No One HERE Overthinks Beans

September 22, 2021 10:47 AM

Rancho Gordo, the California-based specialty heirloom bean company, is celebrating its 20th year in business this year. The resulting press has paid homage not only to founder Steve Sando and the unlikely founding of the company, but also to Rancho Gordo's Bean Club, a subscription service treating members to a variety box of beans four times a year. More so than the beans, though, press about the Bean Club has featured another perk enjoyed by members - access to the club's private Facebook group, described by some as "the happiest place on the Internet."

Compared with other Facebook groups, the Bean Club group is refreshingly uncontroversial - people chiefly post about beans, and that's it. Beans they've bought, beans they've just gotten in the box, beans they've cooked. Recipes get swapped. Comments are mainly just about how "that looks good!" or "Ooh, I'm going to try this." Questions about beans are answered with patience, enthusiasm and encouragement. One of the few non-bean topics are pictures of pets - cats sitting in the bean club boxes, or dogs wearing paper hats fashioned out of the distinctive tissue paper stamped with the Bean Club logo.

Touchingly, members have also helped each other with basic cooking lessons as well - and provided more emotional and moral support. One member recently lamented how she was losing heart because of the pandemic, her husband's ill health, and her brother's cancer - she was looking for ways to make a single pot of beans and stretch it into a variety of simple meals. After the group flooded her with ideas, she started referring to that pot as "the beans of salvation" and told the group: "My house now smells amazing, and for the first time in way too long, I’m excited about a meal. Thank you for hauling me from the depths of despair!"

Sales at Rancho Gordo spiked during the onset of the pandemic - including subscriptions to the bean club, which now has a wait list several thousand names long. This hasn't stopped some people - who are just hearing about the bean club now - from attempting to join; most notably, food celebrity Padma Lakshmi has made three separate pleas on Twitter trying to join the club. The attention also sparked one famous member - Andy Richter - to step forward.

Rancho Gordo previously
Beans previously recently and previously less recently

posted by EmpressCallipygos (37 comments total)

What a bunch of has-beans.
posted by zamboni at 10:54 AM on September 22, 2021 [6 favorites]

Personal note - I mention in this recent previously that I had just been accepted into the group, after a year on the waitlist. The Facebook group really is just like I say - it really is just people talking about beans, and it really is that nice. When I first peeked in, I saw so many good recipes in there that I made a little "hey, I'm a new member and it looks like y'all are going to give me good ideas" post and NEARLY THREE HUNDRED people responded to welcome me.

And dude, the beans are amazing. I got 5 and a half pounds of 6 different varieties - the package of black beans was totally gone within a week and a half (I just had the last of the chili I used to polish off the last of the black beans for lunch today).
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:55 AM on September 22, 2021 [7 favorites]

OMG i want this so bad
posted by bq at 10:56 AM on September 22, 2021

bq, it took just shy of a year for them to get down to me on the waitlist, but it's worth it.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:58 AM on September 22, 2021 [6 favorites]

I'm going to share some information about my favorite beans, in the spirit of this post.

I bring to your attention the Scarlet Runner Bean, a plant so attractive it is frequently planted as an ornamental. It makes large, purple, absolutely lovely beans that taste a bit like kidney beans and can be substituted for kidney beans in recipes with adjustments for longer cooking times.

This recipe for Scarlet Runner Beans and Seared Tomatoes is a delicious and showy vegetarian main dish.
posted by bq at 11:01 AM on September 22, 2021 [6 favorites]

Yay! People in the group talk about Scarlet Runners every ten minutes - someone just posted a picture of the crop they got when they planted a couple even!

