Coffee Freshness, Storage and Our Roast Dating Guarantee

After about 6-8 weeks after roasting, the flavours in the coffee are dissipated through evaporation and oxidation and after about 3 months it goes rancid.

There is no viable method of storing coffee that effectively prevents loss of flavours within about 2 months and prevents it from going rancid within about 3 months. Even vacuum packed, nitrogen flushed valve bags contain sufficient oxygen to permit oxidation. And when you open the package and release the flavour, that was it... the flavours left with that puff of air and is long gone from the coffee.

The refrigerator and freezer are generally bad places to store coffee because coffee absorbs smells like charcoal. Left over broccoli is not a pleasant coffee flavour. Even in air tight containers, freezing coffee in frost free freezers is can spoil truly fresh coffee because it tends to freeze and thaw the coffee. Even in an air tight container, freezing and thawing produces moisture that is an enemy of coffee flavours.

All of these storage techniques are designed to lengthen the shelf life of coffee. If you want to enjoy really great coffee, none of them really works. It is like trying to extend the shelf life of bread. You can freeze it, but it is not fresh bread when you take it out of the freezer.

So what should a person do?

At Birds and Beans, we've turned the problem around. Instead of trying to extend the shelf life of the coffee to make it easier for the supermarket chains and corporate roasters, we roast the coffee in small batches and sell it to you fresh. We Roast Date every batch of coffee we roast and we never mix one batch with another. As we pack the coffee, we specify the roasting date on the package.

All this to guarantee that we ship roasted coffee no more than a week from roasting. Coffee this fresh requires no special storage requirements. Just keep it away from moisture and other smells and drink it during the first 6-8 weeks.

No other Canadian roaster shares our commitment to freshness — Only Birds and Beans has a one week Roast Dating Guarantee. The only way to get fresher coffee is to roast it at home — and we can help you there too!