Freshly roasted coffee - what is it like?

What is freshly roasted coffee? How long does it stay fresh? How does freshness affect the taste? What is the right way to store beans? These are questions that coffee lovers often ask themselves. So, without further ado, let's look for answers. In this article, we will touch on such a topic as the freshness of coffee beans.

What does the freshness of coffee affect?

In fact, freshness of roasting is far from the only important criterion for coffee quality. But then will it make sense to bother so much about it? To answer this question, try drinking coffee roasted a week and a year ago. Coffee beans are not wine, after all, aging does not do them any good. Coffee brewed from fresh beans has a much brighter aroma and taste. For this reason, if you want to enjoy the taste to the fullest, you should only take freshly roasted coffee. The only thing left to do is to figure out what coffee freshness is.

What is coffee freshness?

The concept of fresh roasting is considered one of the foundations of the modern coffee industry. For connoisseurs, freshness is a concept that is related to the ABC truths. And for good reason. Love for coffee is chemistry. In the literal sense of the word. After all, the formation of taste and aroma is based on chemical processes. Everything for which we love coffee is just chemical substances that are formed as a result of roasting. And which over time - alas - disappear from coffee beans. 

The bouquet is made up of aromatic substances, special hydrocarbons that, as you might guess, have a distinct smell. The molecules of these substances are very volatile and are also easily destroyed by oxygen and sunlight. We owe the beautiful foam (cream) to carbon dioxide, which is released during roasting and which is also lost during storage. Carbon dioxide is the reason why coffee bags are often equipped with a degassing valve: it allows CO2 to escape, but does not let atmospheric air in. Compare espresso brewed from beans roasted a week and a year ago. Fresh beans will have approximately 2-3 times more crema. Thus, the freshness of coffee is determined by the amount of the original qualities preserved in the beans after roasting.

What coffee can be considered fresh?

So, we have understood that it is better to drink coffee fresh. But we must understand that this is not an Olivier salad, and its freshness cannot be measured by the same criteria as perishable products. So we smoothly moved on to such a concept as “peak of taste”. The taste of coffee does not reveal itself immediately. The fact is that in the first days after roasting, there is too much carbon dioxide in the beans. It will interfere with the release of soluble substances, preventing normal extraction. As a result, the crema will be beautiful, but the taste and aroma will be so-so.

For this reason, after roasting, the beans are left to rest so that excess carbon dioxide can escape. This process is called degassing. It is believed that the peak of taste occurs when about 20% of the original amount of carbon dioxide remains in the beans, that is, approximately on the 5th-7th day after roasting. At the same time, coffee remains at its peak for several more days. Depending on the duration of roasting and the type of roaster, it can retain its properties for another 7-14 days. That is, the peak of taste lasts on average from 7 to 14-21 days. It is believed that a low roasting speed contributes to slower aging. Also, coffee roasted on a convection roaster (heating occurs due to hot air flows) is stored longer due to a more uniform roast.

However, it is important to understand that there are many more factors that influence the time during which coffee stays fresh. The variety and type, the size of the beans and the storage conditions are important. On average, the stable taste is preserved for a month, and if certain conditions are met, the period increases to two.

How to choose coffee?

Freshness of roasting is not the only criterion, but it is a very important one. If you are not too picky and just want to get a dose of caffeine before work, then not too fresh coffee will do. But if you want to enjoy a bright taste and aroma, then it is better not to buy coffee on sales at “Ozon” or “Wildberries”. Why? Most often, big discounts are given to illiquid goods. They usually do not sell well and therefore gather dust in the warehouse for a long time, which means there is no point in talking about the freshness of such beans.

To choose truly fresh coffee, it is enough to follow a few simple rules.

Firstly, you should only buy coffee that has an exact roasting date. Try to buy beans no older than 2 weeks. When ordering online, it is important to consider delivery times.

Secondly, it is preferable to buy beans rather than ground coffee, because it quickly evaporates.

Thirdly, do not buy a large quantity of coffee, as you simply will not have time to drink it before the beans lose their freshness.

How to store coffee properly?

Storage is no less important than freshness itself. After all, if the integrity of the factory packaging is damaged, the shelf life of any product is reduced. Coffee is no exception. Of course, it is not canned meat - it cannot become moldy. More precisely, it can, but for this you need to store the beans in conditions of high humidity (you would not keep them on a shelf in the bathroom). However, contact with atmospheric oxygen and sunlight is also not good for it. Therefore, you need to keep the beans in a dark place in a sealed package away from sources of strong odors, such as spices. It is also important to observe the temperature regime. It is believed that the optimal temperature for storing beans is no higher than 20 ° C. But some experts advise freezing them altogether to stop chemical processes. In this state, the beans can be stored for about a year.

But first and foremost, it is important that the supplier you buy your coffee from can guarantee the freshness of the roast. After all, the lack of taste and aroma cannot be compensated for by proper storage.