# Modern Standard (Better Supermarket Beans)



## aaronb (Nov 16, 2012)

Here's a recent interview with the Owner of Modern Standard coffee:

http://londonsbestcoffee.com/news/coffee-and-interview-with-modern-standard-s-lynsey-harley

Whilst I'm not particularly interested in a roaster positioning itself somewhere between commercial and specialty I did think it was interesting they are retailing through Sainsbury's, it's surely a better alternative than the other coffee available in Supermarkets (except maybe those stocking Union) if you need some emergency beans.


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## PPapa (Oct 24, 2015)

8 tonnes a month?!


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## Jumbo Ratty (Jan 12, 2015)

cant see how much the modern standard coffee sells for per 250g bag in the super markets.

anyone know ?


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## Jacko112 (Oct 29, 2015)

I brought a pack of the espresso beans yesterday as I'm waiting for a delivery from Rave, so it was more an emergency purchase. £4.50 for 227g.

First impressions were that they were better than normal supermarket stale beans but we'll see how the week goes with them. Hand to grind them finer than I would normally but ok to dig yourself out of a hole. Will be interesting to see how they come through on milk drinks.


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## aaronb (Nov 16, 2012)

Not bad pricing. Is there a roast date on the package anywhere? What were the beans?

I wouldn't use grind as measure of quality, a recent bag of beans from Workshop (11 days post roast) required one of the finest grinds I've needed in a long time, the next bag from a different roaster (around 11 days post roast again) is the opposite to get a decent shot.


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## Jacko112 (Oct 29, 2015)

No roasting date that I could see and the beans were just described as 'espresso' unfortunately.


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## PPapa (Oct 24, 2015)

Jacko112 said:


> No roasting date that I could see and the beans were just described as 'espresso' unfortunately.


There should still be Best Before date though? Might help with guesstimating the roast date.


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## Jumbo Ratty (Jan 12, 2015)

Jacko112 said:


> First impressions were that they were better than normal supermarket stale beans





Jacko112 said:


> No roasting date that I could see





PPapa said:


> There should still be Best Before date though? Might help with guesstimating the roast date.


No roast date doesnt bode well.

How can they be determined as fresher than "stale" supermarket beans, which all have a best before on


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## aaronb (Nov 16, 2012)

Jacko112 said:


> No roasting date that I could see and the beans were just described as 'espresso' unfortunately.


That's really weird, as Jumbo ratty says I dont think they can proclaim themselves as in-between commodity and specialty without providing some basic information. I'd expect origin country(ies) and best before date at least, ideally also roast date and processing method.


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## aaronb (Nov 16, 2012)

http://www.sainsburys.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/gb/groceries/modern-standard-momentum-blend-whole-coffee-beans-227g?langId=44&storeId=10151&krypto=hqLpzXK9yN4FWkGVkj1MU5VtrATZelZZSNO3ILivlluYvV6pWJFLTuyahBbwGlOfte63Q3nKXXJs%0AVsY4%2BD7o9gETuRgjOra312PazegMvjmYFbjjVPUmS5rsOZc1xnxd&ddkey=http:gb/groceries/modern-standard-momentum-blend-whole-coffee-beans-227g

The website actually gives you quite a bit of info, truly bizarre it wasnt on the bag.


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## Kentboy (Feb 16, 2016)

Hi. I'm new to this forum. Bought a bag of modern standard momentum blend recently and put them through my porlex/aeropress this morning. Not bad, but not great either. Bag has the following on it: roasted by, batch code, origin, and best before is stated as 29th january 2017, but I don't know if you can deduce the roasting date from this. i've emailed them to try and find out how long it takes for them to get from roaster to shelf.


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## Jez H (Apr 4, 2015)

As I've mentioned before, Booths Supermarket (a Northern one, sorry!), have their own selection of beans. Before I discovered the joys of Rave, Hasbean, Casa Espresso etc. Etc. I bought some Rocko Mountain Reserve from them. At the time I remember thinking it was pretty good. All bags have a roast date on too. I think they were £3.30. Worth a punt if you've run out. Or just to keep in stock to try to convince "instant drinkers" in to changing their ways!


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## Jez H (Apr 4, 2015)

P.S: When I'm close to running out & have forgotten to re-order I just give my local roaster, Casa Espresso, a ring. He usually has something available the same day for me to pick up on my way home from work!


