# Issues with Happy Donkey beans



## james10 (Feb 28, 2011)

Hi guys

As per the title. I ordered 1kg of their classic italian beans (as I have done for the last year and a half).

Anyway this order was just before Christmas and unfortunately missed the Christmas deadline so wasn't shipped until the 7th...which wasn't a problem.

When the beans arrived however, I opened the first bag and they didn't seem to have the normal "black sheen" to the beans.

After going through 250g. Every shot is a gusher.

Usually there's loads of lovely thick, dark, treacly crema - not this time.

I thought it was maybe the grind, so I done it on the finest setting on my porlex (which normally chokes my classic) but the extraction was still far too quick, about 10 seconds.

So I tamped even harder and still got nothing respectable.

Any ideas?

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## aphelion (Nov 23, 2012)

Hi mate,

I've used a lot of these, and they have always been very dark and very oily..

(maybe check that with HD first)

But, I doubt that alone would cause gushing - how old is your porlex?


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

Can you try grinding finer? Or is the Porlex at its limit?


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## P.B (Jun 3, 2012)

I suggest you ask Happy Donkey when these beans were roasted. I suspect they are old. Very old.


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## RobD (May 2, 2012)

As Glen & Gary have said first check the grind, if its as fine as talcum and still gushing them its definitely not the grinder, if there is no crema then it does sound like the beans, phone Scott an explain, he's generally very good to deal with from my experience if a little hard to get hold of some times!!


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## Spazbarista (Dec 6, 2011)

P.B said:


> I suggest you ask Happy Donkey when these beans were roasted. I suspect they are old. Very old.


He once told me that the beans are no more than 3 weeks old. I used to quite like them (prefered the Brazilian blend) for their workmanlike functionality, but I haven't had them for over a year.


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## james10 (Feb 28, 2011)

Porlex was grinding one click away from the tightest setting (so any tighter and the burrs wouldn't rotate).

I'm assuming it's the beans, but I'm just surprised more than anything, as HD has always been spot on...

I've got three unposed 250g bags so will open one tomorrow and see if I just got a crap bag.

Was wondering if anyone else ordered beans which were dispatched when HD resumed business after the Christmas break?

I'm assuming they are old beans. As they were closed for 2-3 weeks (give or take) over Christmas/new year...and my order was dispatched on the first day they were back in the office, so they wouldn't of been roasted/packaged/dispatched on the same day surely?!

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## frew (Feb 5, 2012)

I had the same problem with beans before Christmas. Got a bag of Classic Italian and a bag of Brazilian. Ended up throwing the Brazilian in the bin as it was gushing no matter what i tried. The Italian beans were ok but not as good as usual. I have really enjoyed HD beans but that last lot have put me off even with the keen price point.

Switched to Union foundation blend after Christmas and WOW what a differance!


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## RoloD (Oct 13, 2010)

I remember I used to like HD Classic Italian. I ordered some Brazilian and some Sumatra Mocha last week for old times sake (and for the fact their beans are cheap and I'm getting through a lot of coffee). The Brazilian beans tasted flat and stale and the Sumatra Mocha just burnt to oblivion.

I don't whether my tastes have developed, my machines have got better* or HD have just gone downhill.

*(Maybe it's like getting a new hi-fi system and finding your old vinyl is too worn and scratched to listen to. And you can't listen to mp3's any more)


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

Feedback to the supplier is extremely helpful for them

Please ensure you contact them to explain your concerns, which gives them a chance to put things right.


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## origmarm (Mar 7, 2012)

I recently had some Italian blend and I found them over-roasted, featuring far too much Robusta (at an educated guess) and I believe old (i.e. roasted far more than 3 weeks ago). I notice the bags no longer feature roasting dates also. That said I haven't tried them in at least a year and I remember not being over-impressed with them the first time but certainly my recollection was that they featured a lot more crema, less roast and a far less bitter taste first time round. My little notebook says overall I gave them a 7/10 last time, 4/10 this time.

Otherwise I have always been very happy with Happy Donkey and have used them a few times for things other than beans so I was surprised.


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