Secrets of the Coffee Aisle

Spend too much time in the coffee aisle? A dance occurs when it's time to replenish the household coffee supply, and maybe your coffee selection comes down to the logo. There are a dozen different roasters on the shelf in any given market, and each roaster has two or three offerings (roast, blend, or decaf). So, while sorting through around 70 options, I employ a method to simplify things..

(TL;DR - Next time you are at the store try to find coffee that has a roasted on date.)

Here is what I look for: roast date, roast level, process, origin, and marketing.

For this post I’m going to focus on freshness.

So, how fresh is this coffee?

What is fresh coffee?

Coffee reaches it peak flavor 2-3 days after being roasted (the exception being espresso; you want as much degassing to occur as possible so ideally wait up to 6 days). For the first few days the beans are still degassing from the roasting process and will tend to taste… flat.

The key insight on the bag when making a decision about freshness is the roast date.

BUT, there is a catch! Most supermarkets require the roaster to swap the roast date for a best by date. The best by date is between 4-6 MONTHS from the roast date. If the coffee in your hands is anywhere near the best by date, put it back if you want fresh coffee.

Also, if you see a pattern of all the coffee on the shelf has a best by date, it's probably time to shop elsewhere. A good roaster will often sneak the roast date onto the package, it's like a secret code that lets you know they care.

May you find the freshest coffee and thanks for reading!

Casey & Tim