I keep repeating the experience of pulling shots with "old" coffee I'm about to throw away and getting fabulous results! So it's time to take a better look at this. I'm talking about the tail end of 12-16oz bags of beans that were roasted perhaps a month or more ago. Various beans. Various parameters. The common thread is that the shots, once dialed in correctly, outshine those that were done when the beans were fresher.

Case in point: This morning. Beans are over a month old. Social, Sidamo natural. When the neans were at their so-called prime (7-11 days after roasting), the blueberry was only a subtlety. Today it was in-your-face and lovely. The smell when I opened the mason jar jumped out and got my attention. The shots were fabulous.

Is the freshness thing totally wrong? Is the peak much later than we think?

innermusic wrote:Is the freshness thing totally wrong?

Some claim to enjoy Jack Daniels.
Just goes to show there's no accounting for taste.

Interesting topic. Could be that the coffee is outgassing more slowly than expected, perhaps due to being underdeveloped at roast.

Here's a fascinating article on the subject.

I'm curious about how you stored the coffee. Did you freeze it before use? Your comment about the mason jar made me wonder if the coffee continued to outgas during the month, and since the CO2 couldn't get out of the jar the coffee was somewhat protected from staling (as noted in the above-cited article.)

I wouldn't say that fresh coffee sucks. But if it hasn't finished outgassing, underextraction is likely. My own experiments indicate that it takes longer for the coffees I prefer to outgas than I had thought.

I agree about the degree of the roast. I've had very dark roast right out of the roaster that had tons of 'alcohol' (whiskey nasal flavor) and it was very good. Next day everything was gone and the coffee went boring. On the other hand, light roasted coffee usually needs to rest for about a week to mellow the acidity. So, very fresh coffee can have that special gas (don't know the name) that can make a whole world difference in espresso. My best espresso shots have been with very fresh coffee (0-1 day post roast). On drip, the gas is not noticeable and beans are usually better after at least a 3 day rest.

Cheers

cafeIKE wrote:Some claim to enjoy Jack Daniels.
Just goes to show there's no accounting for taste.

The irony of your post is impossible to miss.

I was talking to the head roaster at social. He recommends you:
A: let it rest for 10 days vac sealed.
B: open it and let it sit for 5 days.

These yield the peak days.

These are their beans btw.

I'm curious about how you stored the coffee. Did you freeze it before use? Your comment about the mason jar made me wonder if the coffee continued to outgas during the month, and since the CO2 couldn't get out of the jar the coffee was somewhat protected from staling (as noted in the above-cited article.)

No freezing, but I do use mason jars after I open the sealed foil pack. I do tend to open those jars once every 1-3 days to get some beans out. I tend to keep only a small supply of a perhaps 3 different roasts in the house at one time.

Yesterday for the first time I PURPOSELY bought beans that were a week old even though the same blend (Te Aro Elevens) was available that was only a day old.

I'm very very familiar with the bean you mentioned and never experienced what you're talking about. I've blind cupped coffees that are 3 days and 10 days post roast and I definitely find that there is a lot more going on in the fresher coffee. I don't think you're wrong, but I always find that the coffees get quite flat as they age past their prime.

EDIT: the 3 and 10 days thing was using Social beans as well. I'm not in total agreement with them on certain things like how long coffee can sit.