At the risk of offending the aristocracy here… expired beans are not necessarily bad

At the risk of offending the aristocracy here… expired beans are not necessarily bad

A Look at Digital Coffee Future’s Digital Origin Education Program

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Know Your Sweeteners: Agave: Part One — Indigenous Use

Known today primarily as a sweetener, agave can be traced back thousands of years. BY EMILY JOY MENESESBARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE Featured photo by Bruno Cervera via Unsplash Recently, we launched our brand new article series “Know Your Sweeteners,” where we’re discussing a variety of sweeteners and syrups, and analyzing the unique characteristics of each one. […]


Get Ready for The Barista League’s 2024 Season

The Barista League has announced 12 competitions across four continents. BY J. MARIE CARLANBARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE Photos courtesy of The Barista League When The Barista League announces new events, it’s worth paying attention! This year, the schedule will be organized by geographic location, bringing together coffee people in various communities. At The Barista League in […]


Weekly Coffee News: Grounds for Health Week + Iconic SF Shop Closes

Welcome to DCN’s Weekly Coffee News. Keep up with all the latest coffee industry stories and career opportunities by subscribing to DCN’s newsletter. Tell our editors about your news here. Registration Opens for Inaugural…

At the risk of offending the aristocracy here… expired beans are not necessarily bad

The Barista League Releases New Competition Calendar

Presenter of sustainable, accessible events, The Barista League plans to hold 12 competitions in 10 countries in the months ahead. BY J. MARIE CARLANBARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE Photos courtesy of The Barista League The Barista League has officially announced its event roster for the next year. Last year saw 10 Barista League events worldwide, and the […]


The Color of Coffee Collective Symposium Returns for Its Second Year

The collective and the nonprofit Koffee with Keith will hold their second annual symposium in Houston on March 10-12. BY J. MARIE CARLANBARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE Photos courtesy of the Color of Coffee Collective The Color of Coffee Collective (COCC) is an organization that seeks to promote equity and opportunity for people of color in the […]


Out Now: The February + March 2023 Issue

The February + March 2023 issue of Barista Magazine features New Zealand coffee & chef champion Sam Low on the cover. Also inside: a special section on branding, understanding trademark law, an interview with Laura Sommers, field reports from Kansas City, Indonesia, and Hong Kong, and much more. BY KENNETH R. OLSONBARISTA MAGAZINE We’re excited […]


The First Women-Only Coffee Championships Held in Costa Rica

Feria del Café Frailes seeks to increase the gender diversity of coffee competitions. BY SUNGHEE TARKSPECIAL TO BARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE Cover photo by Sunghee Tark The coffee industry has come a long way in the past 20 years, with innovations happening in many parts of the world and in different links of the supply chain. […]

At the risk of offending the aristocracy here… expired beans are not necessarily bad

10 (More) Minutes With Helena Oliviero

Today we continue our conversation with Helena Oliviero about her coffee career and life on a Colombian finca. BY TANYA NANETTISENIOR ONLINE CORRESPONDENT Photos courtesy of Helena Oliviero Barista Magazine: Let’s talk about living on a Colombian coffee farm, Finca Palma Roja. How do you spend your days? What’s usually happening on a busy coffee […]


3 All-Women Coffee Roasting Companies that Are Changing the Game

The world of specialty coffee is still largely governed by men, but these all-female specialty-coffee roasters are helping to close the gender gap. BY TANYA NANETTISENIOR ONLINE CORRESPONDENT Feature photo courtesy of Lot Zero/7Gr As is the case for many commercial sectors, the world of specialty coffee continues to display gender disparity along the entire […]


Florencia y Fortunata: A Café Empowering Women in Peru

The Cusco café, founded by Carolina Peralta Minaya, sells coffee from women producers and features women demonstrating their skills behind the bar. BY JORDAN BUCHANANBARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE Photos courtesy of Carolina Peralta Minaya Traceability, sustainability, and conscientiousness are key values pervading the specialty-coffee trade. For many consumers and traders, these values inform their decision to […]


New AFCA Director Gilbert Gatali on the 20th African Fine Coffees Conference

As the African Fine Coffees Association (AFCA) prepares for the 20th iteration of its flagship event, the African Fine Coffees Conference and Exhibition, the group is operating under new executive…

At the risk of offending the aristocracy here… expired beans are not necessarily bad

At the risk of offending the aristocracy here… expired beans are not necessarily bad

minimum dose size?

Jan 31, 2024 |

I use the Hario switch to brew my coffee and am trying to reduce my caffeine consumption. Hence I would like to brew smaller cups of coffee. I am currently using 10g of coffee with 160g of water. (1:16 Ratio) I am wondering if there is a minimum amount of coffee...

At the risk of offending the aristocracy here… expired beans are not necessarily bad

Yes, I realize that as an enthusiast's group, this subreddit caters to the elites of coffeedom, where all coffee mugs are held with pinky out, water is a manufactured commodity, and etiquette demands that one portions coffee grounds with the appropriately colored spoon and no other… but sometimes a guy just wants a solid cup o' joe without spending 45 minutes to create it or fretting over whether the beans are 14 minutes past expiration date.

