Fresh coffee means it will taste better and more true to the beans natural flavor.
Each bean in a blended coffee or roast is chosen for its specific contributions. Whether the desired outcome of a blend is nutty with a hint of chocolate, or if a roast is supposed to be smooth with a finished taste, the freshness of the bean will make a difference.
How can you tell if the coffee is fresh?
Coffee freshness is measured at the time of roasting. Green beans tend to keep for some time, but once a coffee bean is roasted it must be packaged and shipped quickly to ensure freshness. The roasting process allows a bean's essential oils to surface. If left unpackaged, the beans become stale, oils rancid and are unusable.
Roasted coffee beans emit gases for about a week after roasting. At Breaking Grounds, we air cool our beans and then immediately package them in bags with a one way valve to allow gases to escape while keeping oxygen out. Oxygen is a coffee bean's worst enemy.
Our packaged coffee is kept in a cool, dry, dark area until shipping to minimize the effects of heat and light.
Test our coffee's freshness for yourself!
Place some coffee beans in a zip locked bag and squeeze out all of the air. By the next day, if you see the bag appearing puffy, you know your beans are freshly roasted because they are still emitting gasses due to roasting.
Another way to test coffee freshness is to pour hot water over fresh ground coffee. If a froth or "bloom" appears on the top and you are able to taste a complex range of fruity, winey, smokey, or chocolate overtones then you know you are enjoying the freshest, most pure coffee the world has to offer.
Breaking Grounds Coffee delivers in the fresh coffee category. Our new online store features 90 coffee blends, flavors and roasts all of which are fresh to you from the roaster. Our featured coffee, African Safari Blend, brings Africa's finest Arabica coffee to your mug. It's a wild and wonderful aroma to begin your day's journey.
Conservation corner: Composting
I recycle used coffee grounds in my composting bin up at the garden. The grounds provide good fuel for the pile.
