Many people don’t think of coffee as an agricultural product that, like strawberries, peaches, and cherries, has a specific growing season. When fresh fruit is in season, you’re in heaven and you can’t get enough of it! When out of season, it’s usually a disappointment to eat. Similarly, coffees around the world ripen and are ready for harvest at different times of the year, and a newly harvested coffee is oh so good! Even when stored in its unroasted, green bean state, its flavor changes and ages over time in a not so graceful way.

If you go to a coffeehouse and notice that they offer the same bean year round, (blends are a different subject) with the knowledge that most growing regions have only one or two annual harvests, you might wonder how old that coffee really is, regardless of how recently it’s been roasted. The age of the green bean does affect its roasted flavor.

If you look at Thump’s whole bean selection, you will notice that it is always changing. A great thing for the flavor adventurer, and a little nerve-racking for the person who wants the same bean every time. Our selection changes because our coffee roaster, Stumptown Coffee Roasters, buys coffees in small quantities when they are at their optimal age for roasting. And to insure freshness, Stumptown rarely buys more than can be consumed within a handful of months.

When the beans are gone, they’re gone until the next harvest. When they do come back, we feel like an old friend has returned to us! Two of those friends just returned to Thump, the Guatemala Finca el Injerto, Stumptown’s first Direct Trade coffee, and the Panama Carmen Estate, Direct Trade. If you’re ready to put your toddy glass down for a minute to try a hot coffee, both of these friends will treat you right!