Last, if you’re buying coffee beans in the supermarket, choose beans sold in bags with degassing valves. They will still be stale when you grind and brew them. Putting your stale coffee beans in the freezer won’t fix them. The improvement will be slightly noticeable and not a game-changer, in most cases. Many people swear by this method but don’t expect huge gains in quality retention for long-term storage. If you want to up your storage game a bit, consider freezing the beans. A cupboard in the kitchen or pantry works perfectly fine just make sure it’s not near any sources of heat. Store your coffee beans in a cool and dry place, in a container or bag that’s sealed tight. And to get the best flavor, you buy the beans fresh, and only as much as you need for a month.Ĭoffee subscription services such as Atlas Coffee Club or Trade Coffee Subscription might be a good option if you’re all about specialty coffee. If you’re that kind of person, you know how good coffee tastes and have a strong opinion on your preferred brewing method. That’s where grinding sizes, various brewing methods, and fancy equipment come into play. People who buy specialty beans, besides spending more money on coffee, usually care much more about their quality and getting the most flavor and aroma out of them.

Those coffee drinkers (yours truly included) don’t notice that big difference between fresh beans and those that sit in the pantry for over a year. They don’t mind that the beans aren’t of a certain quality, usually don’t care much about them being single-origin and not a blend, and so on. Supermarket beans from brands like Lavazza are for regular coffee drinkers who just want their daily dose of caffeine. Not so shiny coffee beans, quite old ones actually Supermarket Brands vs. Mainly because both types of beans are marketed to different kinds of coffee drinkers. Now, there’s a massive difference in recommended shelf life between the two types. Coffee beans stay safe to use for years assuming that you do a good job of storing them. Specialty beans that you order from small roasters brew the best coffee for about 2 to 4 weeks from the moment you get them.īoth periods are estimates and pertain to quality, not safety. That means a shelf life of 15 to 30 months. Jump to the section you’re interested in:Ĭommercial coffee beans you buy in the supermarket keep decent quality for 3 to 6 months after the printed date. Let’s talk about all the coffee options one by one, including what to do with your morning coffee when it’s 4 PM. If it’s months past its date, but you still enjoy it, then, by all means, continue. But if it tastes stale, you should toss it no matter what the date says. In the end, it’s all about whether you find that coffee good enough to drink. (Unless you’re a coffee connoisseur, in which case you’d have tossed them a long time ago.)įor ground and instant coffee, they too stay okay for quite a while, often way past the printed date. So even if they’re expired for a few months (or years), they’re usually quite alright. If you buy whole beans, these retain quality the longest. Well, it all depends on how you make your coffee. You’re about to make your morning cup of joe, and you notice that your coffee is out-of-date for quite some time now.

Shelf life of coffee