For many coffee is an essential start to the day but behind every cup lies a dizzying complexity. Global coffee growers are intertwined in a complicated supply chain that passes through suppliers and roasters before it reaches the shelves. So when you’re buying a bag to brew at home it’s incredibly helpful to know what’s inside. Luckily we’ve got ex-barista Mathew Woodburn-Simmonds from Home Coffee Expert to help you navigate the information behind the symbols.
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 James Hoffmann | 2021-05-20 16:38:59 |  3,984,907 Views |
“There are a lot of labels out there that are supposed to assure you that the coffee was ethically grown and sourced” he notes. Look at a coffee bag and you’ll see the harvest and slightly different roast dates the process the style the type of roast the source of the beans certifications and more. Each description reveals useful information but it’s good to know which ones to prioritize. For Woodburn-Simmonds “the roast date is the most important” as are factors that indicate the beans were sustainably sourced. Combine such labels with a trusted roaster and you can figure out what’s worth buying.
As with other foods and beverages freshness is critical to the quality of your coffee. You don’t want coffee that’s too fresh since freshly roasted beans are loaded with carbon dioxide that takes a few days to dissipate. Instead roasters wait four days for peak flavor and then vacuum-pack their beans. After that the coffee will begin to stale very gradually and in fact some aging is beneficial. “You want to roast your beans for about 12 to 14 days before you use them” says Woodburn-Simmonds.
The specifics of the aging process vary from coffee to coffee making it difficult to determine exactly when a batch becomes stale. An unopened bag is safe to drink for up to a year though it won’t taste as good at that point. Woodburn-Simmonds advises “avoiding beans that were roasted more than a month or two” before sale for the best flavor. Since even high-quality beans don’t taste good when they’re stale the roast date should be the first label you check. And if there’s no roast date at all skip it — while home-bagged beans may make the store smell great exposure to air and light will translate into a lower-quality cup when you get them home.
