Coffee 101: Makin' it goood

of the coffee out there is stale.

The good news is that stale coffee is drinkable if you have never had fresh coffee. The bad news is that once you have tasted truly fresh coffee, you'll be forever hooked. Fresh coffee will make you giddy every time you go to make a pot. It will also tingle right down to your toes and reverberate around your head like a funky aura.

That's because coffee, just a few days out of the roaster, is nature's most flavorful drink; more complex than even wine; containing well over 900 flavor compounds to dance on your taste buds." But after a mere ten days, you would be lucky to see half that number. Go out one month and you are skating around 10% of coffee's original high.

How do you know if coffee is stale?

Simple test: If it tastes bitter or flat, then it is too late! Coffee is actually known by connoisseurs as a Sweet beverage (you are not supposed know that). Coffee companies make their living on convenience. And yes, believing that freshness is as simple as 'burping' air out of a coffee container is convenient. Truly fresh coffee is a pain because you need to order it frequently.