Why freshness matters

Most supermarket coffee was roasted months before it hit the shelf. Aroma compounds escape through the one-way valve on the bag the whole time. "Fresh" on a label means almost nothing — the roast date is the only fact that matters.

Coffee is at its aromatic peak roughly 5 to 21 days after roasting. Before day 5, CO₂ still escaping makes extraction uneven. After about three weeks, the volatile aromatics that make coffee smell like itself are largely gone.

That's why we roast on Fridays and ship on Fridays. This week's roasts are listed here.