During the roasting process, a variety of chemical reactions take place that have a profound effect on the taste and flavour of the coffee.

As the coffee ages, chemical changes in the coffee take place, thus effecting the extraction.

Fresh coffee will have high levels of Co2, making it harder for the water to pass through and extract all the sugars, flavours, and oils from the ground coffee.

In order to make the most of your brew, coffee needs time to degas and stabilise, allowing you to increase the potential of extracting all the delicious flavours.

On the other hand, coffee that is aged too long becomes more porous - therefore making it easier for water to pass through the coffee – in this case, too easy, leading to over extraction!

After rigorous in-house testing on our roasting profile and recommended recipes, we found that the ideal range for brewing is between 7-32 days after roasting, with optimal timing between 14-21 days. (Have a look at our LICR coffee bell curve!) There is no right or wrong time, however it is just an indication of optimal use, so you can get the best flavour out of your coffee.

Notice your bag is out of the ideal brewing age range?
Use our guide below to help you navigate and still get optimal results:

Too fresh: grind the coffee finer and/or lower your dose by 0.5- 1g of coffee until you reach a flavour profile you are happy with.

Slightly aged: grind the coffee coarser and/or up your dose by 0.5-1g of coffee until you reach a flavour profile you are happy with.

Please note this is based on our teams personal preferences with our roasts and recipes in mind, from knowledge that we draw on from our domestic and wholesale experience, results and personal opinion may vary and we are always open to discussions and feedback. Every roaster, barista coffee addict will have their own opinion and some of them may work – this advice is general in nature and should be used as a guide.