# I bought some supermarket beans and theyare delicious



## thesmileyone (Sep 27, 2016)

Just a recommendation thread. I ordered some Foundry beans on Monday and it is Thursday and they still haven't arrived. Having about 10 beans left in the hopper and not wanting to use the ones I promised to send to someone on here, which I still haven't been able to post... I went to Waitrose for some Duchy Farm Organic Smoked Bacon (best bacon ever, seriously, try it!) and I noticed they sell beans as well as ground coffee. I picked up some of these (below) just to tide me over. But instead I find on the FIRST cup they are absolutely delicious!!!! I didn't even need to change the grind setting.










https://www.waitrose.com/ecom/products/union-hand-roasted-coffee-natural-spirit-wholebean/796559-464640-464641

I thought supermarket coffee was meant to be poor?


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Union have plenty of speciality grade beans, you can order direct from them.


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

thesmileyone said:


> Just a recommendation thread. I ordered some Foundry beans on Monday and it is Thursday and they still haven't arrived. Having about 10 beans left in the hopper and not wanting to use the ones I promised to send to someone on here, which I still haven't been able to post... I went to Waitrose for some Duchy Farm Organic Smoked Bacon (best bacon ever, seriously, try it!) and I noticed they sell beans as well as ground coffee. I picked up some of these (below) just to tide me over. But instead I find on the FIRST cup they are absolutely delicious!!!! I didn't even need to change the grind setting.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


YEp they are Union , one of the biggest specialty coffee roasters in the UK .


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## Dumnorix (Dec 29, 2017)

I bought some Roastworks beans from Waitrose the other day- they were roasted on 5/7 whereas the Union ones were all roasted at the start of June.They are delicious!


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## slamm (Nov 26, 2016)

Union must be one of the best beans you can get from a supermarket, you just have to be really careful about the best before date - usually 1 year after the roast date so check the month is ideally current or previous month. It sounds like you got lucky with a fairly fresh pack, what's the date on it?


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## ashcroc (Oct 28, 2016)

slamm said:


> Union must be one of the best beans you can get from a supermarket, you just have to be really careful about the best before date - usually 1 year after the roast date so check the month is ideally current or previous month. It sounds like you got lucky with a fairly fresh pack, what's the date on it?


Or just go by the roast date they put on the bag.


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## gcogger (May 18, 2013)

slamm said:


> Union must be one of the best beans you can get from a supermarket, you just have to be really careful about the best before date - usually 1 year after the roast date so check the month is ideally current or previous month. It sounds like you got lucky with a fairly fresh pack, what's the date on it?


I'm guessing that Union fill the supermarket bags with an inert gas to prevent the beans ageing. The last time I bought some from Waitrose, they were 2-3 months past roast, but I needed to rest them for a few days after opening to get the best results.


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## slamm (Nov 26, 2016)

ashcroc said:


> Or just go by the roast date they put on the bag.


Oh yeah duh







forgot Union do that for their supermarket bags, it's been so long!


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## lake_m (Feb 4, 2017)

Just finished a bag of Natural Spirit ordered directly from Union. It's a very pleasant blend indeed.


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## slamm (Nov 26, 2016)

gcogger said:


> I'm guessing that Union fill the supermarket bags with an inert gas to prevent the beans ageing. The last time I bought some from Waitrose, they were 2-3 months past roast, but I needed to rest them for a few days after opening to get the best results.


Not sure about the gas but in the past I've come across a bag of Union beans that was around 9 months on the shelf, dont think any amount of gas would have saved them. I did push my luck once on a bag that I think was around 3 months old and ended up taking it back.


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## Jony (Sep 8, 2017)

Couldn't get on with Union shame, as quite a few people like them. May try them again, but buying Origin is closer for me.


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## slamm (Nov 26, 2016)

Jony said:


> Couldn't get on with Union shame, as quite a few people like them. May try them again, but buying Origin is closer for me.


If you do try them again you won't go far wrong with their Yirgacheffe, a long time favourite. Origin are fast becoming one of my favourite roasters, their Negrita tartaric Geisha was amazing and hoping their new special edition Surma which I'm just starting will be more of the same.


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