I think that crops up in the boxes at least once a year, I'll bookmark this recipe.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:04 AM on September 22, 2021 [1 favorite]

The bean club is sold out and I can't even get on the waiting list for the FB group yet!
posted by bq at 11:06 AM on September 22, 2021

I got some seeds from my neighbor who is an experienced gardener last spring - then saved some and planted again this year - I did a three sisters box with corn for the bean plants to grow up and squash to shade the ground. None of the squash survived but the beans and corn have thrived together. Twin sisters!
posted by bq at 11:08 AM on September 22, 2021 [4 favorites]

Compared with other Facebook groups, the Bean Club group is refreshingly uncontroversial - people chiefly post about beans, and that's it. Beans they've bought, beans they've just gotten in the box, beans they've cooked. Recipes get swapped. Comments are mainly just about how "that looks good!" or "Ooh, I'm going to try this." Questions about beans are answered with patience, enthusiasm and encouragement. One of the few non-bean topics are pictures of pets - cats sitting in the bean club boxes, or dogs wearing paper hats fashioned out of the distinctive tissue paper stamped with the Bean Club logo.

Tea forums are a lot like this at their best, but tea has the disadvantage of having had a thousand years of connoisseurship, and there is something about the topic that attracts bullshitters and woo-slingers. Then there are many, many people who think they know a lot more than they do, and give irrelevant or mistaken advice. People definitely overthink tea.
posted by Aardvark Cheeselog at 11:09 AM on September 22, 2021 [1 favorite]

Hummingbirds and bees visit the Scarlet Runners and with a sturdy twine I have gotten them about 20’ long, even in a half shady spot. Great bean, great plant.

If you’re waiting for a Rancho Gordo hookup, look around for any beans that you know were harvested this year. They have exquisite varieties, but the freshness really helps too. I eat lots of chickpeas and lentils from Joseph’s Grainery in Washington state, I know fans of the farm brand Palouse, surely there are others.
posted by clew at 11:12 AM on September 22, 2021 [3 favorites]

Don't the beans have to be on a plate for Metafilter to overthink them?
posted by Schmucko at 11:13 AM on September 22, 2021 [3 favorites]

The bean club is sold out and I can't even get on the waiting list for the FB group yet!

Unfortunately you have to be a current member of the bean club to join the FB bean club group. And they check, too - I paid for my first subscription box and then signed up for the FB group, and it was still two days before I got the notice I was in.

There are likely non-bean-club Rancho Gordo fan groups (at least I wouldn't be surprised if there were).
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:16 AM on September 22, 2021 [1 favorite]

I had a friend named David Ronniger, who started Whole Earth Natural Foods in SLC in the early seventies. I was his produce buyer for a time before opening the complementary vegetarian restaurant downtown. When he moved up to Idaho, he started an heirloom bean project, that went on for a long time. He started an organic produce farm still running under his son's management. Ronniger's and some history
Saving the future with the past.
posted by Oyéah at 11:21 AM on September 22, 2021 [8 favorites]

I got enamored of the Rancho Gordo beans I bought a couple times from visiting SF and Seattle. But they are not anywhere in Canada. And the international shipping fees are just too expensive.

Also, a close family friend I gave a packet of the black beans threw them out after soaking because they only eat organic food and didn't see any such labeling on the packet, and were taken aback seeing the soaking water turn so dark (as evidence of inorganicity and artificial coloring). I will try to rectify their mistake next time, because the quality of these beans is just so great.
posted by polymodus at 11:23 AM on September 22, 2021 [2 favorites]

Metafilter: it took just shy of a year for them to get down to me on the waitlist, but it's worth it.
posted by Flight Hardware, do not touch at 11:27 AM on September 22, 2021 [2 favorites]

I think this where my friend's Heirloom bean business went.
posted by Oyéah at 12:51 PM on September 22, 2021 [2 favorites]

*gasp*

I just remembered I did get scarlet runners this season in the box! And I have tomatoes from my CSA so I can make bq's recipe, will report back in a few days...
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 2:00 PM on September 22, 2021 [4 favorites]

People definitely overthink tea.

