Reading the bag

Roast date beats best-by

Coffee peaks 4 days to 4 weeks after roasting; the first few days it is still letting off gas. A “best by” date a year out hides the roast date, as a hat hides a bad haircut. Good roasters print it proudly.

Straight off the roaster

A bag roasted this morning brews best…

Answer: After a few days’ rest. After a few days. Very fresh coffee is still giving off gas, which pushes water away from the grounds and brews unevenly.

Origin hints at flavor

Ethiopia/Kenya: fruity, floral, bright. Colombia/Central America: balanced, caramel, chocolate. Brazil: nutty, low acid. Sumatra: earthy, heavy. India: spicy, full-bodied. Some coffees rebel, but origin is a good first guess.

Origin to cup

Match each origin to the flavor it usually leans toward.

• Ethiopia · Kenya — fruity, floral, bright
• Colombia · Central America — balanced, caramel, chocolate
• Brazil — nutty, low acid
• Sumatra — earthy, heavy
• India — spicy, full-bodied

A very good first guess, not a law: process and roast can overrule it.

Whole bean, and where to keep it

Pre-ground coffee is stale coffee: the aromatics are volatile, and most leave within a week of grinding. Buy whole bean, grind just before you brew, and buy a bag you’ll finish in 2–4 weeks.

Where the bag lives

Keep it or avoid it?

• Keep
  • airtight and opaque
  • room temperature
  • grind just before you brew
• Avoid
  • the fridge
  • beside the stove
  • a big economy bag

Airtight, opaque, room temperature, away from the stove — and grind fresh. Not the fridge: it is damp, and beans take on every smell in there.

Altitude is the brightness dial

High up it’s colder, so the cherry ripens slowly and the seed packs in more sugar and acid: dense, bright, fruity-floral. Down low the tree grows fast: softer bean, gentler acidity, nuttier and heavier. Same farm, 500m apart.

What the numbers mean

Bags print altitude as metres above sea level, or “masl”. Roughly: under 1,000 is mild and mellow, 1,200–1,600 balanced, 1,800+ the lively stuff. SHB, “strictly hard bean”, is Central American for the same: grown high.

Read a real bag

Read altitude next to the country: nearer the equator, higher numbers are needed for the same chill.

Which line tells you how fresh this coffee is? roast-date

• Roast date: The date that matters. Most beans are at their best from about 4 days to 4 weeks after it.
• Best by: A year out, and it tells you little. It is often there instead of a roast date.
• Country: Where it grew: a good first guess at how it will taste.
• Altitude: Metres above sea level. Higher usually means denser and brighter — read it next to the country.
• Process: Washed, natural or honey: how the fruit came off the seed.
• Whole bean: Unground, so the aromatics stay put until you grind them.

Process, the quiet lever

Washed: clean, crisp, true to origin. Natural (dried in the fruit): fruitier, wilder, berry-forward. Honey: in between, sweeter. Same farm, two coffees, worlds apart on one word: process.

The sticky middle

A bag says honey process. That means…

Answer: Some of the sticky fruit stayed on the seed. Between washed and natural: the skin comes off, but the sticky sugar layer stays on while the seeds dry. No honey involved.