Hi, I have just started drinking coffee. After using half a pound of el cheapo cafetiere stuff I bought half a pound of Lavazza espresso stuff, which is very nice. To keep this stuff fresh, I have it in an airtight container in the fridge. How long will it take for this stuff to not taste as good as it does now? I'm not sure if you count it as espresso but it does say it on the front, and for 1 pint of coffee (a big french cup measured out to 1 pint) how many cm3 of the powder do I use?
Thank you, I don't want to make an expensive hobby out of this, just above average, I have headphones, computing and cigars to uphold, cant afford another.

Baneat wrote: After using half a pound of el cheapo cafetiere stuff I bought half a pound of lavazza espresso stuff, which is very nice.

Taste in coffee is, indeed, relative and VERY subjective. If you like the Lavazza, that is fine, but it is on the low-end as far as taste goes (IMO), and (if I may be so presumptuous as to dare to speak for the majority here) I would say that few if any of the folks in this group use that coffee. Look at it this way- you may like a fast food burger at your favorite restaurant with a large clown out front, but compared to a steak at a nice restaurant, the burger is just dog food. You owe it to yourself to get a steak... life's too short to drink bad coffee.

To keep this stuff fresh, I have it in an airtight container in the fridge. How long will it take for this stuff to not taste as good as it does now?

I could give a whole list of smart-a** answers, but since the coffee had little to lose after the first day when you opened it, it will last for a while. How long depends on your personal tastes, and ability to sense the changes in the coffee. Maybe a week- maybe a month - maybe a day.

I'm not sure if you count it as espresso but it does say it on the front, and for 1 pint of coffee (a big french cup measured out to 1 pint) how many cm3 of the powder do I use?

Espresso is a beverage. it is created by forcing water, under pressure, through finely-ground, tightly packed coffee. There is no such thing as "espresso beans" or "espresso roast." You can roast and blend coffee to be used for espresso.

The amount to use is the amount that tastes good to you. ABOUT one coffee measure (1.5TBS) per 4 to 6 ounces depending on how you like it. 1.5 T is about 22 CM3, so for 16 ounces of water, that would be four, 4 ounce cups, so 4 x 22 = ABOUT 80-90 CM3...? I think....???

Hey Ross,

Welcome to the forum.

Most folks would advise keeping your coffee in an airtight container, at a cool temperature, out of the sun. I keep what I use short-term (a week's worth) in a jar the cupboard. For longer term storage, you can freeze your coffee. There's plenty of advice on how to do that here, if you do a search. Your best bet is to buy only what you'll use in a week's time. Randy's right, though. If you're using Lavazza, it probably doesn't matter that much.

As for espresso. To brew espresso, you need an espresso machine. It has little to do with the the type of coffee you brew, but rather the process by which you brew it. With an espresso machine, you can brew any kind of beans and get espresso. (Although it probably won't be good espresso unless you have a special espresso blend). However, brew an espresso blend by any other method (drip machine, French Press, Moka Pot, etc..) and all you get is coffee. It's only espresso if you use an espresso machine.

Now, since you don't have the time or money to invest in another hobby, forget espresso. In order to brew true espresso at home, you're going to have to shell out a minimum of $500 for an espresso machine and a grinder (maybe someone can suggest a way to do it a little cheaper), and that's an entry-level setup. In other words, walk away now.

Your best bet is to stick with your French Press, maybe buy a decent burr grinder, find a local roaster, and experiment with different beans until you find one you really like. That way you'll be able to enjoy great coffee without picking up a new obsession.

Someone else on the forum said getting into espresso is like stepping down the rabbit hole. You'll be a lot happier if you just stay where you are.

Hope that helps.

Hi Ross,
Once a coffee bean is roasted, it stays fresh much the same way as a loaf of bread. Once it is ground, it is similar to a cut SLICE of bread. You can put coffee/bread in the fridge, or freezer - but you know those sorts of "freshness tactics" can never put back the freshness you get when the stuff came out of the oven. You know, if you leave a slice of bread out on the counter sometimes it goes stale while you are searching for the lunchmeat, mustard, and cheese! The same holds true for coffee. Coffee grounds stale very rapidly.

With a French Press, you can have very good control over many coffee brewing variables: water temperature, grind size, water to coffee ratio, brewing time. Once you fix those variables, you will start to notice the variation in the beans.

Coffee changes subtly for 7-10 days after roasting, then like bread it reaches a point of complete staleness.

My best suggestion would be to find a roaster that can consistently sell you beans on the same day they are roasted, store them in an airtight jar, and throw out any beans older than 10 days. I roast my own and I have found that 7-10 days is the maximum freshness period. Days 2-5 are the "sweet spot" IMHO.

Freezing coffee is the same as freezing a freshly baked loaf of bread from a bakery, so I suggest never refrigerating or freezing it. Buy it fresh, consume it fresh, and you will enjoy more of the complexity that coffee has to offer.
Have fun!

I like the bread analogy. But if you freeze your bread and then, when you want to eat some of it, you toast it or warm it in the oven first, it tastes pretty good. Much better than if you simply let it thaw. No reason to discard tasty bread when you can freeze one loaf, right after it comes out of the oven and cools, and keep another loaf out.

Whole coffee beans can be frozen, and hold up quite well in the freezer. I haven't tried freezing pre-ground coffee, of course, and would buy only whole bean.

Freezing fresh whole bean coffee is not a problem. For more information read Kens article Coffee: To Freeze or Not to Freeze.

In a nutshell, freezing whole bean, freshly roasted coffee will prolong its life with little to not discernible degradation. However, freezing stale coffee, like Lavazza, will do nothing for it. It is long past its prime when you open the bag. Fresh coffee is generally defined as coffee that is less than 14 days out of the roaster, not when the bag was opened. Ground coffee has a life span of about 60 seconds, freezing it does nothing. However, ground coffee does make nice compost. Grind per shot, or brew.

imho, bread that has been frozen and thawed is never the same as fresh baked. That said, I have never tried freezing some of my home-roasted coffee so I think it is time for me to do a side by side comparison.

The beans degas for a few days after roasting, I wonder if freezing and thawing them would accelerate the degassing? This should be a fun experiment!

cheers

You may want to read Rate of Coffee Staling wrt what happens in the freezer.

As far as 7 day life goes, it very much depends on the coffee.
Some [ espresso ] coffees are at their prime on days 10 to 14+++

A Kona I roasted several years ago was very flat on days 2-5, so I just let it sit.
It was fantastic as press on days 9-12.