# Resting time of professionally roasted beans



## Viernes (Dec 10, 2011)

I'm seeing some roasters indicates the optimal resting time for their beans to get the most of them. For example, Londinium indicates the resting times for all of their beans and, I must say, I enjoyed a lot their beans when I followed their instructions; the resting time is indicated on each bag.

So I'm wondering why other roasters do not do this, like Square or Has. SqM gives a lot of brewing information, however there's no mention of an optimal resting time for their beans.

Give this information could perhaps prevent users to make an erroneous impression of a particular coffee if, for example, they begin to use it too soon.

Or perhaps resting time is not that important and I'm wrong...


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## CoffeeMagic (Aug 7, 2011)

Or perhaps there is only so much room on a bag and too many words already. Do people really read the whole dit on each side? Does the majority of the coffee drinking public actually give a hoot? From what others have requested should be put on a bag, e.g. Provenance, brewing instructions, grind info, temp, cat's name, etc I would imagine the size would need to increase dramatically.


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## Viernes (Dec 10, 2011)

Well, write a little note about resting time does not take too much space.


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## Outlaw333 (Dec 13, 2011)

Or maybe a 'best after' date next to roast date!


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## crankhouse (Feb 8, 2012)

Interesting watching the WBC live stream today with Maxwell C-S talk about the young batch he was using at 14 days post-roast then the same bean at 21 days and how it had developed. Until today I'd thought a minimum of 2 days up to 5 days preferred for resting. He did mention the beans had been roasted "non-oxygenated" which must be significant .


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Didn't he also say yesterday that these were the only beans that he leaves that long?

Also I wonder is brewing style relevant to resting time? If you're selling espressos you don't want customers getting drinks with flat, lifeless crema, but how long does it take for the flavour of the beans to get into the "rank/obviously something wrong with them" stage, rather than a loss of vibrancy? Curiosity is piqued because I'm having delicious beans with no roast date, dismal crema as espresso, but flavour-wise they are killer (I'm not suggesting that they wouldn't be better fresher, but it's not as if beans roasted in the last 10 days are blowing these into the weeds either)...also one roaster clearly states "best within 4 weeks, but enjoy up to 3 months".


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## Monkey_Devil (Jul 11, 2011)

I think brew method is relevant. I find brewed coffees generally nicer when young, but some espressos are better a week in. I save older beans for use in milk drinks as I find that young beans can damage the quality of the microfoam.


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## CoffeeJohnny (Feb 28, 2011)

beans ideally should be rested for five days they peak most often around fourteen days, if stored correctly unopened it can take up to two months to start tasting the staling of the beans,


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## joshuachan28 (Mar 7, 2012)

I've been told before that beans for espresso should be used after it has rested for at least 7 days because the amount of carbon dioxide released has stabled down. From day 0 to day 7, the amount of CO2 released varies wildly, making it hard to keep extraction consistent. From day 7 till day 21 the level of carbon dioxide releases slowly at a constant pace and after 21 days of roasting, the amount of CO2 released is not sufficient enough for a good extraction.

I unfortunately do not have scientific evidence to back this claim up, but just sharing what a barista/roaster has shared with me.


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## CoffeeJohnny (Feb 28, 2011)

I'll dig out the evidence, my library may be some use after all


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## edpirie (Jun 29, 2012)

In my experience, buying beans fresh every week from Monmouth, there is a noticeable difference in the crema produced, and so the texture of the shot, over just those few days. I have never understood how it works for e.g. Red Brick to sell 350g packs, or roasters to offer multiple packs, unless people are either freezing the beans, or making an awful lot of coffee.


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## joshuachan28 (Mar 7, 2012)

To be very honest, Monmouth do not even provide a roast date for their beans. Furthermore, their beans are left out in the open exposed to air and light while they are being sold. Freshness of their beans are a highly debatable topic. On the other hand, Squaremile provides a roast date for their beans, seals their beans in an air sealed foil bag. Monmouth however is a very historical shop where many coffee makers have cut their teeth at, Gwilym Davies of Prufrock and Jorge Fernandez of Fernandez and Wells all learnt their trade there. They may roast some decent beans and make a decent (I've had some good and some bad) cup of coffee but they are happy where they are and not push themselves to higher standards.


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## joshuachan28 (Mar 7, 2012)

Not a attack on you edpirie but some people can go through bags of coffee pretty quickly! If you use a 20g dose each time, 350g only gives you about 17 shots of coffee. Which is about 2 weeks worth of coffee if you do a shot everyday! Which is actually just nice for a bag of beans as two weeks should be the window that you are looking at.


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## Earlepap (Jan 8, 2012)

Plus there are the dialing in shots. Last bag of Red Brick I bought, about a third of the bag went in the sink!


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## joshuachan28 (Mar 7, 2012)

Red Brick is exceptionally finicky and hard to perfect, but when you do, it is beautiful. Just bought a bag of their latest version of the blend, can't wait to start playing with it.


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## CoffeeJohnny (Feb 28, 2011)

Square mile espresso is always tricky, based on my experience. But as you say really good when nailed.


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## edpirie (Jun 29, 2012)

Very interesting to hear some feedback on this. I take the point about Monmouth keeping their beans out in the open. I queried this once and they said they turn over so much it doesn't degrade the beans. I always ask what the roast date is and they check on the side of the crate. But I'm not trying to make out they're the perfect; as you say very fairly they have their groove and they stick to it. I'll have to try some Red Brick and compare duration, although I find it a bit sharp for my tastes except as a cappa, or as espresso after a rich meal.


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## joshuachan28 (Mar 7, 2012)

The last version of Red Brick that was on sale (they just released a new version of the blend last week) was pretty amazing. It starts off very bright, the raspberry acidity comes through quite sharply but the finish is sweet and clean. Which was quite interesting as I thought that I was going to have the sour aftertaste in my mouth but I didn't. It really depends what you are looking to drink as an espresso.


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## dougja (May 23, 2012)

It entirely depends on the bean. I've heard most are only around 3-4 days though, and as it takes a few days for the coffee to get to you, I doubt it will be that far off it's peak anyway


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