Coffee 101
How Long Do Coffee Beans Stay Fresh After Roasting?
Roasted whole coffee beans keep their best flavour for about one to three weeks after roasting when stored airtight at room temperature, according to the National Coffee Association. Ground coffee fades faster, in one to two weeks. Frozen in a truly airtight container, whole beans hold for three to four months. After that the beans still brew; the cup just smells and tastes flatter.
The 15-15-15 rule
The 15-15-15 rule is a freshness rule of thumb: roast green coffee within 15 months of harvest, brew roasted coffee within 15 days of roasting, and brew ground coffee within 15 minutes of grinding. A second version keeps the 15 days and the 15 minutes and adds drinking brewed coffee within 15 minutes of making it. Neither version is a hard deadline.
Roastopedia traces the rule to a 2009 post on the Home-Barista forum. Its 15 days sits inside the National Coffee Association’s one-to-three-week range, so treat it as a target. Coffee on day 18 still brews well enough; it is past its best.
Freshness at a glance
| Coffee | Stays fresh for | Conditions | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roasted whole beans | 1 to 3 weeks | Airtight, room temperature | National Coffee Association |
| Ground coffee | 1 to 2 weeks | Airtight, room temperature | National Coffee Association |
| Roasted whole beans | 3 to 4 months | Airtight, frozen | National Coffee Association |
| Freshly ground coffee | 15 minutes | From grinding to brewing | The 15-15-15 rule |
How old our coffee is when it reaches you
We roast each order within 1 business day of receiving it, Monday through Friday, at our roastery in Richmond, BC. The beans then rest for 1 to 2 business days so the carbon dioxide from roasting can escape, get packed, and leave with the carrier the next business day. Carrier time depends on where you live, so the age of the coffee on arrival does too:
| Where you are | Carrier time | Arrives this long after roasting |
|---|---|---|
| Metro Vancouver | 2 to 3 business days | 4 to 6 business days |
| Rest of British Columbia | 2 to 4 business days | 4 to 7 business days |
| Alberta, Ontario, Quebec | 4 to 7 business days | 6 to 10 business days |
| Other provinces and territories | 5 to 10 business days | 7 to 13 business days |
In Metro Vancouver that leaves most of the one-to-three-week window for your kitchen. Farther away, the parcel uses more of it, which is a good reason to buy about as much as you will drink in two to three weeks. Delivery across Metro Vancouver is free with no minimum, and shipping is free anywhere in Canada on orders over $50. The shipping page has the details.
Why fresh-roasted beans rest before they ship
Roasting leaves carbon dioxide trapped in the beans, and most of it escapes over the first few days. Brewed in the first day or two, that gas makes the grounds bubble hard when the water hits them and gets in the way of an even extraction. A short rest before packing takes the worst of it off, and the remaining gas comes off in the bag and in your kitchen.
How to store coffee beans at home
- Keep beans in an airtight container somewhere dark and cool. Air, moisture, heat and light are what age them.
- Buy whole bean and grind just before you brew. Ground coffee fades faster: one to two weeks, against one to three for whole beans.
- Keep beans out of the fridge, where condensation builds up.
- If you freeze beans, use a truly airtight container. Ordinary containers let in enough air to cause freezer burn.
The storage advice is the National Coffee Association’s, from its guide to storage and shelf life.
How to tell coffee beans are stale
Smell the bag first. Fresh beans smell of the notes on the label; stale ones smell of very little, or of cardboard. When you brew, fresh grounds rise and bubble as the water hits them, and old ones barely move. In the cup, stale coffee tastes flat and papery, and the fruit and sweetness go first.
Questions people ask
Can I use coffee beans two months after roasting?
Yes, they will brew. Expect less aroma and a flatter cup than in the first three weeks. If you know you will not finish a bag in time, freeze part of it, airtight, the week it arrives.
Does the best-before date tell me how fresh the coffee is?
No. A best-before date is usually months away and marks when the coffee stops being sellable, not when it tastes best. Count from the roast date instead: one to three weeks is the window. Our guide to choosing coffee beans covers reading a bag.
Should I grind coffee the night before?
Only if you have to. The 15-minute figure in the rule is about the aroma ground coffee loses once it is exposed to air, and ground coffee lasts one to two weeks rather than one to three.
Coffee that arrives in its best weeks
Every bag we sell is roasted after you order it. Browse the current single origins, or set up a subscription that ships a fresh bag every month, so none sits past its best. To taste what freshness changes, our guide to tasting coffee at home walks through a side-by-side.
