There are many different theories on the shelf life of coffee. For as many articles that you read, you will most likely get just as many opinions. We would like to give you our recommendation on the shelf life of our coffee. The most important factors in determining the "best when used by" date of coffee are: prohibiting exposure of the coffee to oxygen or light and whether the coffee is in whole bean form or ground. Both light and oxygen attack coffee and cause it to lose its flavor/aroma. By grinding the coffee, you greatly increase the surface area of the coffee and thus increase the rate at which the degradation process occurs. The sealed bags we use protect the coffee from both light and oxygen. Our sealed bags include a one-way degassing valve, which allow the carbon dioxide gasses of fresh roasted coffee to escape the bag, while prohibiting oxygen from entering. We package our coffee as soon as it reaches room temperature and then seal the bags in order to minimize this degradation. This combination ensures the freshest coffee possible.

With all of this being said, our recommendations are that a sealed bag of our ground coffee will maintain it’s freshness up to 3 weeks after roasting and a sealed bag of our whole bean coffee will maintain it’s freshness up to 5 weeks after roasting. This is merely a recommendation for experiencing the peak flavor of the coffee, not to define the point at which it is "undrinkable". We don't think our coffee ever gets to that point! Each time a bag of coffee is opened, however, the coffee is vulnerable to the atmosphere and loses some of its flavor and aroma. Once the seal on the bag is broken, the coffee should be consumed within 7-10 days to in order to experience the maximum taste. Just make sure that you store the coffee in a cool, dark place in an airtight container. If you keep your coffee in our bags, squeeze out all excess air while rolling the bag down before using the tin-ties to close it securely.