Overthinking a Plate of Beans: Gifting Bagged Coffee Beans

December 19, 2018 9:14 AM

I drew a relative for Secret Santa who is a coffee lover. I'd like to bring him some bagged Philz coffee beans from SF, but I would be buying them tomorrow (the 20th) and he would be opening them on the 25th. When I look online, there are coffee forums that say that coffee beans are best within 2-4 days of roasting. Am I wasting money and luggage space by bringing him local beans?

And, bonus question, if I *did* buy them, would it be good to keep them fresh in the freezer before gifting them to him? This is another topic where coffee forums are Very Opinionated and I have no idea if the people who post there are representative of the average coffee lover.

posted by rogerrogerwhatsyourrvectorvicto to Food & Drink (15 answers total)

Best answer: We have a coffee club in my office and take coffee Very Seriously, and we've actually found that flavors change as the beans get farther away from their roast date. Not better, not worse, but different. The flavor profile can change (more citrus-y, for example). We've found than anything inside of 2-3 weeks is fine. It might be different than 2-3 days of roasting, but as long as you're starting with quality beans it's hard to go wrong.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 9:20 AM on December 19, 2018 [7 favorites]

Best answer: Fresh roasted coffee is lovely, but they'll be fine for at least a couple weeks as long as they aren't exposed to extremes of temperature or humidity. Putting them in the freezer will do one or both of those, so . . . don't.

Most people buy coffee by the pound, and most do not go through that entire pound in a day - most coffee most people have ever had has been roasted over a week ago.
posted by aspersioncast at 9:21 AM on December 19, 2018 [8 favorites]

Best answer: Oh, and we are very much against storing them in the freezer.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 9:21 AM on December 19, 2018 [3 favorites]

Best answer: No. Only the snootiest of snoots would turn up a well-groomed nose-hair at coffee beans that're less than two weeks away from roasting date. Bringing Philz coffee to a different location is a great idea. I am a former barista, a lesser snoot, and I'd be delighted. Oh, and just put them in a Ziploc – don't freeze.
posted by mr. remy at 9:26 AM on December 19, 2018 [5 favorites]

Best answer: I’m a pretty solid coffee snob and I am struggling to believe what it takes to consider beans unfit 5 days after roasting.
posted by SaltySalticid at 9:27 AM on December 19, 2018 [10 favorites]

Response by poster: Got it, beans yes, freezer no! Many thanks MeFites!
posted by rogerrogerwhatsyourrvectorvicto at 9:44 AM on December 19, 2018 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Anyone who would be sad that the beans were older than 5 days would hate Philz on principle anyway.

But only the fake coffee snobs (ie: the ones not in the game because they like good tasting coffee, they just like being assholes) don't like Philz. So, you are good to go.
posted by sideshow at 10:10 AM on December 19, 2018 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Per my local third-wave roasters in Seattle, beans off-gas for a bit after roasting and start hitting their peak about a week after roasting, and stay there for another week or two. Best immediately after roasting sounds wrong to me.
posted by Special Agent Dale Cooper at 10:24 AM on December 19, 2018 [3 favorites]

Best answer: I'm a coffee snob, and I've never even heard anyone say that you have to use coffee beans by two to four days after roasting. Within 20 days of roast seems to be the standard, and honestly, I've used beans 30 to 40 days off roast and they're not optimal, but they're perfectly fine.
posted by holborne at 10:32 AM on December 19, 2018

Best answer: Don't grind it, it'll be fine.
posted by wenestvedt at 1:33 PM on December 19, 2018 [1 favorite]

Asked the owner of my local roaster and his reply was that while it’s best within a week after grinding, it will be fine, just as noted above, perhaps slightly different. He just likes good coffee and isn’t a snob. Your relative will enjoy it, I think.
posted by OneSmartMonkey at 3:20 PM on December 19, 2018 [3 favorites]

Response by poster: OneSmartMonkey, thanks so much for asking hin!
posted by rogerrogerwhatsyourrvectorvicto at 4:04 PM on December 19, 2018

Time viable after grinding << time viable after roasting, no matter how snobby or not.
posted by SaltySalticid at 4:52 PM on December 19, 2018 [1 favorite]

You didn't ask, but if you're flying with them I'd put them in an airtight container for the flight, or in two ziplocs, or something to protect them in transit.
posted by uberchet at 8:17 AM on December 20, 2018 [1 favorite]

Time viable after grinding << time viable after roasting, no matter how snobby or not.

Yeah these are different calculations. It oxidizes much faster once ground.
posted by aspersioncast at 11:12 AM on December 20, 2018 [2 favorites]