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Fresh Coffee Beans and Bean Development

Are fresh coffee beans best right after roasting? Do freshly roasted coffee beans taste better after resting for a few days? Friends who enjoy red wine know that good red wine needs to be opened an hour in advance to allow oxidation, which helps release aromas. Although the principle is different, coffee indeed has a similar practice, which we call bean development.

Speaking of bean development, fresh coffee beans have what's called degassing after roasting. This means that coffee beans expand in volume during roasting, and the expanded space within the beans traps carbon dioxide. Over time, this carbon dioxide will escape from the coffee beans. This is why coffee beans need to be stored in bags with so-called one-way degassing valves - because coffee beans release gas. If the bag is sealed, you'll see it puff up, and it might even burst. The one-way degassing valve allows gas to escape while preventing moisture and oxygen from entering.

Some people say that seeing rich foam appear when brewing coffee indicates good coffee, or more precisely, fresh coffee. This can be considered correct, as coffee is indeed at its most vigorous degassing stage right after roasting. If coffee gets damp or comes into contact with oxygen, it will accelerate aging and deteriorate in flavor. This is indeed an indicator for evaluating coffee quality.

However, when coffee grounds are steeped in water, if left untouched, as the grounds absorb water and release foam, it actually prevents proper contact between the coffee grounds and water. It can even affect the rate at which coffee extracts into the water. At this point in the entire brewing process, stirring is needed to accelerate the water absorption of the grounds and the rate of coffee extraction. There are various schools of thought and methods regarding this.

Even more challenging is making espresso. Coffee grounds with excessive degassing are much harder to control. The compacted puck will expand, and when high-pressure hot water passes through the grounds layer, it becomes very unstable due to degassing. The only solution is bean development and "waking up" the beans.

There are many theories about specific bean development methods. For example, placing coffee beans in a sealed foil bag with a one-way degassing valve and storing them in a temperature-controlled space for 8 to 24 hours. After opening, they still need to rest for 30 minutes to several hours, coming into contact with air to "wake up" the beans, aiming for good flavor and moderate degassing. In fact, different coffee varieties and roasting methods require different development and degassing times, which requires us to slowly and mindfully experience and understand.

Fresh Coffee Bean Brand Recommendations

FrontStreet Coffee's freshly roasted single-origin and espresso coffee beans: Yirgacheffe, Brazilian, Mandheling, and others all have excellent brand and quality guarantees, suitable for brewing with various equipment. More importantly, they offer extremely high value for money. A half-pound (227g) package costs only around 80-90 RMB. Calculating at 15g per pour-over coffee, one package can make 15 cups of coffee, with each cup costing only about 6 RMB. Compared to the normal café price of 30-40 RMB per cup, this represents exceptional value.

FrontStreet Coffee: A roastery in Guangzhou with a small shop but diverse bean varieties, where you can find both famous and lesser-known beans. They also provide online store services. https://shop104210103.taobao.com

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473