Aging and drinking time.
SPECIALTY COFFEE BEANS × AGING
Specialty Coffee × Aging
It is commonly said that coffee is best enjoyed between 2 days and 2 weeks after roasting, and that it becomes unpalatable due to oxidation after that. However, this is only a general guideline, and it does not always apply, especially to specialty coffee.
There is no clear definition of the best before date or shelf life of coffee, and the duration varies depending on the roaster and shop.
In this article, we will explain the best before date, shelf life, and aging of specialty coffee as simply as possible.
What is aging?
Aging refers to resting roasted coffee for a certain period of time (maturation).
By establishing an aging period, unnecessary gases generated during roasting are released. This prevents extraction from being hindered by gas and allows for the enjoyment of changes in flavor components over time.
It is often said that "coffee is delicious from 2 days after roasting," which also means that it has undergone 2 days of aging.
Best before date and shelf life
The best before date and shelf life are largely determined by the roasting approach to the green beans and the degree of roast.
For example, with a light roast, less gas is generated, and cell destruction (due to glass transition, etc.) is less advanced compared to a deep roast. As a result, flavor components are less likely to escape, and the deliciousness lasts for a longer period. As roasting progresses, gas generation and cell destruction also advance, so flavor components volatilize quickly along with gas release. Consequently, deeply roasted coffee is thought to have a shorter period of deliciousness compared to lightly roasted coffee.
Lightly roasted and deeply roasted coffees, with different roast levels, expand differently when ground. From this, you should intuitively understand the content described above.
"Best before date" refers to the period during which the flavor can be enjoyed the most, including the aging period. Even after this period, the deliciousness will sufficiently last, but the flavor will gradually be lost and replaced by negative components. Therefore, please consume the coffee by the shelf life (in whole bean form, from roast date: 60 days for light to medium roast / 45 days for medium-dark roast and darker). If you cannot finish it by the shelf life, we recommend freezing it for storage.
At THE WORD COFFEE, with our current roasting approach, we consider the best before date for light to medium roasts to be 1 week to 30 days after roasting, and for medium-dark roasts and darker, it is 2 days to 2 weeks, when stored at room temperature (as whole beans). (This period is the "best before date" and not the shelf life.)
As mentioned above, the best before date and shelf life depend on the roasting approach. Please consider that the best before date and shelf life set by THE WORD COFFEE are limited to coffee roasted by THE WORD COFFEE. And even for coffee roasted by us, if the roasting approach changes, naturally, the best before date and shelf life at that time will also change.
To summarize simply, because specialty coffee is of high quality, many roasters focus on the unique flavors of the beans, and as a result, it is often offered as light to medium roasts. Therefore, it can be enjoyed for a relatively long period, including the aging period.
Everyone has different preferences and perceptions of coffee. Perhaps you find more sweetness in the second week than in the first, or discover flavors in the third week that you hadn't noticed before. The ability to find your preferred taste through aging is one of the unique ways to enjoy specialty coffee, isn't it?
-The above refers to general varieties, but larger varieties (such as Pacamara) can be enjoyed for an even longer aging period.