Which it is impossible to do with a plate of beans, I am reliably inform-- hang on, I'm getting an update from my producer.
posted by gauche at 2:38 PM on September 22, 2021 [4 favorites]

We've been subscribers for a few years now. There are too many beans for our bean loving household of 2, so we split our subscription with a similarly passionate friend. Every quarter, the antique kitchen scale comes out, and every pack is meticulously divided in two.
Our last delivery had an Italian variety that they tried to grow, but didn't thrive. So they shared their meager crop with subscribers. There was a note of explanation, and advice to save some aside to grow next year, in case you might have better luck. My wife was totally excited, becasue she knew what they were, and hadn't seen them for sale anywhere.
Aside from the simple awesomeness of the product, there is this strange and wonderful insider quality to the bean subscription. I think it's because you just aren't going to go out and shop for this crazy variety of beans on your own. It's like having a friend who hands you something you've never eaten, and says "Try this, you're going to love it!"
And the graphic design is fantastic.
posted by Carmody'sPrize at 3:02 PM on September 22, 2021 [3 favorites]

‘More beans, Mr Taggart?’ ‘I’d say you’d had enough’
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 3:03 PM on September 22, 2021

For those of you who Facebook and are into growing beans, there's a spin-off group called "Rancho Gordo Bean Buddies" dedicated to the topic. I don't think you need to be a Bean Club subscriber to join. Sando also co-hosts a group called "Cooking with Clay" for people who love clay pots and the like.

I found out about Rancho Gordo shortly after its founding via the foodie web forum eGullet where Sando was an active member. He's very patient about answering bean-related questions, despite being asked the same thing over and over ("Do you soak the beans?) The Bean Club is fun but a bit overwhelming. I already had a habit of overstocking the beans, but now I have a quarterly shipment to keep up with.
posted by Surely This at 3:55 PM on September 22, 2021

“It’s a tight-knit community where many members share what’s going on in their personal lives and anxieties about world events.”

I was on the bean club waiting list before the pandemic, and got in about a year ago, and I’m in the Facebook group, and … is anyone else really confused by this? Maybe it felt tight knit when it was smaller. It doesn’t strike me as being all that different from other well-moderated FB groups.

The beans are great, though. I am not keeping up with my subscription, but I’m too greedy to let it go.
posted by bluedaisy at 5:07 PM on September 22, 2021

The Bean Club is fun but a bit overwhelming. I already had a habit of overstocking the beans, but now I have a quarterly shipment to keep up with.

I've been shopping at Rancho Gordo since 2011, but I decided to ignore my Bean Club invitation from several years ago when I realized I already had a problem overbuying beans. Not really feeling left out since I have never had and will never have a FB account (though the super rare bean offers are pretty great). No matter how good they are there's just so many beans I can eat, ya know?
posted by oneirodynia at 5:17 PM on September 22, 2021 [1 favorite]

Perhaps this is pandemic-me talking, but beans are the best gift. They are dry, so they don't need to be used anytime soon, can last forever, and are so darn tasty. I think I am already on the Rancho Gordo waitlist but I'm not sure, so I just signed up again for good measure.

Has anyone found a good U.S. source for Gigante beans (actual Gigante beans, not Great Northern beans, butter beans, etc.)? I bought some recently at the San Francisco Ferry Building from Iacopi Farms at the farmers market, and they were sooooo tender and so good, but I don't live in SF anymore so am on the hunt for a mail-order source.
posted by rogerroger at 5:19 PM on September 22, 2021

Also, a close family friend I gave a packet of the black beans threw them out after soaking because they only eat organic food and didn't see any such labeling on the packet, and were taken aback seeing the soaking water turn so dark (as evidence of inorganicity and artificial coloring).
posted by polymodus at 2:23 PM on September 22

oh no. oh no.
posted by ZaphodB at 5:22 PM on September 22, 2021 [9 favorites]

Rogerroger: Kalustyan's in New York is always a good mail-order source, but if you're still in the Bay Area but not SF, depending on where, there are probably some excellent Greek, Lebanese, or Persian groceries near you!

I used to live in Mountain View, and I have fond memories of hunting for Balkan groceries in San Jose—and on my hunt for jars of ajvar, I definitely found a couple packages of great big Greek beans.
posted by IcarusFloats at 5:50 PM on September 22, 2021 [1 favorite]

I don't usually get many chances to talk about beans, but if you are interested in growing them, check this place, www.heirlooms.org. They sell beans/seeds.

