How Long Does Coffee Stay Fresh and Does Small Batch Roasting Matter?
Your job is to do amazing things out in the world. Our job is to fuel you every step of the way. But before you get ready to dominate your to-do list and obliterate procrastination… we want you to get the best experience you can from your daily caffeine infusion.
With that in mind, let’s look at a question we get all the time: how long does coffee stay fresh?
Can coffee ever go bad?
Yes! But... freshness is what you really need to care about.
Simply put, freshness matters.
The fresher your coffee is the better it will taste. If you are looking to experience the full potential of your coffee beans then you’ll want to make a point of brewing up your coffee as close to the date that it’s roasted as possible. This is because oxygen slowly erodes the taste of your coffee and will eventually make it go stale.
A general rule of thumb is that you will want to consume your coffee beans within 3-4 weeks of when they were roasted.
After 3-4 weeks the flavor noticeably begins to fade, and your cup of coffee won’t be delivering the same punch of flavor that you’re used to. It’s worth noting that while the freshness and flavor fade fast… the usable shelf life of coffee is much longer. In fact, unopened coffee beans can last anywhere from 6-9 months! But, just because you can drink it doesn’t me you should drink it. (More on that below)
How Do I Keep Coffee Fresh Longer?
While coffee will generally stay fresh to enjoy for 3-4 weeks, how your store it makes a BIG difference. The biggest enemies to coffee’s freshness are oxygen, light, heat, and moisture. If you want your coffee to stay fresher for longer then here are a few tips:
- Store in an air-tight container
- Store in a dark and cool location away from direct sunlight
- Never let your beans get moist (and be wary of overly humid environments)
- Use whole bean and grind it yourself before you brew
On that last point… there’s a reason why coffee fanatics prefer to grind their own coffee. Ground coffee beans have greater exposure to oxygen and will lose their flavor faster.
If you want to know more about the science behind keeping coffee fresh. We suggest taking a look at this guide from the good folks at Coffee or Bust. They have some of the most in depth coffee guides on out there, and we found this guide to coffee freshness particularly helpful!
Does “Small Batch Roasting” Make a Difference?
Everyone out there in Megaton Nation knows we LOVE talking about our small batching roasting. (link to about us). We think it makes a big difference and we’re proud of our roasting process.
Not only does it give us greater precision to roast every batch of Megaton exactly right, but it lets us deliver insanely fresh coffee as well.
We snapped a picture (below) of our beans compared to some grocery store dark roast to show you the difference in precision that small batch roasting can make!
We roast every day and roast each order within 24 hours of receiving it. This means that your Megaton gets to your mailbox within a couple days of roasting. That’s hard to find with bigger coffee companies… and pretty much impossible to find on the grocery shelf. (Remember when we said that coffee is technically still “good” for 6-9 months?).
If you’re looking to get the most out of your coffee, then we highly suggest doing a little experiment between freshly roasted Megaton and something you pick up from the grocery store. We promise you that the difference is noticeable just from the smell even BEFORE you brew it up.
Now all that’s left is to brew up your coffee, enjoy the fresh taste, and get ready to dominate your day.
Buy freshly roasted Megaton today!
