How Fresh Is Your Coffee, Really?

How Fresh Is Your Coffee, Really?

If your espresso tastes flat, bitter, or inconsistent, the issue often isn’t your machine or accessories. It’s your coffee beans.

One of the biggest differences between café-quality espresso and underwhelming home shots comes down to freshness.

What “Fresh” Coffee Beans Actually Means

Fresh coffee refers to recently roasted beans, not recently purchased ones.

Most supermarket coffee is roasted months before sale and spends a long time in storage before it ever reaches your grinder. By the time it’s brewed, much of what makes coffee taste vibrant is already gone.

By contrast, our Daily Grind coffee beans are roasted weekly in Melbourne and shipped fresh, so they arrive well within their ideal brewing window.

Degassing: Why Espresso Needs Rested Beans

After roasting, coffee beans release carbon dioxide in a process known as degassing.

For espresso, this is critical.

  • In the first 7–10 days after roasting, beans are still releasing a high amount of CO₂
  • Brewing espresso too early can lead to unstable flow, excessive crema, and uneven extraction
  • Once degassing slows, extraction becomes more consistent and predictable

This is why freshly roasted beans are best enjoyed after a short rest, not straight out of the roaster.


Hypergrind Black Bottomless Portafilter

How Freshness Affects Espresso Extraction

Bean freshness directly impacts how water flows through the coffee puck.

Older beans:

  • Offer less resistance during extraction
  • Produce thin, fast-running shots
  • Deliver weaker crema and muted flavours
  • Are harder to dial in consistently

Fresh, properly rested beans:

  • Extract more evenly
  • Hold pressure better
  • Deliver fuller flavour and mouthfeel
  • Make grind adjustments more predictable

No amount of technique can fully compensate for stale coffee.

When Coffee Is Best Enjoyed

For espresso, coffee is generally at its best:

  • From around 7–10 days after roasting, once degassing has stabilised
  • Within the first month, where flavour, aroma, and extraction performance peak
  • Up to around three months from the roast date, provided the beans are stored correctly, though gradual flavour decline will occur

This puts most supermarket coffee well outside its ideal window before it’s even opened.

The Takeaway

Great espresso starts with fresh coffee.

If you’re struggling with inconsistency or underwhelming flavour, switching to freshly roasted beans is one of the simplest and most effective upgrades you can make.

At Hypergrind, our Daily Grind coffee beans are roasted weekly in Melbourne to help you get the most from your home espresso setup.

👉 Explore our fresh coffee beans and elevate your home coffee experience.

Note: Not available outside of Australia.

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