How Long Do Fresh Roasted
Coffee Beans Last?
On the average, ground coffee should keep fresh for around a week if it is stored in an airtight container. To get the freshest, buy coffee beans that have a recent roast date, such as within the last week or two.
Coffee beans that are stored properly will keep fresh for around nine months. However, the quality of the beans slowly degrades over this time. If you store your ground coffee in an airtight container, it will keep for an additional two months.
Freezing coffee preserves its flavors and smells for a longer time, but kills the vitality of the coffee. Condensation of water occurs within the coffee because of the freezing temperature. When exposed to the freezer, the coffee will acquire unpleasant aromas.
But keeping your coffee fresh isn't only about storage; it's also about preparation and packaging. Because some coffee isn't made to last. It's best to restock periodically rather than wait.
Pre-ground or home-ground coffee lasts less than coffee beans. Coffee grounds have a considerably larger surface area and the centre of the bean is not protected. However, careful packaging and processing can minimize this disparity.
Some coffee companies use nitrogen flushing, which involves packaging newly roasted coffee beans and then flushing the box with nitrogen, which does not stale the beans.
Placing the coffee beans in a vacuum-sealed container essentially does the same thing as storing coffee in an airtight container, except that all of the gasses are sucked out of the package first, leaving no oxygen in the package rather than the small quantity of oxygen remaining in an airtight container after the coffee is sealed.
While our tongues are only capable of distinguishing between sweet, sour, bitter, savory, and umami, our nostrils are capable of detecting whether or not the coffee beans are rotten just by smelling them. It is likely that the coffee will taste flat if they smell flat.
By: Douglas
Other Latte Art Questions
What is the best milk for latte art?
How to Steam Milk at home for Latte Art?
Other Questions about Coffee
About US | OCM Profile
OCM (OnCoffeeMakers.com) was started in 2007 with the first webpage about coffee machines. And for a number of years, we focused on helping people find their desired coffee machine (we still are helping folks with that! So, if you are looking for coffee machines for office or restaurants - check out the link).
In 2010, we started getting enquiries on restaurant marketing and we start to help food and beverage brands with their marketing. Below are campaigns and events that we have done over the years:
OCM's campaigns: F&B Marketing Ideas by OCM
OCM's Events: F&B Industry events by or with OCM
Check out this restaurant marketing guide to learn more about the many campaigns and companies we have worked with.
Since then, we have also created many marketing workshops and classes for the F&B industry. Many of these modules are still running in tertiary institutions such as Temasek Polytechnic Skillsfuture Academy and also ITE College East COC classes, below are some snippets of our lectures and workshops:
OCM’s F&B workshops: Food and Beverage Marketing Lectures | Workshops - click to watch classes on customer journey map, JTBD and more.
So, if you are looking for industry practitioners to help you scale your coffee or F&B businesses, do drop us a message or book an appointment. Do also check out our various social media platforms on regular F&B and coffee market updates:
For regular coffee (F&B) related videos: OCM Youtube
For Daily Coffee Inspiration (fun coffee content): OCM IG
For insights into the coffee (F&B) industry: OCM LinkedIN
PS: For the coffee lovers, we continue to share coffee articles (and videos) and have also started a free coffee class section (with free online coffee training supported by coffee partners).
