I know we had this discussion before. When I was a kid and young adult, food
did not have an expiration date so there was no way to tell how old those
dried beans were. I can remember cooking beans for 2-3 hours or more!

But now? The cooking time keeps getting less and less. The last time I
cooked black or kidney beans, I cooked checked them earlier than the
suggested cook time on the package and they were overcooked.

I just cooked small red beans. After an hour soak, they were done in 40
minutes. I could smell that they were done so ran to check them. Maybe my
beans are just super fresh!