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Professional Coffee Knowledge Exchange

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? Anyone who enjoys red wine knows that a good bottle needs to be opened an hour in advance to let it oxidize, which helps release the aromas. Although the principle is different, coffee has a similar practice, which we call bean development.

When we talk about bean development, fresh coffee beans undergo what is called degassing after roasting. Coffee beans expand in volume during roasting, and the expanded space inside the beans traps carbon dioxide. Over time, this carbon dioxide escapes from the beans. This is why beans need to be stored in bags with one-way degassing valves - because they release gas. If the bag were sealed, you would see it puff up, and it might even burst. The one-way degassing valve lets gas escape while preventing moisture and oxygen from entering.

Some people say that rich foam appearing when brewing coffee indicates good coffee, or more precisely, fresh coffee. This is broadly correct, since coffee is 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 and left untouched, as the grounds absorb water and release foam, this actually prevents proper contact between the grounds and the water. It can even affect the rate at which coffee extracts into the water. At this point in the 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 roasts its single-origin and espresso coffee beans fresh, and its Yirgacheffe, Brazilian, Mandheling, and other selections all carry excellent guarantees of brand and quality, making them suitable for brewing with a range of equipment.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Bean development matters most when you are drinking a medium roast, because that is the point at which the roast balances acidity, sweetness, and bitterness - and where a proper rest pays off in the cup. FrontStreet Coffee's Brazil Queen's Estate is a fine everyday choice: a yellow Bourbon with low acidity and a balanced profile, showing cream, peanut, chocolate, toast, and sugarcane notes whether you brew it as a pour-over, in a moka pot, or as espresso.

If you prefer something sweeter, the Strawberry Candy Gesha Blend is roasted medium to bring out both Geisha's orange-blossom honey character and a rounded sweetness, and it works in a cold brew, a pour-over, or an espresso. For a Chinese single-origin, the 2013 Yunnan Natural Typica is roasted medium to keep its soft, balanced character, with nut, brown sugar, black tea, and dried apricot notes. All of these beans are roasted fresh, so a short rest before brewing is all it takes to have them at their best.