How to Buy Fresh Beans and Keep Then  Fresh Longer

If you pay attention to the freshness of your coffee beans, you know how much better freshly roasted coffee tastes than coffee just a week or two old.

The best way to brew coffee with fresh beans, you should buy whole beans from your local roaster or reputable online vendor. You should also pay extra care to store your beans properly.

Coffee freshness depends upon the time since roasting, not when the beans were harvested. Green coffee beans last for years until they are roasted if they are handled properly. But roasted beans start deteriorating quickly unless properly packaged and stored.

How to tell if Beans are Fresh

Roasting your own beans will give you the freshest beans. If you buy whole beans from your local coffee roaster you can tell if they have been freshly roasted. Just place a scoopful of beans in a plastic bag,  press all the air out of the bag and and tie it tightly shut.  The next day, look at the bag and if it is puffed up or burst, the beans are very freshly roasted because they are still emitting CO₂ gas. It the bag is still flat, the beans have stopped emitting gas and were roasted more thna a week ago.

This test won't work as well for beans ordered online. Many roasters will place their freshly roasted beans into a foil or plastic package with a one-way seal and flush that bag with nitrogen. The nitrogen slows or stops the emission of the CO₂, and the one-way valve allows any remaining gases to escape without letting in air and moisture.

Other Freshness Indicators

Here are more things that show beans are freshly roasted.

1. Surface Oil. You can't actually tell much about the freshness of the beans based on surface oil. The darker the roast, the more oil, and light to medium roasts will have a dull surface with no oil. But be suspicious if th beans have so much oil that they look shiny and wet. Those beans likely have been sitting long enough for oils to continue making their way to the bean's surface and the oils may even have become rancid. You need to move to the smell test. Beans that smell sour or like a cigarette are stale. Fresh beans will have a pleasant, toasted aroma.

2. Great Aroma. Freshly roasted coffee beans have a wonderfully intense and pleasant aroma. Your beans should scent your car with a great coffee smell for your trip home. Otherwise, they aren't fresh.

3. Frothy Brew. Freshly roasted and ground beans will bubble and froth more when hot water is poured onto the beans.  This is called the "bloom" and results from the water reacting with the coffee gasses still being released from the beans.

4. Complex Flavor - Freshly roasted coffee has a complex and interesting flavor. If your coffee tastes bland without an array of tastes tingling your tastebuds, then it is not fresh.

If you are looking to buy coffee beans online, Boca Java delivers fresh coffee that is roasted to order. Try Boca Java on line, known for their small batch roasting and fresh whole bean specialty coffee.