I think you are right about vacuum packing–if you aren’t roasting weekly, the vacuuming packing is probably the only way to keep it fresh!

Two tips: you actually can get halfway decent espresso from a steam machine IF you do one simple thing: use a full basket of grounds, but stop the drip at the number “2″ cup mark on the carafe. Never, ever go to “4,” because all you are doing then is just diluting fairly good coffee with bitter tasting dregs. We have both a steam and pump machine, and usually mix them because the steam machine gives great foam.

Tip #2: for preserving beans, vacuum packing is the ONLY way to go. A Foodsaver or similar product works great. You use their canisters, vacuum as soon as you purchase or roast the coffee, and each time after use. We can enjoy coffee for two weeks that tastes almost the same as the day it was roasted. Foodsavers can be bought for less than $100.

The Kenyan coffee has a “fruity” taste to it. To me it’s a bit lighter in flavor than the Guatemalan and has interesting flavors other than just “coffee.” We’re thinking of trying this in an espresso blend to fill in the upper range of coffee taste.

Oaxaca is probably a good coffee for people that don’t love coffee. It tastes like coffee, but it’s quite mild. I have several friends that drink coffee on occasion, “just to warm up” in the wintertime. This is a great coffee for that. The flavor is smooth without any sharp edges and just as you swallow, you get that “coffee” flavor.

The Peruvian coffee that we tried was probably my favorite. This is the best coffee for people that don’t “love” coffee—that only occasionally drink it. This coffee was mild and smooth from start to finish with no overpowering scream of “coffee.” A good mild coffee.

The Brazilian coffee was just excellent followed closely by the Indonesian Sumatra. Both had excellent aroma, full flavor and a pleasant aftertaste. The Brazilian was like the Ultimate Coffee and the Sumatran was a bit more on the dark, exotic side. Both were excellent.

The Ethiopian “longberry” was also very enjoyable. It had a definite fruity flavor which made it seem almost like a flavored coffee of some sort. I did enjoy it, but I am not a big fan of flavored coffees, so it did not top my list. La Minita Tarrazu I had gotten once from Vermont coffee. It has a very earthy (kind of muddy flavor) and no aftertaste to speak of. I just can’t get excited about it.

After brewing the Ethiopian and La Minita Tarrazu together, I decided I liked them better when brewed together.