post-roast time and changing aroma

[itsabean]

Still learning about coffee, I wonder if more experienced forum members will confirm my observations.
Recently visiting a commercial roaster on the job, I noticed that just-roasted beans didn't have much aroma, and the aroma they had was not very coffee-like, which was confirmed by my roastmaster host during that visit. He advised that I let the freshly roasted beans I took home rest for 24 hours before using them. I have read that others recommend beans be allowed to rest even longer--up to 4-5 days before being used. I have noticed that beans seem to slowly gain a coffee aroma after roast. For example, the bag I currently have is 10 days out from roast, and when I briefly poke my nose in, there's a deep (wonderful) coffee aroma present.
My guess is that this may be due to oils and whatever else moving toward the surface of the beans as they rest. Is this guess off-base?
Is the slowly increasing coffee aroma from fresh beans a good guide as to when they are ready to use?

 

[peterjschmidt]

Is the slowly increasing coffee aroma from fresh beans a good guide as to when they are ready to use?

I never thought about using aroma to gauge a coffee's resting time...

I see this topic come up a lot, wondering when's the best time to start drinking fresh coffee. I say start as soon as you can, and then each day afterward, and take notes. It's a great learning experience to make your taste buds look for improvements and then the decline as it stales. Plus, if you actually wait to catch the coffee at its peak, then your whole experience with that coffee will be on the downward slope.

 

[Coffeefix]

Talking to an Italian roaster a while back who said they always "stale" the beans for several days "to get rid of the taste of the roaster" - this was his explanation?

 

[slurp]

The beans need to degas. This has nothing to do with aroma just taste. Quality beans smell AWESOME when you roast them. Aroma and degassing are not the same thing. If you do not let the beans degas they will taste grassy not to be confused with under roasted coffee.

 

[CoffeeJunky]

There are many ways to explain the degasing process. But I never heard of "get rid of taste of roaster" but I always thought coffee tasted much better after 24 - 48 hours. I have done many taste test of my own roast and I always thought resting your beans is very important process. ONe of the important thing is to rest the beans in open container so your degassing process won't hurt your beans.

 

[peterjschmidt]

I'll say it again. It really doesn't matter when the flavors peak, or when degassing starts and stops, from a purely rational consumer standpoint; say you have 10 days worth of coffee - if you start at the peak, you will be drinking the last few day after the peak; if you start a few days before the peak, you'll be drinking it before the flavors peak, but will enjoy it more at the end. Of course, all this is hinges on getting coffee very soon after it's roasted. All you poor saps buying coffee a week or three after the roast day, you can disregard any conversation about peak flavors and freshness. :-0

 

[flphotog]

OK, here is a question, how many days after roast does it peak, and is there anyway to slow that process down?

 

[peterjschmidt]

My first thought is you don't want to slow down the degassing stage, you want to prolong the plateau when the flavors are at their peak. Right?

I remember taking several ounces of coffee right out of the roaster and vacuum sealing them - they were hard as a brick. Within several days, the vacuum bag was super poofy as the beans did their off-gassing.

The main enemies of coffee freshness are oxygen, moisture, and light, in that order. If you keep your beans in an airtight container and have a way to purge the air out that gets let in when you're scooping beans out, and keep that container in a dark dry cupboard that's about all you can do.

 

[flphotog]

My first thought is you don't want to slow down the degassing stage, you want to prolong the plateau when the flavors are at their peak. Right?

I remember taking several ounces of coffee right out of the roaster and vacuum sealing them - they were hard as a brick. Within several days, the vacuum bag was super poofy as the beans did their off-gassing.

The main enemies of coffee freshness are oxygen, moisture, and light, in that order. If you keep your beans in an airtight container and have a way to purge the air out that gets let in when you're scooping beans out, and keep that container in a dark dry cupboard that's about all you can do.

OK, here is what I've been using and at least for me and my inexperienced taste buds they seem to work.

Amazon.com: BeanSafe "The Coffee Storage Solution", Polypropylene -BLACK: Kitchen Storage And Organization Products: Kitchen & Dining

 

[CoffeeJunky]

Those cans are very helpful. I always store small amount in those containers(i have 10 of them for different type of beans). However, in winter, I just store them in open area where temperature is around 40-45 degree. (garage) again, for commercial roaster, they seem to package the beans right away without resting them. Because most likely they won't be sold within next 30 mins. And beans can rest in the bag with Co2 releasing valve.
But for home roasters, we would like to rest the beans before start using them. 24-48 hours are good estimation and some beans will degas well over 2 weeks after the roasting.

I think if you have not roasted beans before, I would recommend for you to try roasting your own beans to have more appreciation of artisan roasters.

 

[peterjschmidt]

OK, here is what I've been using and at least for me and my inexperienced taste buds they seem to work.

Amazon.com: BeanSafe "The Coffee Storage Solution", Polypropylene -BLACK: Kitchen Storage And Organization Products: Kitchen & Dining

Those containers look very nice. But I think CO2 is less of a problem than oxygen. The one-way valve on the containers will be a benefit, but minimally. The more critical issue is the oxygen that's being left and sealed in the container every time it is opened and closed.

CJ has a point about roasting your own beans. I'm not assuming you have the time or desire, but what really attracted me to try it was that I could have 30 different green coffees on hand because they have such a long shelf life, roast 3 different coffees once a week, and not have to concern myself with how to keep my coffee from staling because they were never around long enough to go stale. If we're buying our coffee from a roaster, especially if we're paying postage and trying to buy a couple lbs. to make the cost of postage hurt less, it becomes more of a constant struggle to get it fresh and keep it that way. greencoffeebuyingclub.com is a great resource for all things regarding homeroasting.