# Are the vast majority of roasted cofee beans sold in supermarkets actually stale? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 1, 2005, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-vast-majority-of-roasted-cofee-beans-sold-in-supermarkets-actually-stale/282572 "2005-01-01T18:16:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2005, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-vast-majority-of-roasted-cofee-beans-sold-in-supermarkets-actually-stale/282572/1 "2005-01-01T18:16:58Z")
This site claims most coffee beans sold are stale by the time they get to the consumer. Is this true? Does coffee need to be fresh from the roaster to be at it’s best? I grind my roasted beans at hime and use a french drip cone filter with a hazlenut flavored supermarket blend of roasted (bagged) beans I am fond of. Are fresh roasted beans really that much more of transcendent experience vs roasted coffee beans from a sealed bag? [99% of coffee out there is stale](http://www.thecoffeefool.com/?campaign=cnews) > [@](#): > > If you happen to be a newbie to The Coffee Fool and want to keep your coffee innocence intact - look away. Otherwise, here comes the knowledge (read as sales pitch) that may very well ruin you too. > > 99% of coffee out there is stale. The good news is that stale coffee is drinkable if you have never truly had fresh coffee. The bad news is that once you have tasted truly fresh coffee, you’ll be forever hooked. It will make you giddy every time you go to make a pot. Tingle right down to your toes. Reverberate around your head like a funky aura. That’s because coffee, just a few days out of the roaster, is nature’s most flavorful drink - more complex than even wine - containing well over 900 flavor compounds to dance on your taste buds. But after a mere ten days, you would be lucky to see half that number. Go out one month and you are skating around 10% of coffees original high. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2005, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-vast-majority-of-roasted-cofee-beans-sold-in-supermarkets-actually-stale/282572/2 "2005-01-01T19:35:32Z")
Costco roasts their own coffee, and I can’t tell the difference between it and Millstone from the grocery store. I do prefer freshly ground. I can taste that difference, but either I don’t have that sophisticated palate, or there’s little or no difference between fresh and old roast. IMHO ---
**Author:** ![artcramp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e9c0ed/32.png) [@artcramp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/artcramp)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2005, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-vast-majority-of-roasted-cofee-beans-sold-in-supermarkets-actually-stale/282572/3 "2005-01-01T20:01:06Z")
Generally, if it’s in the supermarket, it’s stale. Coffee shops don’t always do a good job of keeping it fresh either. I’ve had really good, fresh coffee only a few times. It’s not half as acidic as the supermarket stuff. This was while I was in Hawaii, and God it was good. Even the Kona that you import or buy isn’t as good as it is fresh. If you buy it from a coffee shop, chances are that they cut it with other coffee to maximize the profit. When it comes to regular old java though, Waffle House serves excellent coffee. It certainly beats the crap out of everyone else. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2005, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-vast-majority-of-roasted-cofee-beans-sold-in-supermarkets-actually-stale/282572/4 "2005-01-01T21:45:13Z")
You know, back in the days before motorlorries, aereoplanes and steamships, coffeebeans had to make their way to New York and Europe by way of sailing vessels. It took a while for beans to get to their destination, but people liked them so much that they invented expresso and latte and mocha and turkish coffee, and all the other forms of the beverage that we enjoy today. Fresh beans may make some of these beverages taste a little _different_, but who is to say that they taste _better_? ---
**Author:** ![Ezstrete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ea924/32.png) [@Ezstrete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ezstrete)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2005, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-vast-majority-of-roasted-cofee-beans-sold-in-supermarkets-actually-stale/282572/5 "2005-01-01T22:28:59Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > You know, back in the days before motorlorries, aereoplanes and steamships, coffeebeans had to make their way to New York and Europe by way of sailing vessels. It took a while for beans to get to their destination, but people liked them so much that they invented expresso and latte and mocha and turkish coffee, and all the other forms of the beverage that we enjoy today. Fresh beans may make some of these beverages taste a little _different_, but who is to say that they taste _better_? It’s all a CROCK! After a hard dirty days work runnin’ a ‘dozer’ in a spike camp, a cuppa made in a tin can, with some day old canteen water and a handful of grounds thrown in is REAL offee. None of that stuff about —fresh ground,—grounds to cup ratio,—exact temperature of the COLD water to start with----and the whole thing is made over a sagebrush fire. Like the sage fire it’s hotter’n the hinges on hell’s doors -and you have it in another can for a cup------too hot to knock back but fine for blowin’ ‘n’ sippin’. Now THAT’s coffee! -------and anything else is a shoddy imitation. Uh course if your a city slicker you prolly get your Joe at some ‘spresso’ joint. Hoooey! EZ ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2005, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-vast-majority-of-roasted-cofee-beans-sold-in-supermarkets-actually-stale/282572/6 "2005-01-01T22:31:13Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > You know, back in the days before motorlorries, aereoplanes and steamships, coffeebeans had to make their way to New York and Europe by way of sailing vessels. It took a while for beans to get to their destination, but people liked them so much that they invented expresso and latte and mocha and turkish coffee, and all the other forms of the beverage that we enjoy today. Fresh beans may make some of these beverages taste a little _different_, but who is to say that they taste _better_? But the beans were probably shipped green as they are today to the “gourmet” vendors. It’s the time between roasting and drinking we are concerning ourselves with. Peet’s claims: > [@](#): > > Peet’s is dedicated to delivering the freshest coffee to every customer. We hand-roast the finest beans in small batches to meet our daily orders. Then, we package and ship each order as soon as possible - usually within 24 hours of roasting. Roasted coffee is perishable, so Peet’s measures coffee freshness in hours and days after roasting, not weeks or months. If any of Peet’s coffees fail to meet your expectations, please contact us by email or by calling us at 800-999-2132, and we will replace it or refund the full cost of the product - no questions asked. How much is really true, and how much is hype is a matter of opinion, but the start of a Peet’s dark roast bag, when the beans are still glistening with oil is definitely better. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2005, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-vast-majority-of-roasted-cofee-beans-sold-in-supermarkets-actually-stale/282572/7 "2005-01-01T23:04:41Z")
I’d say that the quality of the beans matters more than how 'fresh" the stuff is. A bad quality bean (like many of your more inexpensive coffees use), is going to taste like crap, no matter what you do to it. **Ezstrete** , nah when us slicker-types want a real cup of coffee, we fire up the old oxy-acetelyne torch! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ezstrete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ea924/32.png) [@Ezstrete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ezstrete)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2005, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-vast-majority-of-roasted-cofee-beans-sold-in-supermarkets-actually-stale/282572/8 "2005-01-01T23:41:34Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > I’d say that the quality of the beans matters more than how 'fresh" the stuff is. A bad quality bean (like many of your more inexpensive coffees use), is going to taste like crap, no matter what you do to it. > > **Ezstrete** , nah when us slicker-types want a real cup of coffee, we fire up the old oxy-acetelyne torch! 😃 Hey Tuckerfan—Ah kin see yure a man t’ride the river with—jes don’ gi er 2 much uh that there oxeegen! EZ