Many of us buy whole bean coffee because we want to grind it fresh at home for the best possible flavor and the amazing aroma (much of it coming from the grinder before you’ve even started in on the pour over, espresso, or old-school American drip). Experts agree that bringing home whole bean coffee almost always beats out bagged ground coffee, especially if you’re not going to enjoy it in the next week or so. Not only will it last longer, because it has less surface area to expose to oxidation, but a fresh grind will release more flavor from the oils still locked in the tiny beans.
Perhaps counterintuitively, you don’t want your coffee beans to be too fresh from the roaster. You should wait to start enjoying them at least a week or so after the roast date, so that they’ll have time to release all of their incredible flavor. But, if you’ve brought home a bag of whole bean coffee, and you’re just not sure if it’s good anymore, how long can it last? The short answer is, your whole beans will stay good for about a year in a vacuum-sealed package, if stored properly. But we can get a bit more into the details.
How to keep coffee beans fresh and tell if they’re still good
First of all, even unopened coffee beans can go bad, generally meaning that they will become stale and low in flavor, rather than being physically bad for you. But if stored properly, in a cool, dry, dark place, they will still be good to enjoy for up to a year. While many coffee labels contain both the harvest date and the roast date, when considering the “age” of your coffee beans, we’re really talking about roast date.
Ideally, store them in a pantry or drawer. Contrary to popular belief, you should keep your coffee beans out of the refrigerator. Even in a vacuum-sealed container, they can pick up the aromas and flavors of everything else that’s in the fridge. And the extra condensation isn’t good for keeping dry foods fresh. Depending on just how airtight the package is, moisture can ultimately encourage mold growth. While coffee beans can last longer in the freezer (up to two years), they’ll lose their freshness after about four months, and they can still pick up flavor and extra condensation, so it’s not recommended.
To make sure your coffee beans are fresh when you open them, give them a good sniff. They should have that distinctive, slightly bitter, slightly sweet coffee aroma. Stale beans could smell sawdusty or have almost no scent at all. They should also be a little shiny with surface oil, especially darker roasts. If they are dry and grainy, it’s probably time to buy new beans. And remember: While properly stored beans can technically last a while, they will deteriorate in quality, so don’t forget about them at the back of the pantry.
