TheCoffeeFaq.com
Title
The Coffee FAQ
Description
Fresh beans are critical, and perhaps the commonly overlooked factor. Try to find a local roaster, or a coffee retailer where they can verify the roasting date, which should be no more than a week before sale. Look to see that the retailer is relatively busy and that their stock turns over frequently. Be suspicious if they store the coffee in containers that are exposed to the air, such beans will stale more rapidly than those stored in airtight containers. Some "gourmet" shops store their roasted beans in large, open containers holding twenty pounds each or more. Unless they're selling a truly amazing amount of coffee, much is it is likely stale.
If a supermarket without an in-store roaster is your only option, look for sealed plastic, Mylar, or foil bags with the roasting date printed on them. You want a roasting date, not an expiration date—the latter is misleading, since you don't know whether the retailer is being unrealistically optimistic about how long they consider the beans to be fresh. The pre-ground, canned coffees sold in supermarkets are de facto stale (though many people believe that Illy canned coffee, which is packed under pressure, not vacuum, is an exception to this rule).
Foil-wrapped vacuum-packed containers (where the package tightly conforms to the beans) should be avoided; since freshly roasted beans emit carbon dioxide, the tight packaging (i.e., the fact that the bag has not inflated), indicates that this outgassing has stopped and the beans are stale (the Illy canned coffees are again an exception, since the cans resist distension). The carbon dioxide emission lasts for up to two weeks after roasting, so the foil bags should have one-way exhaust valves so that they don't expand. Coffee is often at its best the day after it is roasted; therefore, beans roasted that same day are not an absolute requirement, though it will mean that they'll be usable for a longer period. Investigate roasters who sell through the mail or over the Internet; there are many roasters who will ship beans they day they are roasted.
Languages
English
