The Age of Coffee, and When it Matters
Hey Smooth gang, Noah here.
—An Intro—
I recently ran a poll on Threads asking the world when they think coffee is at its ideal after roasting. 3-5 days off roast? 10-20? 20-40? Immediately after it comes out of the roaster?
The 3-5 day range won the poll, which is not a surprise to me. I espoused the 3-5 day opinion for more than three years after entering into specialty coffee for the first time. It's a common perspective and no doubt better than the “fresh roasted” alternative. But over the past 2 years of sensory analysis and tasting I've come to my own less decisive conclusions.
—A Baseline—
If I had to choose from the aforementioned time ranges to say when I think coffee is at its best, I would likely choose 10-20 days off roast. In my experience of cupping and tasting coffee for sensory analysis I find that coffees in this range more often hit a sweet spot of clarity, balance, and presence of flavor. There's a cohesiveness to those brews that comes together due to some combination of off-gassing the remnant CO2 generated during the roast process and a general settling of the flavors as the coffee sits.
That being said, the vast majority of coffee enjoyers aren't cupping coffee with any regularity. So while this information is relevant to my personal understanding and appreciation for coffee, I believe the most important part of this line of thinking is the next question it implies: "how long after roasting is coffee at its ideal for the way I like to make coffee?”
—An Answer—
Long answer short: it totally depends, and it totally depends on you.
The fact of the matter is that coffee does change as it ages. From one week to the next any coffee will change significantly, and imo one of the most fun things about brewing coffee at home is experiencing that change for yourself. With a basic brewing setup and a consistent recipe you can taste that change for every coffee you bring home, and as a result come to your own conclusions about when you think that coffee, or any coffee, is at its best.
So play around with different coffees on one brew method, or with one coffee on different brew methods. Try one offering every day, or every other day and see what changes. Try 7 different coffees one a day for a week, and then repeat those coffees for a couple of weeks and see how they all change. Be as simple or complicated about your pursuit of understanding this beautiful beverage. Just trust me when I say it is truly a joy to drink coffee in this way.
—In Practice—
There are some practical applications to this line of thinking as a roaster. When it comes to Smooth, I like to let the NEAT blend age a little bit longer before pulling it on espresso. It already has a nice acidity thanks to the Tanzanian component, and the additional bitterness from the trapped CO2 can be really unpleasant on top of that. It's because of this analysis that I decided to operate my inventory systems on a rotating schedule that allows me to deliver coffee to my wholesale clients at least 10 days after roast. This way not only am I roasting the best coffee that I can, but I'm delivering at the best possible time that I can.
It's also why on I list a "best after" date on my retail containers instead of a "roasted on date". I like to think this encourages people to ask the question "why wouldn't this coffee be as good before this date" and then end up learning something new about coffee. But at the very least it means everyone who buys Smooth is getting coffee that's ready to roll right out of the gate.
—The End—
And that's the blog. Thank you so much for reading and, if you please, let me know what you think about this topic in reply to this blog post, on Instagram or Threads, or through the contact form on this website. I look forward to reading them.
And remember; if you're going to make coffee, make it Smooth.
Much love,
Noah
