How to Brew Stale Pour-Over Coffee Beans? What Are the Uses of Expired Coffee Beans?

Although it's said that "if you really like (drinking coffee), you'll never let it go stale (before finishing it)!" But sometimes you might buy too much during a sale and can't finish it, or you might get sick and delay your coffee drinking, resulting in coffee beans that are no longer fresh. So can these coffee beans still be consumed?

We now pursue freshness in coffee because fresh coffee offers richer flavors and more complexity. As time passes, the carbon dioxide within coffee beans gradually dissipates, and the flavors fade along with the gas release. When the carbon dioxide in coffee beans is almost completely released, it means the beans are no longer fresh. Coffee brewed with stale beans tastes bland, far from as enjoyable as before.

Under normal circumstances, 60 days after the roasting date is the limit for coffee beans' optimal flavor period. Some strict coffee enthusiasts even define beans older than 30 days from the roasting date as "stale." According to FrontStreet Coffee's verification, most coffee beans, when stored properly with sealing, light protection, and moisture prevention, can still maintain excellent flavor performance within 40-50 days without showing stale flavors. However, if not sealed promptly after opening, the coffee will start to lose flavor around 30 days, and the bloom won't expand during brewing – this is a sign of stale beans.

FrontStreet Coffee wants to emphasize that although stale coffee beans do affect the flavor and make it less enjoyable, from a food safety perspective, they are completely safe to consume. Generally, roasted coffee beans have a shelf life of one year, so everyone can rest assured regarding food safety. As for the less-than-ideal flavor, although we cannot change the state of the coffee beans, we can adjust the extraction method to modify the flavor and make the coffee more palatable.

Just like when coffee beans are stale, they won't expand during the bloom stage, and there's no reaction from the coffee grounds after water is added. Many people think that the bloom stage is for releasing gas, so when brewing stale coffee beans, they might skip this stage. In fact, when brewing stale coffee beans, you should pay more attention to the water pouring method during the bloom stage.

Because the bloom stage seems to release gas on the surface, what actually needs to be done is to thoroughly moisten all the coffee grounds (both exterior and interior). When gas is released, the coffee grounds expand, closing the gaps between coffee particles and slowing down the water flow into the lower pot. This gives water enough time to soak into the interior of the coffee grounds.

However, with stale coffee beans, there's no reaction after water is added, so water quickly flows through the gaps between the grounds into the lower pot, without enough time to penetrate the interior. Therefore, what you see is only the surface of the coffee grounds being moistened, while the interior remains dry. Naturally, the resulting coffee lacks significant flavor.

During subsequent water pouring, due to the lack of gas release, the foam appears very thin, and most coffee grounds easily settle at the bottom, blocking the drainage holes. This can easily lead to bitter and unpleasant flavors due to over-extraction.

So to summarize, when dealing with stale coffee beans, you can make the following adjustments. First, regarding grind size, FrontStreet Coffee suggests using a coarser grind than usual. For example, if FrontStreet Coffee normally uses setting 10 on an EK grinder, now use setting 10.5. This helps avoid clogging and bitter flavors.

During the bloom stage, you need to extend the pouring time as much as possible, such as using a smaller water flow to give water sufficient time to moisten the coffee grounds. The soaking time doesn't need to be too long. Taking FrontStreet Coffee's experiment as an example: for 15g of coffee grounds, pour 30ml of water over 13 seconds, then wait 5-7 seconds before continuing to pour water. The total bloom time is approximately 20 seconds.

Then you can continue pouring water as usual. One thing to note is not to make your circular pours too large, as this can easily wash the already sparse coffee grounds bed back to the bottom, creating "blockages"! Also, don't raise the water level too high, because stale coffee grounds generally lack "vitality" and will sink quickly. Raising the water level doesn't provide enough coffee grounds to form a proper bed, and instead allows some water to flow along the guide ribs, which is another reason why coffee might lack flavor.

This method is just an adjustment made based on the state changes during brewing, and it produces some improvement compared to the usual method. However, the flavor lost from coffee beans that have lost their freshness cannot be rescued by brewing techniques alone.

If the coffee beans in our hands have not just passed their optimal flavor period but have exceeded their shelf life, then you cannot operate as FrontStreet Coffee mentioned above. The best approach is to use them for other purposes. Here, FrontStreet Coffee summarizes three practical and environmentally friendly recycling methods for you to choose from.

First Method: Deodorizing

Placing coffee grounds in an ashtray can remove the smell of cigarette smoke – when you extinguish cigarettes, you'll get a coffee aroma. Many coffee shops do this, and it also helps extinguish cigarette butts easily. If you frequently use an oven to bake delicious treats, the interior becomes greasy and filled with various odors after multiple uses. Place a tray of coffee grounds in the oven and heat it to effectively remove residual food odors. For pet owners, the most headache-inducing task is dealing with the unpleasant smell of pet waste. Actually, just place some coffee grounds after cleaning up waste, and it can reduce the troubles caused by odors.

Second Method: Cleaning

Wrap ground coffee powder in gauze and wipe stoves and pot lids to effectively remove stains; use boiled expired coffee to clean sinks and toilet pipes for cleaning effects. Similar items can all be cleaned using expired coffee beans.

Third Method: Plant Fertilizer

Coffee beans contain nutrients needed for plant growth. Simply crush expired coffee beans and pour them into flower pots. This serves as fertilizer without any unpleasant odors. If you circle them around plant roots, you can also achieve the goal of repelling pests.

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473