To join Green Beanery and subscribe to our mailings, click here.

What is the Coffee of the Week Club and how does it work?

Our massive inventory of coffee can be daunting. Our Coffee of the Week Club allows you to tour the world of coffee at your leisure through a featured coffee every week with a promo code worth $5 off –  and sometimes more when the coffee is unusually rare. There will never be any obligation to order:  Membership is free, and lasts as long as you remain a subscriber. To opt into this offer, click here to subscribe to our mailing list. Be sure to select the checkbox for Coffee Club at the end of the form. If you have any further questions, email sales@greenbeanery.ca.

Coffee

    How long do green coffee beans last?

    A good rule of thumb is two to three years, but stored properly, green coffee can last many years. In fact, some species are especially prized if they are aged. Store your green coffee beans at 10 to 30 degrees Celsius, or 50 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit. While some prefer to store green beans in jute or canvas bags, to allow the beans to breathe, those who store them in plastic bags or jars report no deterioration in quality.

    How long does roasted coffee stay fresh?

    Dark roasts will stay fresh for several weeks but light and medium roasts begin to lose their aroma progressively. To best enjoy fresh roasted coffee, consume it within two weeks of roasting. 

    Apart from dark roasts, coffee is at its absolute best during the first two weeks after roasting, with the exception of the first four to six hours. (During this period, the beans vent some of the CO2 that the roasting process releases.) The coffee aroma is strongest on the first day after roasting but the flavours need a little more time to settle.

    How should I store roasted coffee?

    Wait for the roasted coffee to cool for four to six hours, which gives the beans a chance to "degas" (to vent the CO2 released by roasting). Then store roasted coffee in a well-sealed, clean, dry container – coffee spoils when exposed to oxygen, water, and heat. Mason jars are ideal. Coffee should be stored in an air-tight container because its aromatic oils are volatile (one of the delights of roasted coffee, in fact, is the aroma that greets you each time you open the jar).

    Do not keep coffee in the refrigerator or freezer. Every time the coffee is brought out into room temperature, water will condense on its surface, damaging the oils that give it its aromatic flavor.

    What roasts do you offer, and how do they differ from one another?

    For descriptions of our six roasts, please see our Roasting Chart. Your choices – from our lightest roast to our darkest – are American, City, Full City, Vienna, French, and Italian. Each has distinct characteristics, which are explained in detail on the chart.

    How long does it take to roast coffee?

    A typical home roast takes about 10 minutes, plus five minutes of cooling. Lighter roasts can take as few as eight minutes, darker roasts 13 minutes or more. 

    What are the advantages of roasting your own coffee?

    Everyone's taste is different. Roasting your own coffee allows you to roast beans to your particular preference, and also to experiment with a wide range of coffee bean varieties. Plus, home roasting produces coffee whose freshness cannot be beat.

    Home roasting not only provides vastly superior coffee, it also provides substantial savings. Green coffee beans typically cost less than half as much as roasted beans, and very often one quarter as much.

    I am an espresso fan. What do you recommend?

    Espresso can be made from almost any coffee bean. The term refers to the method of making the coffee (by forcing water through coffee under great pressure) rather than to any particular coffee bean or type of roast. Most people associate dark roasts with espresso, but in fact many aficionados in Italy and Switzerland prefer a medium roast, which leads to a smoother espresso that brings out more of the coffee's cinnamon tones.

    One coffee bean considered by many as an exceptional choice for espresso is the Tanzanian Peaberry. It's not a bad place to start when experimenting with different coffee beans in the quest for a perfect espresso. The Tanzanian Peaberry is included in our African sampler.

    For other espresso options, browse the coffee section of our catalog and filter by "Espresso Green Blends" or "Espresso Roasted Beans."

    Contrary to popular belief, espresso tends to have less caffeine than other forms of coffee. In fact, to get as much caffeine from espresso as you might get from a cup of regular drip coffee, you’d need to consume four 1.5 oz. shots of espresso. 

    I don't see my favorite coffee. Can you get it for me? 

    We'll be pleased to consider your request when ordering our next shipment of beans. Drop us a line with your suggestions. We'll do our best to meet your needs, and will let you know either way.

    Why are some of my favorite beans out of stock for so long?

    Most of our beans come from small producers. Once a crop is sold out, we need to wait for the next season's crop. Other factors come into play, too, such as the weather. The tsunami of 2004 devastated coffee production in Sumatra, as have hurricanes in the Caribbean, the earthquake in Haiti and, most recently in Nepal.

    Can I use a popcorn popper to roast coffee beans? 

    Yes, popcorn poppers work beautifully. 

    Electric popcorn poppers don't have all the conveniences of our home roaster units but they do the job and do it well, whether you like a light or dark roast. Roasting with a popcorn popper is simple and eliminates the expense of a new roaster. This kind of roasting has other advantages, too: It lets you experience the various phases of coffee roasting – the "first crack" as moisture leaves the bean, the change in color as the bean roasts.