Additionally, not everyone has the same discriminating palate. Some people can't appreciate or won't be bothered to deal with the same levels of subtlety or minutiae that others seemingly thrive upon.

I'd been reading here regarding the importance of beans not being too old, to the extent that with respect to locally roasted coffee, the acceptable windows of use being framed not in months or weeks, but rather days or even hours… which makes my hair hurt.

So if one is in the "middle tier " of all this madness, i.e., you want better than pre-ground Folgers or instant coffee, but don't want to engage in the ancient mystic rituals of pour-over or spend the prerequisite mortgage equivalents on South American Rain Forest Civet Poop Roast hand-delivered to your door within a 47-minute window before which it obviously expires and must be discarded, could you get a passable cup of coffee on the cheap with expired beans (oh, the HORROR!!!)

While visiting family this past week in central Pennsylvania, I visited a store called "Hornings Market," a Mennonite-run grocery market and discounter that gets all sorts of clearance and closeout goods. These typically include grocery items at or past their expiration dates. The selection from week to week can be extremely random.

When I was there, they happened to have any number of expired coffees, both ground and whole bean, but at incredibly large discounts. While pre-ground coffee that is expired is considerably more iffy than whole bean that has been vacuum sealed, could it be viable? The stuff was cheap enough that I bought a selection to bring back with me just for giggles:

  • Eight O'Clock Chocolate Coconut Macroon (flavored, ground). Expired July 2022. Cost: $0.99/12 oz ($0.09/oz)
  • Eight O'Clock Texas Pecan Praline (flavored, ground). Expired August 2022. Cost: $1.99/12 oz ($0.17/oz)
  • Eight O'Clock Michigan Cherry Pie (flavored, ground). Expired January 2022. Cost: $0.99/12 oz ($0.09/oz)
  • Starbucks Pike Place (whole bean). Expired July 2022. Cost: $1.99/16 oz ($0.13/oz)
  • Starbucks Decaf Espresso (whole bean). Expired May 2022. Cost: $3.99/16 oz ($0.25/oz)
  • Starbucks Italian Roast (whole bean). Expired June 2022. Cost: $5.99/5 pounds ($0.08/oz)

I had no expectations regarding the pre-ground coffee, and this was borne out. I've only tried two of the three, and they were both subpar, if not outright nasty. Admittedly, I'm not a HUGE fan of flavored coffees to begin with, so I may not be the best judge, but I think that the artifical flavorings don't hold up well over time and may "turn".

The Starbucks whole bean offerings held more optimism for me, although I was still expecting "meh". I've only tried the Pike Place and the Decaf Espresso thus far, but I was very pleasantly surprised. Both held up well and produced a decent cup at my normal ratios. Not weakened, not "off" tasting in any way. In retrospect, I should have purchased a few more at those prices; at least around here those same size bags are anywhere from $13-18 per pound.

tl;dr. If your palate isn't the most refined or if you're just looking for coffee on the cheap, expired whole bean that has been kept vacuum sealed isn't *necessarily* a bad thing.

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At the risk of offending the aristocracy here… expired beans are not necessarily bad

Perfect Little Beans

Chinmey Hill Coffee uses specialty-grade beans with zero primary defects (such as black beans or sour beans) and less than five secondary defects (such as broken beans). This is important because primary defects will greatly affect the taste of the coffee. Having zero defects allows the coffee to be the most optimal flavor.

Window for Optimal Flavor

Chimney Hill Coffee ships our coffee the same day it was roasted, so you will receive it before it enters the window of optimal flavor.  This means you’ll never miss the opportunity to enjoy the coffee’s peak flavor.

Coffee Ratings

Coffee undergoes many scoring processes by professionals who achieved their Q Grader certification. Coffee is first graded when it’s green. If there are defects the coffee is determined to be “not-specialty grade”. For those coffees that pass green grading, they are sample roasted and cupped. (Cupping is the official term for critically tasting and scoring coffees. The official cupping form is standard worldwide, and where the 100-point scoring system comes from.) A coffee’s dry fragrance, wet aroma, flavor, aftertaste, body, acidity, balance, and overall impression are taken into consideration while uniformity issues and defects, will lower the overall score.

Specialty Coffee

Specialty coffee, coined by Erna Knutsen in 1974, refers to a coffee that receives a quality grading score of 80 percent or higher. While “premium” or “gourmet” seem like they’re synonymous with “specialty,” they simply are marketing terms with no defined standards. Specialty coffees are grown in specific and ideal micro-climates, and have distinctive and unique flavor profiles, with little to no defects.

Third-Wave Coffee

We’re currently in the third wave of coffee. The first wave of American coffee put pre-ground, vacuum-sealed cans in kitchens across America. The second wave started with the late ‘60s introduction of Peet’s coffee (by Alfred Peet) through the proliferation of Starbucks. The third wave of coffee focuses on origin transparency, nuanced flavors, and artisan roasting. The term “third wave” is synonymous with specialty coffee.

At the risk of offending the aristocracy here… expired beans are not necessarily bad

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