Aspects of coffee freshness

Freshness is one of the most critical aspects of quality for coffee. For roasted coffee, the conditions for maintaining freshness are also subject to some steps, such as the roasting profile, the packaging material, and the storage period. In addition, the oxidation and loss of many compounds represent chemical changes measured scientifically.

Increases in volume and porosity are the most severe transformations resulting from the roasting profile. The high temperature and short roasting times create huge pressure inside the beans. The higher the inner pressure, the more severe the volume and porosity increase.

The porous structure of the beans communicates with the external atmosphere full of oxygen. So bigger pores facilitate the oxygen entrance, responsible for faster loss of freshness. However, not everything is lost, because packaging and storage temperatures can be optimised to keep coffee fresh for a longer time.

The aspects that influence coffee freshness start with green coffee and continue all the way into your cup. At each stage we can mitigate factors that reduce the overall loss of quality in the coffee. Find out more in the course Aspects of coffee freshness.

Panel 1 and 2: Smrke et. al., 2018.

Panel 3: Fadai et. al., 2017.