Coffee beans are green when harvested. These raw coffee beans are then roasted then ground into the form of coffee that many of us commonly find in stores and coffee shops. As a matter of fact, almost everyone who has tasted coffee has encountered both a fantastic and a horrible cup of coffee. Come to think of it. Since one can actually do everything from growing coffee to buying instant coffee which only requires hot water, it is not unusual that the quality of coffee can extremely differ from one to another.
More often than not, price cannot have much bearing on quality. I have experienced spending a lot of money for a brand name instant coffee that tasted worse than the cheaper ground coffee next to it on the shelf. Some expensive coffee variety may cost more than the store-brand, but if that expensive coffee is old stock and stale, the cheaper brand of coffee may taste better. One problem with coffee bought in supermarkets is that you are never really sure how old the roasted coffee beans were, when these beans were ground, and how long ago the beans were sitting on the shelf—these factors can make or break the flavor and quality of coffee.
The freshness of roasted coffee beans last for about a month, therefore the coffee you buy in the store must have been roasted around that time. Ground coffee is fresh at the moment of grinding; it should immediately be used right after being ground. Although vacuum packing may retain practically much of the freshness, but coffee aficionados know too well that only freshly ground from bean to brew can produce a better cup of coffee than those take from packaged version that has sat on the shelf for an unknown length of time.
If you’re buying whole roasted coffee beans, you will know its age by the label on the packaging. If there’s no way for carbon dioxide to leak from the package then the beans have sat for some days prior to packing. If the way they are packaged does makes it possible for this release, then they were likely packaged immediately and may be fresher, providing you are able to buy them immediately.
While they’re generally considered fresh for thirty days, genuine coffee lovers would say that only 3 days is the window to get its optimum coffee flavor. After 3 days, the fresh roasted coffee beans will begin losing their natural aromatic oils. So, if you really want the best coffee possible and you have the time, you may buy green coffee beans and do the roasting yourself at home.
