When to Enjoy Your Fresh Coffee

At Javaté Coffee, we want you to enjoy coffee at its best: fresh. But how fresh is too fresh? 

Long story short: let your coffee rest for 4-5 days following the roasting date printed on the bottom of the bag. But if you want to experiment or learn more, keep reading!

We believe that fresh coffee is the best coffee, so we want to put the ball in your court when it comes to enjoying your coffee at the right time. Too early, and your coffee may taste like it's missing something. Too late, and the tastes and aromas will be dulled and muted.

Your coffee will smell heavenly right away, but its taste will still need a bit more time to develop. This is because the roasting process releases a ton of CO2 from the coffee bean, and much of that gas hangs around for a few days. Your coffee will release a ton of that gas initially, which may make it harder to brew the perfect cup of coffee.

When to enjoy

Coffee is best enjoyed after letting it rest a few days after the roast. We ship most of our coffee the same day it's roasted. That transit time gives the coffee a chance to degas, which it needs to produce the best cup of coffee. You may be able to enjoy your coffee as soon as it's delivered, but a few days can't hurt.

Freshly roasted coffee can taste green, almost like it didn't finished roasting. This should go away after the first few days, and that's when the flavors really start to come out.

Grocery stores take it to the other extreme, though. Instead of providing a product that was roasted recently, it often takes months for that coffee to make it from the large-batch roaster to your shopping cart. Supply chain logistics simply make it more complicated to have fresh coffee available in-store.

What is degassing

When a coffee bean is roasted, much of its organic matter is expelled as gas. But some of that gas is still stuck in the bean, even after it's finished roasting! It can take a few days to a few weeks or months for it to entirely disperse, but it slows down considerably after that first week. This time range is when the coffee is best!

You can actually see this CO2 escaping when you wet your coffee grounds, since water encourages the internal gasses to escape. Professional baristas know how to handle this when brewing a cup of coffee, and make a point to let the coffee grounds bloom for a few moments before continuing the brew.

I love to make my coffee with a french press. But instead of dumping my water in right away, I wet the coffee ground first to allow them to bloom. The ground coffee puffs up with a light foam, and that foam is made of the gasses that are being released. This is also how I know the coffee is fresh, because older coffee lacks this visible foam.

One-Way Valves

These are what make a good coffee bag great. Most coffee bags have a circular cut-out somewhere near the top of the bag. It's a one-way valve that lets the CO2 escape, without letting oxygen in. If the CO2 couldn't escape, the bag would puff up and eventually pop!

I've seen popular ground coffees at the grocery store that have sharper edges than a brick. It's worth noting that a brick-like bag of coffee likely isn't worth your time. If it was vacuum sealed, packaged, and still looks like that, then this coffee never degassed in the bag. It's more likely it sat around for weeks, exposed to open air, before being packaged. 

Oxygen Exposure

Coffee should be sealed away from open air and oxygen. Otherwise, it will oxidize and go stale. Stale coffee is still drink-able, but the flavors are dulled and the aroma lacking.

Our one-way valves do a great job of keeping oxygen out. Our bags are also resealable, so you can close them back up as needed. You can also find coffee canisters that work great, especially those with a vacuum seal.

Seal your coffee whenever it's not in use to keep it fresher for longer.

Closing Remarks

Drinking fresh coffee is a newer experience for most coffee drinkers, and it requires a bit more planning to really bring out the best flavors. But it is worth it! You will be able to taste and smell flavors and aromas that you've never noticed before, and it brings out an entirely new world of coffee enjoyment.

So when will you enjoy your coffee? We can't blame you for wanting to try it as soon as it's delivered, but we still recommend just a few days to allow it to further develop.

A good trick, if you really can't wait, is to grind a small amount of coffee and let that sit for a few hours. The gasses escape even faster from ground coffee since there's more surface area. In general, this is why we would also recommend consuming pre-ground coffee sooner.