How Long is the Best Flavor Period for Coffee: FrontStreet Coffee's French Press Yirgacheffe Brewing Guide

FrontStreet Coffee - Yirgacheffe Red Cherry French Press Brewing and Understanding the Flavor Period

What is the Flavor Period?

After coffee is roasted, there is a window during which it tastes best, known as the flavor or tasting period. Freshly roasted coffee goes through a self-fermentation process within the first week that rounds out its flavor. After that stage it begins to oxidize and volatilize, and the wonderful coffee flavor gradually fades. The best tasting period for coffee is therefore generally within two weeks of roasting. During those two weeks the coffee has a very fresh aroma, rich oils, and a sweet coffee will show an obvious sweet aftertaste. Once hot water is added, the grounds expand noticeably in volume, which is a simple way to tell whether coffee is freshly roasted. Of course, different roast levels produce different flavor periods, so specialty coffees usually carry their flavor or tasting period on the packaging.

FrontStreet Coffee therefore suggests that anyone buying beans finish them within a month for the best experience. Today FrontStreet will share a French press method for a Yirgacheffe that is still within its flavor period.

Ethiopia Yirgacheffe

Washed Yirgacheffe

Country: Ethiopia

Region: Yirgacheffe

Altitude: 1,800-2,000 meters

Processing Method: Washed

Variety: Local indigenous varieties

Parameters and Technique

Coffee dose: 20 grams. Grind: medium-fine (BG 6S at a 50% pass-through rate against a China standard No. 20 sieve). Water temperature: 91 degrees Celsius. Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15. Pour water directly to 300 g, stir 5 times at 1 minute 30 seconds to ensure the grounds and water are fully in contact, then steep until 2 minutes and press to filter. The total extraction time, until all the coffee has been poured, is 2 minutes 30 seconds.

Flavor

Floral notes, with citrus lemon acidity on entry, creamy sugarcane sweetness and a black tea aftertaste, all carried on a relatively thick and smooth mouthfeel.

Knowledge Expansion

When buying coffee, especially specialty roasted beans, always check the flavor period. Freshly roasted beans can generally be enjoyed within one month, and if properly sealed, at most within two months.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Yirgacheffe is the perfect origin for a French press, since its soft, layered flavors hold up beautifully to full immersion, and the FrontStreet Washed Yirgacheffe Everyday Coffee is the simplest place to begin. Its white jasmine, bright citrus and lemon acidity and tea-like body make it an affordable, much-loved introduction to specialty coffee.

For a more refined smallholder lot, the FrontStreet Yirgacheffe Gudingding Cooperative applies the traditional washed method to deliver jasmine florals, refreshing citrus and lemon acidity with none of the classic bitterness. And if you prefer a fruitier, sweeter cup, the FrontStreet Natural Red Cherry is dried on raised beds as whole all-red cherries, turned every two to three hours during the first days and finished over three to five weeks, giving it citrus acidity, berry juiciness, honey sweetness and a creamy smoothness. All three work equally well as pour-over, cold brew or espresso.