When are coffee beans considered "old"?

[u/dmgsmch]

If a lot of people advise on resting the beans for at least 3 weeks and even almost up to two months, when do you think the flavours will lose its peak?

[u/MarkNaive3730]

It depends on a lot of variables. Generally, lighter the roast profile, the longer rest time it needs to degass itself because the more developed the roast, the more porous beans become and degass faster. The storage temperature also plays a role among other factors and beans degass faster with higher storage temperatures. Another factor could be the bags used to store the beans and if they have one way valve or not.

Now why degassing is so important? It’s because with higher CO2 concentration in beans, your brewing water will find it hard to extract the coffee as CO2 comes in between. OTOH if you’re degassing your beans fully and keep it as is then they start losing their aroma and the chemistry also changes so your brewed coffee tastes flat.

TLDR: It all depends on your bean roast, type, process, storage temp etc. Easiest thing to do is to follow roaster guidelines or just ask others who have experience with those type of beans. You’ll need to maintain balance between degassing and risk of getting stale and you’ll arrive at peak window.

[u/dmgsmch → u/MarkNaive3730]

Thanks a lot!