Let's be honest, the odds are against you having fresh coffee. I'm willing to bet that you have had more stale coffee than fresh coffee in your lifetime, and you might not even know it.

Why your coffee is stale.
After roasting, coffee is in a constant battle with oxidation. I like to compare this process to bread. Fresh bread is the best thing in the world, however, if left out, bread will quickly go stale. Even if you keep it in a sealed bag, a piece of bread will eventually get hard and disgusting. Oxidation affects basically everything, and coffee is no exception. Coffee basically has a shelf-life of a month, and that is in a sealed bag. Once you open your bag, you maybe have two weeks. Crazy, right?

Oh, but it gets worse. Coffee goes stale, losing up to 80% of its flavor just 15 minutes after grinding. Once more surface area is exposed to oxygen, oxidation happens quickly.

Why wouldn't you know if your coffee is stale?
"Wait a minute, you just said I wouldn't notice if my coffee is stale, so why does it matter?"
To be clear, you wouldn't notice because you are just used to the flavor of stale coffee. Or, you put in enough cream & sugar to mask the taste. Once you try fresh coffee, the taste is drastically different, and makes it very clear that you have been missing out on good coffee.

Where are you paying for stale coffee?

• Grocery Stores
  • When you shop at grocery stores, there is a slim chance you are getting fresh coffee. Most have been bagged for months, or is already pre-ground. You might think you are safe at Whole Foods or Sprouts because they have "Local" options, however make sure you check the roast date, because if it doesn't sell immediately, they do not throw it out.
• Fast food chains
  • This will probably shock you, but whenever you go to Dunkin, Starbucks, McDonalds, etc..., you are most likely getting stale coffee. You might notice that these chains never put a "Roasted On" date on the bag, only a    "Best By" date. This means they are hiding when it was roasted, and it could be months. 

Where can you get fresh coffee?
You can get fresh coffee at specialty local coffee shops and roasters (aka right here on coffeedelrey.com). Google "Coffee shops near me," then scroll down until you stop seeing the corporate chains, and you'll be surprised by the difference it makes on your daily routine.

How to maintain fresh coffee at home.

1. Keep your coffee in the bag it came in, and push the air out every time you close it.
2. Keep your bag in your pantry or cabinet, not your fridge. Your fridge will actually stale your coffee quicker, as well as contaminate it with aromas from your leftover pizza.
3. Grind right before use! Invest in a good conical burr grinder, and enjoy fresh coffee.
4. Try to use within two weeks.

WARNING: COFFEE CAN BE TOO FRESH
During the roasting process, carbon dioxide and some other gasses are built up in the coffee bean. Let your coffee sit and de-gas for around 4-7 days after the roast date for best results.

If you have ever been to our shop, you may have noticed that we brew most of our coffee on a Hario V60 pour-over. This is but one of many different devices that use a drip method; pouring new water over ground coffee, saturating the coffee and dripping into a carafe. Other drip method devices include the Chemex, Kalita Wave, Melitta, and a batch coffee brewer. 

What you will need:

1. V60 Dripper
      -(we recommend plastic, as it is a better insulator of heat, however ceramic/glass is just fine)
2. V60 #02 paper filters.
      - Do NOT use 'Natural' brown filters, it will taste like you are brewing through wet cardboard.
3. Carafe or mug
4. Digital Scale
5. Timer
6. Gooseneck Kettle
7. Coffee grinder
8. Clean, filtered water

The steps:

Heat your water. Start off by heating up your water. Coffee likes to be brewed between 195-205°F. If you don't have a variable temperature electric kettle, you can heat up your water to boiling, then let it sit for 45s-1 minute to allow it to get down to temperature. If you brew it at boiling  (212°F) you will likely scorch your coffee.

Grind your coffee. While you wait for your water to heat up, you can grind your coffee. Coffee is always best freshly ground, and can actually stale just 15 min after grinding. We highly recommend you invest in a good burr grinder. For the V60, use a medium-coarse grind setting, similar to kosher salt.

Pre-wet your filter. This preheats your carafe/mug and your dripper, as well as gets rid of any papery taste you might get from the filter. (Then dump out the water!)

Coffee-to-water ratio. It is time for some math! To ensure you get some good coffee, you need to have a good coffee-to-water ratio. For a pour over method, we use a 1/16   ratio, meaning that for every 1 gram of coffee, we will be adding 16 grams of water (This is where the scale comes in). So, let’s start with 25g /400g.

Zero out your scale. Now, put your V60 with your coffee and your carafe on your scale, and zero it out. Grab your hot water and your timer, and get ready to pour. Remember, start your timer right when you start pouring.

Bloom. Slowly pour in 50g of water to saturate all your coffee and wait for 30s. This is called the bloom. During the roasting process, gasses are built up in the bean, and once you saturate them with water, they start to release. This blooming period gets rid of a lot of gas, and it makes your coffee taste less...gassy (sour). This also can indicate the freshness of the coffee; more bloom = fresher coffee.

Slow-Pour. This is your last step, but it is the hardest. The goal is to pour your water in slow, concentric circles without hitting the sides of the dripper (just like the game Operation). If you hit the sides, the water can slide down and miss the coffee entirely. We recommend pouring in a series of pulses. Here is a guide based off of the recipe we gave you;

              Time                          Action                          Total
              0:00s                           50g                             50g
              0:30s                          150g                           200g
              1:00s                           50g                             250g
              1:15s                           50g                             300g
              1:30s                           50g                             350g
              1:45s                           50g                             400g


Drain & Enjoy. Stop your pour at 1:55s, and if it drains out between 2:30-3:00 min, you should have some great coffee. If it takes longer, or shorter, adjust your grind setting accordingly. (Coarser makes it drain quicker, finer makes it drain slower).