Coffee Freshness & Resting Calculator
Freshly roasted coffee needs a few days to release its gas before it brews well, and its aroma slowly fades after that. Enter the roast date to see where your beans are now.
About your coffee
The roast date, not the best-before date.
If the bag or the roaster's site gives a rest time, it replaces our estimate.
Medium roast · Filter
5 days since roasting
In its best window
Brew it now
Peak lasts about 17 more days.
- Best from
- Wed 31 Dec
- Best until
- Sat 17 Jan
- Fades after
- Sat 31 Jan
What to do now
Grind just before brewing
Ground coffee loses aroma within minutes to hours. Whole beans keep this window open much longer.
Note what you like
Write down the day and recipe that tastes best. Next time you buy this coffee you'll know its sweet spot.
These windows are a guide for whole beans in a sealed bag, not a rule: every coffee ages differently, and your taste is the final test. For whether a product is still fit to use, follow the best-before date and storage instructions on the bag.
Why coffee needs to rest
Roasting fills the beans with CO2. Brewed too soon, the gas pushes water away from the grounds and the cup can taste sharp or thin.
Darker roasts are ready sooner
Darker roasts release their gas faster, so they need less rest but also lose their aroma sooner.
Your roaster knows best
If the bag gives a rest time, enter it. And the best-before date on the bag is always the product limit.
How the estimate works
The table shows the days after the roast date we use for each roast level and brew method. These are BeanHub's starting points from common roaster advice, not lab measurements. Research supports the direction (darker roasts degas faster, and espresso is more sensitive to leftover gas than filter), but no study gives exact days that hold for every coffee.
| Roast | Rest | Best | Fades after |
|---|---|---|---|
| Light | 7 days | day 7–28 | day 42 |
| Medium-light | 5 days | day 5–28 | day 42 |
| Medium | 4 days | day 4–21 | day 35 |
| Medium-dark | 3 days | day 3–18 | day 30 |
| Dark | 3 days | day 3–14 | day 28 |
| Roast | Rest | Best | Fades after |
|---|---|---|---|
| Light | 14 days | day 14–35 | day 49 |
| Medium-light | 10 days | day 10–30 | day 42 |
| Medium | 7 days | day 7–28 | day 35 |
| Medium-dark | 5 days | day 5–21 | day 30 |
| Dark | 4 days | day 4–18 | day 28 |
- Ages are counted in calendar days from the roast date in your own time zone.
- With a roaster's rest time, the best window starts on that day and lasts at least two weeks.
- The windows assume whole beans in a closed bag. Ground coffee loses its aroma much faster.
Sources
- Smrke et al. (2017), Time-resolved gravimetric method to assess degassing of roasted coffee, Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.
- Wang & Lim (2014), Effect of roasting conditions on carbon dioxide degassing behavior in coffee, Food Research International 61: 144–151.
- Smrke et al. (2022), Effects of different coffee storage methods on coffee freshness after opening of packages, Food Packaging and Shelf Life 33: 100893.
Ready to brew?
The Recipe Builder sets dose, water, grind, and temperature for your brewer and roast.