de•fin•ing fresh•ness

fresh•ness (frĕsh), adj. fresh•er, fresh•est 1. Recently made, produced, or harvested; not stale or spoiled: fresh bread. 2. New to one’s experience; not encountered be-fore. 3. Not yet used or soiled; clean: a fresh sheet of paper.

How fresh is best? When is coffee stale? And why is coffee best when delivered on the same day or day after it’s roasted?

Once roasted, coffee immediately goes into a state of decomposition – quite rapidly in the beginning, diminishing to almost zero over time. At zero, coffee can be categorized as stale. Keep in mind that the yard- stick for measuring freshness of roast is the rate and time it takes for a coffee to ‘degas’ or ‘decompose’. The time it takes to degas varies ac- cording to such factors as the type of roast, environmental conditions, and packaging variations. Basically, visual, palate, and olfactory analysis best determine when degassing is final. In other words, we must be able to understand what stale coffee looks, smells, and tastes like.

The roasting process establishes the development of flavor, aroma, body, crema, and other characteristics unique to the particular bean. After roasting, coffee beans are said to be “alive” or fresh. Ironically, though, coffee is too alive in the immediate period after roasting, and should undergo a period of rest prior to use. This rest period allows the bean to settle and develop and usually takes somewhere between 18 – 24 hours after roasting.

Our goal at Link’s Sweet Bean is to roast, package and deliver, and serve coffee, to the best of our ability, as fresh as fresh can be.