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## jlarkin (Apr 26, 2015)

Kentboy said:


> best before is stated as 29th january 2017, but I don't know if you can deduce the roasting date from this. i've emailed them to try and find out how long it takes for them to get from roaster to shelf.


Given the date I imagine the best before is a year after roast


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## aaronb (Nov 16, 2012)

Jez H said:


> As I've mentioned before, Booths Supermarket (a Northern one, sorry!), have their own selection of beans. Before I discovered the joys of Rave, Hasbean, Casa Espresso etc. Etc. I bought some Rocko Mountain Reserve from them. At the time I remember thinking it was pretty good. All bags have a roast date on too. I think they were £3.30. Worth a punt if you've run out. Or just to keep in stock to try to convince "instant drinkers" in to changing their ways!


Yeah I knew about this but for those of us down south Sainsbury's are plentiful whilst I don't think I have ever seen a real Booths!


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## Jez H (Apr 4, 2015)

Coincidentally, I have just got back from Booths. Seems they are now stocking a fair few varieties of Union beans & they're currently on offer at £4 a bag. Roast dates on too.


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## Kentboy (Feb 16, 2016)

Lynsey at modern standard got back to me and yes, roasting date is a year before best before date. The beans are good but not blowing my mind.


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## Dallah (Jan 31, 2015)

Booths is the Waitrose for the flat cap and whippet brigade


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## Jez H (Apr 4, 2015)

ridland said:


> Booths is the Waitrose for the flat cap and whippet brigade


Petfectly summed up! They have the best range of real ale out of any other supermarket too!


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## Daren (Jan 16, 2012)

Seems Modern Standard are an Essex based roaster (yay!). Their website is quite informative about the beans origin and tasting notes.

http://www.modernstandardcoffee.com/coffee/


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## CrazyH (Jan 14, 2011)

I saw these the other day, the espresso blend was beans but the other one was already ground so I didn't buy. I once picked up some Sainsbury's taste the difference Tanzanian for £3 (special offer) and that was pretty good already as an emergency buy


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## CrazyH (Jan 14, 2011)

I'm drinking the momento blend from a clever coffee dripper...

It's little roasty but I'm getting some nice sweetness and mild acidity, especially as it cools down.


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## coffee_q (Jan 15, 2016)

I picked up an espresso blend from Whole Foods in london - the beans were freshly roasted so I thought it would be safe to buy supermarket beans but unfortunately the taste is not so great! All the other coffees stocked in supermarkets seem to be at least 2-3 months old!


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## Rdl81 (Sep 8, 2014)

These supply hej a coffee shop in London the owner things highly of them the do have some special beans from time to time. The are based in tilbury they said that u can collect direct from there as well I am guessing the super market stuff if not there best. I have never tried them though


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## JonR (Aug 21, 2017)

I have purchased Modern Standard whole beans in my local Sainsburys in Aberdeen. On the back of the pack there is a "Roasted On" date as well as the name of the roaster! Purchased mine last week, roast date is 08/09/17 (roasted by Zak). Tasting notes on front of bag (which is a good quality, vented & resealable). I am no expert and certainly not a connoisseur yet but they taste good to me. Will post a photo of the bag if I can.


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## JonR (Aug 21, 2017)




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## Jez H (Apr 4, 2015)

Interesting. How much were they Jon & were there more to choose from?


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## JonR (Aug 21, 2017)

Hi Jez - There were a few different blends. I think they were £4.50 for the bag but cannot quite recall as pick them up occasionally in my weekly shop. Have a rake through the bags on the shelf to find the most recent roast date (probably the ones at the back).


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## Jez H (Apr 4, 2015)

Cheers Jon, I'll have a nosy next time I'm in!


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## hotmetal (Oct 31, 2013)

Yes it seems they now add a roast date and the name of the roaster (haha Mr Probat... Herr Giesen). They somewhat oddly and rather liberally allow a week for resting and then add a year for Best Before so Roasted 29/8/17 = BB 5/9/18.

£4.50 for 227g. Decent selection in our local Sainsburys. I just picked the one with the most recent roast date 5-6 weeks. Not ideal but for an emergency purchase late evening when I had all but run out of beans that morning and was expecting guests next morning, being able to get ready rested reasonable single origin beans in a local shop for a mere £4.50 is a very handy emergency option. JS sell those Lotus biscuits on the opposite shelf too ;-)


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## rzg (Aug 27, 2019)

bought ms brazil fazenda santa lucia.

really awful. no favour whatsoever and for the price its very easy to get better


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