    First, be sure to use a popper that has hot air enter the popcorn chamber through side vents – poppers that have hot air entering the popping chamber from a grill underneath are unsafe for coffee roasting. You want a popper that blows the chaff upward, out of the popper and into a waste receptacle, such as a sink or large bowl. Poppers that draw their air from below or fail to blow the chaff out of the popper represent a fire risk, because the chaff can ignite.

    Your popcorn popper will take as much coffee as popcorn – generally about four ounces – so follow the manufacturer's recommendation. After putting in the green coffee beans, cover the popper with its plastic hood and make sure the butter dish is in place. Aim the chute where you want the chaff to go, turn on the machine and watch the action.

    You should get coffee smoke and the "first crack" in three to four minutes, depending on the popper. In another minute, a light roast will be ready. By this point, you should be watching the beans carefully by looking into the popping chamber, to make sure they're roasted to your preference. Once you get good at this, you'll know when the beans are to your liking by the smell of the smoke and the sound of the cracks.

    Popcorn popper roasting takes less time than other methods – a dark roast can be done in six to seven minutes. And because the beans continue to roast even after they're out of the popper, you should pour them out of the popper before they're at the desired color.

    To cool the beans, agitate them in a bowl or collander until they are warm to the touch. If you're using a metal bowl or collander, use oven mitts.

    Then store the beans in an airtight glass jar, out of the light. Because the beans vent CO2, we recommend that you wait four to six hours before closing the jar, to allow the gas to escape without building up too much pressure. The gas will continue to escape for days, however, giving you the amazing aroma of fresh coffee every time you open the jar.

    Should I use boiling water when making coffee?

    Coffee should be brewed at about 195 to 200 degrees Fahrenheit, just under the boiling point. Anything higher leads to a bitter taste. Boiling coffee also cooks off its delicate essences, robbing coffee of its nuances.

    On the rare occasion, small stones and rocks may make their way into an order of beans. Why does this happen?

    At Green Beanery, our coffee farmers are often based in developing countries and are not always working with sophisticated mechanized sorting processes. Often coffee is spread out to dry in fields, where it would be easy for a small stone or other foreign objects to mix in with the beans, and the screens the farmers use to sort the beans might not catch these unwelcome objects either. That is why we recommend customers check their bean orders for small foreign objects before grinding.

     Coffee Credits

    Some equipment purchases come with coffee credits, which allow you to sample free coffees from our selection of 100+ varieties. Coffee credits can only be used to purchase coffee (roasted or unroasted) in ½ lb and 1 lb sizes. Coffee credits cannot be applied to shipping costs or used in combination with other promotional offers (including already discounted items such as the Coffee of the Week special and Beyond the Bean deals). Coffee credits are non-transferable and cannot be used as gifts.

    The credits can be claimed at the time of the equipment purchase or later -- they'll appear as you check out, allowing you to apply them to your purchase.

    Coffee credits never expire.

    Payment

    Why can’t I use PayPal to purchase Cuban beans?

    PayPal is based in the United States, where it is illegal to import or sell Cuban products. Although it is perfectly legal to buy and sell Cuban beans in Canada, Paypal doesn’t allow us to use its gateway to sell them, even to Canadians. We expect PayPal to ease its restrictions as the U.S. and Cuba normalize relations.

    How long are outstanding Green Beanery orders kept for?

    Green Beanery holds unpaid orders for a maximum of two weeks from the date of order placement. If payment for an order is not received after two weeks, the order is then cancelled.

    Pricing

    What happens when your posted price is in error?

    All prices, specifications, and offers are subject to change at Green Beanery's discretion at any time without notice. Green Beanery cannot be responsible for typographical errors or errors in photography. If due to an error you have been inadvertently misled, we will take back the product and issue a full refund. If we have undercharged you due to an error in the displayed price, we will cancel the order, return your money, and ask you if you would like the product at its correct price. We will also provide some compensation, by way of apology.

    Searching Our Site

    Can you help me find what I’m looking for?

    If you know exactly what you are looking for, search our site using the magnifying glass icon at the top of the page. You can search for a specific product or product number.

    For a more general search, click on “Catalog” at the top of the page, and then use the drop down menu or the navigation sidebar on the left side of the page, choosing the appropriate category or subcategory from the list. Use the “Filter By” and “Sort By” boxes to further refine your search.

    If you still can’t find what you’re looking for, send us a message using the form under “Contact” at the top of the page. We’ll be happy to let you know if we carry a product, or, if it is out of stock, when we expect to get it.

    How do I find parts for Bunn products on your site?

    We carry the entire Bunn line. Bunn parts number in the thousands but are relatively easy to find if you have a model number for the part you need. If you don't have this number, the following search strategy will help you locate a desired item.

    Try Green Beanery’s Search function (see above) to locate a part quickly. If the part proves hard to find, direct your search to the Bunn website. Search for the product and locate the model number for the part. If the first digit after the dot is 0, change it to 6. Then try our Search function again using this number.

    Shipping

    Can I pick up my purchases at your store?

    Our retail store (565 Bloor Street West, Toronto) closed on March 29 (learn more).

    Shipping Notes

    For clarification re our shipping terminology and delivery timelines, refer to our Shipping Notes page here.