Old Coffee beans does not affect the taste of the coffee !!!

[aussiebuggaa]

Guys, please enlighten my knowledge.  Almost everyone on this website would agree that, fresh beans = good coffee, old beans = staled beans.  However, I have been told by one of the coffee roaster (which I won’t name) that, good tasting coffee doesn’t have to be from fresh beans!!

The roaster argues that, by placing the bean in a proper storage (ie. in a fridge at around 4 degree C or below!!), would extend the life of the beans by slowing down the decaying process.  The result would be extending the shelf life by several weeks.  The taste of the coffee would not change as a result!!!

After experimenting with the beans stored in the suggested manner up to 4 – 5 weeks old (after the roast date).  The result was not that great!  Actually it is quite inconstant from bags to bags.  Some bags have a smell of dry wood with long sticking after taste like when you just tasted a burn charcoal.  Some bags were actually quite good, with good amount of Creama and the coffee taste was quite strong with some aroma.

Has anyone else experimented with the aging of beans VS storage?  What are the results?

I am interested in the what could have caused the beans to dry with smells and taste of the dry wood in particular (ie. lightly burned wood smell)!!!  Was it caused by the actual roasting process?  But some bags from the same batch was OK!! .. ...

[A_M]

Re: Old Coffee beans does not affect the taste of the coffee !!!

Been done and dusted any number of time befor on CS.

Use teh search feature and you will fine a couple of long and detailed posts on storing beans and the pros and cons of storing in a fridge.

1: Can I store beans in a fridge = Yes
2: Can I drive to Darwin from Melbourne = Yes

However in both cases the Devil is in the detail and dependant on what you actually want, it may well not be a clean YES.

2 + 2 = 5 for great coffee

[maheel]

Re: Old Coffee beans does not affect the taste of the coffee !!!

if your in SYD why bother with old beans..........

just get them fresh from a better roaster

[Rocky]

Re: Old Coffee beans does not affect the taste of the coffee !!!

As AM says, there is a considerable body of opinion on this subject, HOWEVER it is one that is close to my heart due to the fact that I live a long way from high quality supplies and therefore have to store my beans for several weeks as I slowly work my way through them.
I use only high quality beans and I store them for up to 5 weeks on the bottom shelf of the fridge. I only take the beans out of the fridge long enough to get the quantity for my current pour. The reason for this is that the moment cool beans meet warm air moisture forms on them which I feel cannot be good over time. I find that some beans hold better than others (Ceja de Selva for e.g.) but IMHO they all hold well for up to 4 weeks when treated in this way. It is of course also worth noting that some beans are not at their best until a week or so after roasting. Again, IMHO, beans left out of the fridge go stale within a week in the warm temperatures of Central Queensland. Hope this may be of some interest.

[Thundergod]

Re: Old Coffee beans does not affect the taste of the coffee !!!

The roaster argues that, by placing the bean in a proper storage (ie. in a fridge at around 4 degree C or below!!), would extend the life of the beans by slowing down the decaying process.The result would be extending the shelf life by several weeks.The taste of the coffee would not change as a result!!!

Sounds like an excuse for them to be able to sell slow moving coffee.

[aussiebuggaa]

Re: Old Coffee beans does not affect the taste of the coffee !!!

Use the search feature and you will fine a couple of long and detailed posts on storing beans and the pros and cons of storing in a fridge.

Now I know how to search this site properly... Been a few months since I thought the search feature on this site was crap...  Changing "This post was made in the last..." from week to all posts did the trick.   :P

Thanks Rocky for the useful feedback.  The part I didnt understand was why there were inconsistency on the state of the bean, when it was stored in the same place + same roasting date!  Maybe It was how I placed the bean bags?  laying it down flat on top of each other  ie. 4x1kg bags on top of one another.....

[hazchem]

Re: Old Coffee beans does not affect the taste of the coffee !!!

After experimenting with the beans stored in the suggested manner up to 4 – 5 weeks old (after the roast date).The result was not that great!Actually it is quite inconstant from bags to bags.Some bags have a smell of dry wood with long sticking after taste like when you just tasted a burn charcoal.Some bags were actually quite good, with good amount of Creama and the coffee taste was quite strong with some aroma.

is it bag to bag differences youre getting or bean to bean? will the same coffee, stored in 2 very slightly different parts of your fridge give different results? Maybe its just that some coffees are more sensitive to the way youre storing them than others.

[WSullivan]

Re: Old Coffee beans does not affect the taste of the coffee !!!

I live a long way from high quality supplies

time to grab a popper and try ya hand at home roasting!

[coffee_mum]

Re: Old Coffee beans does not affect the taste of the coffee !!!

time to grab a popper and try ya hand at home roasting!

And a CS greens starter pack, youll soon be loathe to use anything but the best fresh browns, grab the roasted pack at the same time as the greens to see what we mean. You can pick up a popper at a discount shop for under $15, but it may not last long once you get hooked ;D (first crack they say) ;D

[Rocky]

Re: Old Coffee beans does not affect the taste of the coffee !!!

WSully & coffee mum - Yes, agreed. Im only a couple of years off retirement and Im saving the treat of home roasting for that. Im very happy with the coffee Im getting from my brown beans but I figure there is probably a further step-up to be achieved with home roasting. Not sure whether the palate is capable of appreciating the improvement however. I have been a wine snob for 40 years and think I reached the limit of my palate many years ago.

[aussiebuggaa]

Re: Old Coffee beans does not affect the taste of the coffee !!!

is it bag to bag differences youre getting or bean to bean? will the same coffee, stored in 2 very slightly different parts of your fridge give different results? Maybe its just that some coffees are more sensitive to the way youre storing them than others.

Its bag to bag, stored as below comment.

Thanks Rocky for the useful feedback.The part I didnt understand was why there were inconsistency on the state of the bean, when it was stored in the same place + same roasting date!Maybe It was how I placed the bean bags?laying it down flat on top of each other ie. 4x1kg bags on top of one another.....  

[Dennis]

Re: Old Coffee beans does not affect the taste of the coffee !!!

I dont understand why youre not having this discussion with your Roaster?

[shawty]

Re: Old Coffee beans does not affect the taste of the coffee !!!

I dont understand why youre not having this discussion with your Roaster?  

He may be!!!

[aussiebuggaa]

Re: Old Coffee beans does not affect the taste of the coffee !!!

I dont understand why youre not having this discussion with your Roaster?

I have.. + my situation is a little more complicated than just switching supplier.

[Dennis]

Re: Old Coffee beans does not affect the taste of the coffee !!!

a little more complicated than just switching supplier.

Wasnt suggesting switching.

I have

So, what did he say about your findings?