Pablo Velosa
it seems like all Coffee topics abound is with misconceptions, misinformation and beliefs parading as fact. However, there is one topic that I Age misconstrued more than almost any other green bean freshness.
A number of publications and websites that I've come across recently have made some pretty interesting statements about gteen bean freshness. One article gave the impression that green beans will remain stable for months and even years. and a roasting website made it sound as though the only thing that mattered in terms of freshness was the roasting (late.
Both of these idea, shed light into a misconception that prevails in our industry: That green beans keep their full attributes-remain fresh, stable, true to their nature or however we want to call it-for long periods of time and that beans only start deteriorating once roasted.
Time after time. in coffee-related media. websites and forums. I see ' comments implying the "eternal" soundness of green beans. Stress is placed on the failed assumption that the clock on freshness only starts ticking after roasting. Great emphasis is given to "roasted-on" and "bony on" dates as indicators of freshness, but nobody seems to ask how lone the green beans have been silting around for.
Don't get me wrong. I know most people in the industry understand
that green beans are not sound forever. But I do think the point is worth repeating to keep the misconception from turning into conventional wisdom among less experienced members of the coffee family.
Green coffee beans are an agricultural product. Thus, they have a shelf-life like all agricultural products do. And this is true at all stages: think of grapes, for example. Fresh. they last about a week. Dried, they last longer than that. And as wine, even longer still.
Coffee beans' freshness also varies throughout their life cycle. As they age their character suffers, regardless of'wltcther they are in the parchment, green. roasted or ground stage. The one exception to this is a brief period of about 30 days after the coffee is in parchment. in which beans mature and shed a greenish flavor noticeable ill the cup prior to that.
Beans. however, deteriorate in the opposite direction from something like grapes As beans get farther from the tree and closer to the cup. their rate of deterioration increases. Close to the star of its life cycle, coffee in parchment is protected by the dried skin still covering the beaus, making it the ideal way to store beans if they need to be held fir longer. Once milled, the resulting green beats are store exposed to the elements than before but still very dense and resistant.
After roasting. beans turn porous Mid permeable. among other changes, becoming much more vulnerable to the elements. Finally, after grinding, the grounds are fully exposed to (he environment and more likely to deteriorate rapidly.
Thus, it is better to store! hold coffee in some ways rather than others. In general terms.
- Coffee in parchment (on wetprocessed coffees) is better protected and remains fresher than (milled) green beans.
- Green beans are more stable that roasted beans.
- Whole, roasted beans stay fresher than ground coffee.
So what's the maximum time that should elapse from tree to cup and what's the longest coffee beans should spend at each stage? Hard to tell. There is no standard for aging and loss of freshness, as various coffees deteriorate differently. Coffees tioni different regions, and even different lots from the same faro, will age at a different rate. But please bear in mind time is of' the essence.
When the roaster receives hers/his beans, a long time might have elapsed since harvesting and the beans will have gone through a hell of a trip. Front the farm, they go to a still, an intetmedia ' or an exporter. Once milled, the exporter sells it to a roaster or a trader who will sell it to a roaster. or to yet another intermediary who in turn sells it to the final roaster. Plus, at some point in this journey. the beans will he locked up for weeks inside a metal box (more fit to carry bricks than beans) traveling across the ocean.
As exporters, we buy coffee in parchment, mill it, bag it and get it to port in as short a time frame as possible. We also make sure the producers and suppliers we source from are not storing the parchment for longer than needed. Several quality controls throughout the process help ensure the coffee is at its be.t w hen tee source, process and deliver it.
Ideally, front when the coffee is picked at the farm to the time the green beans arrive at the poll of destination (at the clients to action) no more than three months should elapse in our opinion. Anything longer than that increases the chances that the cup will suffer The longer the beans age, the greater the likelihood they' develop a baggy, oldish. past crop or burlap-like taste in the cup. With age, beans will also lose their characteristic emerald green c l ,nd become bleached and tit[- I
Lt conclusion, while roasting accelerates the deterioration of beans, this doesn't mean un-roasted (green) beans conserve their positive attributes forever. There is not such a thing as a "freshness limbo" where beans rest until roasting. Ideally, beans will only be stored for a few months after being stilled. Anywhere front two to three months but not touch longer than shat, and most
definitely not years. In their voyage from plantation to roaster, beans go through several hands and undergo dramatic changes in tentpcraltire, humidity and storage conditions.
Ideally, besides a roasted - on date, one day all coffee will carry milled on, exported on.. and arrived-on (port of destination) dates, This information is certainly available and exporters should he glad to render it to their busers who could pass it on to the final roaster. In the meantime. roasters should fly holding on to their green beans for the least time possible. That's one way to increase the likelihood of getting a nice, fresh cup of coffee every time.
