What do Roast Dates Actually Mean?

When is the best time to drink coffee past the roast date? Is fresh better? Or is less fresh the way to go? We’re answering all of these questions and more in this post.

If you’ve ever wondered what that roast date on your coffee really means or if it even affects the taste of the coffee, you’re not alone! We get questions about roast dates and coffee freshness a lot in our cafe, so today we’re telling all on the blog.

There’s a lot that goes into the coffee roasting process: from sourcing the green coffee at a farm, to importing, to roasting, packaging, shipping, etc. But what’s important for us to note today is that the roasting process isn’t done right after those beans leave the roaster. There’s another step called degassing. This step is unique in that it occurs anywhere, so those beans might be packaged and shipped and sitting on your kitchen counter. They might look like they’re ready to be brewed, but degassing could still be happening! Since you can’t see this step, it’s important to rely on roast dates as an indicator of where the coffee is at in the degassing process.

Degassing starts right after the beans are roasted and can last for about two weeks! During the roasting process, the coffee undergoes chemical reactions, and this causes gas, like carbon dioxide to build up inside the beans. All of the gas doesn’t escape the beans during the roasting process; it continues to escape in those days following the roast.

This is why super-fresh coffee is not always best! If those beans were roasted yesterday, put them down! Give them time to finish their roasting process by degassing. You’ll get so much more flavor from them in a week or two.

The best estimate for when beans will taste great is two weeks past the roast date. But there is a range, and each coffee has its own sweet spot. So, about 10-21 days past the roast date is when that coffee will give you the most flavorful cup! We know this may seem like a broad range of days, but you really will get a lot of flavor out of your coffee during that range. Yes, coffee does lose flavor as it continues to age, but it takes longer than a lot of people assume— we’re talking months.

You can also plan ahead if you’re buying coffee in advance. If it was roasted yesterday, but you still have beans at home, go ahead and buy the fresh beans! They’ll have time to off-gas and be at the perfect date once you’re ready to drink them. If you’re headed home to brew the coffee right away, look for something that is about two weeks past the roast date.

Now that we busted the myth of super-fresh coffee, you’ll have the power to march into a specialty coffee shop and select the beans that are perfect for your needs, coaxing the maximum amount of flavor out of each bag of coffee you purchase.