I realise this may vary from company to company, but what I'd like is the facts on some of the key factors, if possible from people who've worked for some of the importers of roasted coffee - ie typically how long would the coffee be in storage, and under what conditions, and how long would you allow for shipping [& then storage this end]? I don't know much about the science of this, but I presume there must be some sort of chemical added to the roasted coffee when it is packed, to try and slow the staling process. What chemicals are used in this process and how successful is it in retarding the staling process? These are the sort of things I'd like input on, from people who know - not guesses. -A
It's an interesting topic, for sure. I work for a commercial roastery (and no, I won't say which!), and I've worked with a couple of the imported espresso blends in Melbourne as a barista as well. Our policy on freshness is quite simple, if it still tastes the way we imagine it should when fresh, then it sells. This seems quite vague, but while selling the beans over a retail counter, the staff taste the coffees with customers constantly - they have a good idea how it tastes when it is fresh, and how it tastes as it falls away. This means that beans are generally pulled from the shelves if the roast date is two weeks prior to selling. As was said before, different beans seem to have different shelf lives, but generally it's less than three weeks. Here I should mention that the tasting of the coffees in a retail setting is done through single cup paper filter, ground and made to order. I mention it because I think espresso coffee can last longer than two weeks if stored correctly (and depending on the roast length, and roaster type). The best espresso I've had made with our blend (at a wholesale customer's cafe) turned out to be just on one month old! We don't recommend it, but the result was amazing. As far as importing and exporting is concerned.. We don't ship our coffee overseas, the policy is that the freight time is too great, and we aren't sure how the air pressure/temperature changes affect the wee beanies. We allow one or two days for shipping time. I would like to suggest to Pioneer Roaster that staling can occur before the beans are totally degassed. I define staling as "too much CO2 loss" (i.e. the coffee has lost all it's "bounce"), or oxidization creating a cardboardy or woody taste in the bean. The oxidization must be able to occur in pressurized and gas flushed containers somehow, otherwise that coffee company's coffee would taste the same as freshly roasted coffee, and to me it doesn't. The theory seems sound - if the pressure inside the bean is equalized with the pressure outside the bean, why would any escape? - but from the results I have to disagree. I believe this has to do with staling occurring before pressurization, or degassing.
