Coffee guide, updated 2026
Roasted coffee does not go off the way milk does. It goes flat. The aromatics that make a bag smell like fruit and chocolate are gases and volatile oils, and from the day it leaves the roaster they are escaping. Here is the real timeline for whole beans, ground coffee and brewed coffee, the one date that matters on a bag, and how to slow the clock down.
Whole beans are at their best from about day 5 to week 4 after roasting, still good to week 6, and fading but safe for months. Ground coffee loses most of its aroma within hours and is noticeably stale in a week. Brewed coffee is at its best for 30 minutes. The date to read is the roast date; a best-before date a year out tells you nothing. Store beans sealed, dark, cool and dry, never in the fridge.
What "stale" means
Three things happen to roasted coffee over time:
- Degassing. Roasting creates carbon dioxide inside the bean, and it escapes over the first week or two. That is why fresh beans bloom in a pour-over and why very fresh espresso pulls fast and uneven. A few days of rest is a feature, not a flaw.
- Aroma loss. The volatile compounds that carry fruit, floral and caramel notes leave with the gas. This is the loss you taste first: the cup gets quieter, then flat.
- Oxidation. Oxygen reacts with the oils in the bean. Weeks in, the cup picks up a cardboard or papery note. Months in, dark-roast oils go rancid.
None of this makes coffee unsafe. Stale coffee is dull, not dangerous. The exception is beans left damp, which can grow mould like any other food.
The timeline
| Form | Peak | Still good | Noticeably stale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole beans, sealed bag with valve, unopened | Day 5 to week 4 | To week 6 to 8 | 3 months and beyond |
| Whole beans, bag opened | First 2 weeks after opening | To 4 weeks after opening | Past 4 weeks |
| Ground coffee, sealed | First few days | 1 to 2 weeks | Past 2 weeks |
| Ground coffee, opened | Hours | A few days | 1 week |
| Espresso shot | Under 30 seconds | 2 minutes | Past that it is a different drink |
| Filter or batch brew in an insulated urn | 30 minutes | 60 minutes | Past 60 minutes, or any time on a hot plate |
| Cold brew concentrate, refrigerated | First 3 days | 7 to 10 days | 2 weeks |
Roast level moves this a little. Dark roasts are more porous and oilier, so they stale faster and go rancid sooner. Light roasts hold up longer and some improve for two to three weeks as they degas.
The date that matters
Read the roast date. Supermarket coffee prints a best-before date 12 to 18 months out because that is the legal shelf life, not the good-tasting life; the roast date is usually not on the bag at all, which tells you what you need to know. A specialty roaster prints the roast date and ships within days of it. Ours is on every bag because we roast weekly in Hurstville and ship the same week. More on this in supermarket coffee vs a roaster.
How to store beans
| Do | Do not |
|---|---|
| Keep them in the original bag with the one-way valve, rolled down and clipped, or in an airtight canister | Decant into a glass jar on the bench. Light and oxygen, the two things you are trying to avoid |
| Store in a cupboard: dark, cool, dry, away from the oven and the window | Put them in the fridge. Beans absorb moisture and fridge smells every time the door opens |
| Buy the size you finish in 3 to 4 weeks (a 250 g bag for one daily cup, 1 kg for a household on espresso) | Buy a 2 kg bag to save money and open it for two months |
| Freeze only if you must: a whole unopened bag, once, and bring it to room temperature sealed before opening | Freeze an opened bag or pull beans in and out of the freezer. Condensation ruins them |
| Grind just before brewing | Grind the week's coffee on Sunday |
A vacuum-sealed canister that pushes the air out, like the Airscape vault, adds a week or two of peak for people who buy in kilos. It is the one storage gadget that does what it says.
Can you drink old coffee?
Yes. Beans six months past roast are safe; they just taste like not much. Ground coffee that has been open for a year is safe; it tastes of the cupboard. If beans smell musty, look damp, or show any fuzz, that is mould and they go in the bin. Oily dark roasts that smell like old crayons are rancid, safe but unpleasant.
For cafes
The same rules at scale. Keep the hopper topped up through the day from the bag rather than filled at open, because beans in a warm hopper are stale by 3 pm. Order weekly so stock turns inside a month; a venue on 15 kg a week should never hold more than two weeks. Dark corners of the storeroom near the dishwasher are the worst place in the building for coffee. Run a cafe, restaurant, pub or club? See our wholesale coffee supply page, and the cups-per-kilo guide for sizing weekly orders.
FAQs
How long do coffee beans last after roasting?
Peak from about day 5 to week 4. Still good to 6 to 8 weeks sealed. Safe for months, just flat. Dark roasts fade faster than light.
How long does ground coffee last?
Most of the aroma is gone within hours of grinding. Sealed, it is acceptable for a week or two. Grind just before you brew.
Should coffee beans be stored in the fridge?
No. They absorb moisture and odours every time the door opens. A sealed bag or canister in a dark cupboard is right. Freezing an unopened bag once is the only cold storage that helps.
Do coffee beans go bad?
They go stale, not bad. Old beans are safe and dull. The exception is beans that have got damp and grown mould, which go in the bin.
Roast date on every bag
Roasted weekly in Hurstville and shipped the same week. Buy the size you finish in a month; free shipping over $80.
Shop the beansNever run out and never over-buy: the Brew Club delivers on your schedule. Bag sizes explained in what bag size to buy.
