Just How Fresh Are Starbucks Beans?

Your first encounter with a cup of Starbucks coffee is typically when they call your name (although gone are the days of inaccurate handwritten names on cups) and you pick up your drink at the counter. The initial, blistering sip is your introduction to that particular brew — but the coffee has already had a long life before it met your tastebuds. It started as a plant in one of the 30 countries that Starbucks sources its coffee beans from. The beans then make their way to one of Starbucks' five roasting plants, four in the U.S. and one in Europe. The Starbucks beans are then placed into bags and sealed.

The airtight storage bag is essential because coffee beans react to both oxygen and light. Oxygen will deprive the beans of their aroma, and the oxidizing oil in the beans will cause the flavor to spoil. Too much UV light will also negatively impact the coffee beans' taste, so the bags are opaque. When the bag remains unopened Starbucks beans will stay fresh for 34 weeks.

When it comes to 34-week freshness, Starbucks credits the fact that it packages beans within two hours of roasting. In the world of coffee, though, "fresh" doesn't just mean that the coffee was roasted very recently — fresh means that the taste of the coffee bean is at its highest quality. The best flavor doesn't emerge immediately, so although the two-hour roast-to-bag turnaround helps Starbucks coffee last longer in the package, you don't actually want your coffee to be too fresh.

When coffee beans are roasted, heat converts the beans' amino acids and sugars into carbon dioxide. Initially, the beans are holding on to a lot of this CO2, which doesn't taste great when you turn beans into brew. Coffee beans have to go through a process called degassing, wherein the beans rest while CO2 is released. Different types of coffee, levels of roast, and roasting methods will all inform the ideal amount of degassing time, but the general rule of thumb is that coffee beans are at their freshest somewhere between seven and 21 days after roasting. Espresso beans are typically on the longer side of that standard, and regular filter brews take less time.

Many coffee manufacturers print a roast date on their bags, but Starbucks doesn't. The company's unopened bags will last for a while, but you won't have a date to help you decide if the coffee is at its peak freshness.

Despite the lack of a roast date, the Starbucks coffee bag is one of the reasons that the beans keep for so long. Alongside the iconic green siren logo, the bag features a one-way valve, which stops oxygen from entering and affecting the taste, but that lets carbon dioxide out as the beans degas. Even so, you have to play your part in freshness preservation — namely, storing the beans away from harmful elements. 

Once the package is opened, coffee beans should be stored in airtight containers to block as much oxygen as possible (often just the original package, if it's resealable). Light plays its part in degrading the flavor and moisture will make the beans go stale faster, so it's best to keep them in a dry, dark place.

Temperature control is also essential, as fluctuations impact flavor and fragrance, so many people place their beans in two particularly temperature-stable storage spots: the refrigerator and the freezer. Well, coffee beans soak up moisture from the air (scientifically speaking, they're hygroscopic), so refrigerators and their moisture-emitting environments are off-limits. However, the freezer also has mixed reviews from java authorities. Many experts give freezer-stored beans the metaphorical cold shoulder, but others say the practice just requires some care. The porous beans can absorb food smells in your freezer, but you can combat odor osmosis by vacuum sealing — hence the handy Starbucks bags.