I bought some beans from them ten years ago, and I've been saving the seeds and growing them every year since.

Besides amazing taste, beans are one of the easiest vegetables to grow.
posted by freakazoid at 5:53 PM on September 22, 2021

Okay so the only reason that the lentil salad I made tonight did NOT use the black caviar lentils I got in the latest box is because I already had some other lentils I needed to use up first. But....I think that I have the necessary ingredients to make it again in a couple nights.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:37 PM on September 22, 2021

They're a magical fruit.
posted by bendy at 8:56 PM on September 22, 2021 [2 favorites]

For those of you who Facebook and are into growing beans, there's a spin-off group called "Rancho Gordo Bean Buddies" dedicated to the topic. I don't think you need to be a Bean Club subscriber to join.

I saw another "unofficial" group that was also devoted to the club, only it was more set up for people who were waiting to be in the club but still wanted to talk about beans. And - a lot of the bean club members are simply reposting their posts there as well, presumably so the I'm-on-the-waitlist people don't feel left out.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:29 AM on September 23, 2021 [1 favorite]

Oh hang on, just saw this -

We've been subscribers for a few years now. [...] Our last delivery had an Italian variety that they tried to grow, but didn't thrive. So they shared their meager crop with subscribers. There was a note of explanation, and advice to save some aside to grow next year, in case you might have better luck. My wife was totally excited, becasue she knew what they were, and hadn't seen them for sale anywhere.

Okay, so I was going to try them in that polenta recipe they shared in the newsletter - but I'll likely have some left over, so if your wife has any other recipes?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:31 AM on September 23, 2021

Yonks ago RG (I think) linked to a Mexican govt poster with a slogan something like "every village its own bean" and lovely illustrations of lovely beans. Does that ring a bell with the current in-group?
posted by clew at 12:55 PM on September 23, 2021

Yesssss! I just made my first pot of beans for the season: red beans and rice with Field Roast's Spicy Chipotle Vegan Sausage. I am in full-on Bean Mode. I've never had Rancho Gordo beans, but this is a sign from the universe that I need to try them out. What do y'all suggest that I sample first? I'm a black bean girl at heart, but I have room in my heart (and gut) for weird and wonderful beans too.
posted by chara at 3:25 PM on September 23, 2021

for my fellow ontario bean fans, these guys have some pretty great options.
posted by hearthpig at 6:55 PM on September 23, 2021

Chara - if you really want to jump in the deep end you could try something from Rancho Gordo's Xoxoc Project. This is a collaboration between Rancho Gordo and a Mexican food distributor working with smaller family farms, the upshot being that Xoxoc finds the smaller family farms in Mexico which would rather still keep growing the heirloom beans and Rancho Gordo connects them with new markets in the US. They also have other non-bean things as well.

Otherwise in their regular heirloom offerings, people seem to talk about either the vaqueros, the yellow eyes, the Christmas limas or the Coronas an awful lot. I haven't had them (yet) - before this I've been confining myself to what I could get in the local fancy food stores once in a while. But I got some coronas in the box and am looking forward to trying them (they are the BIGGEST DAMN BEANS I have ever seen - seriously, each single bean is like the size of a nickel).
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:55 PM on September 23, 2021 [2 favorites]

I subscribed to the bean club once in the far past. I enjoyed it a great deal, but I had no idea there was a Facebook group. I hate the idea. Why can't Facebook die already and we go back to private forums?
posted by liminal_shadows at 11:19 AM on September 26, 2021

The Facebook group is new, and was started upon request. It's also probably far easier for Rancho Gordo (which is largely run by just one guy) to have the group exist on Facebook as opposed to dedicating a part of their web site to maintaining a forum, since that would probably require someone to pay attention to the tech end of hosting a forum, moderating a forum, etc.

People are also not REQUIRED to sign up for the Facebook group. Most do anyway because the participants are very nice.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:39 AM on October 11, 2021