# Coffee

Check the roast date before the roast level: sources put roasted coffee's peak at about 5 to 21 days after roasting, and shelf coffee may have sat for months. After freshness, three things decide the cup: grind matching the brewer, fruit and flowers versus chocolate and nuts, and single origin versus blend. Scope: whole bean and ground coffee.

## How it works

Roasting heats green coffee seeds until their sugars and acids break down into hundreds of aroma compounds and the bean fills with carbon dioxide. The lighter the roast, the more of the seed's own character (fruit acids, florals, origin sweetness) survives; the darker the roast, the more the flavour comes from the roasting itself (caramel, smoke, bitterness). From the moment roasting stops, two clocks run. Carbon dioxide leaves the bean for days and weeks (degassing), and until enough has gone, espresso in particular extracts unevenly. At the same time oxygen attacks the aroma compounds and the bean's oils, so flavour fades over weeks for whole beans and over hours to days once ground, because grinding exposes far more surface to air. What was done to the cherry before roasting (washed, natural, honey, anaerobic) sets the flavour direction that roasting then develops. [39] [40] [38] [37] [35] [34] [44] [43] [32]

| Family | What it is | Suits |
|---|---|---|
| Washed (wet process) | The fruit is stripped off and the seed fermented and rinsed clean before drying, so the cup is clean and bright with citrus or floral notes and the origin shows clearly. | Buyers who want clarity and acidity; the safest first specialty bag. |
| Natural (dry process) | The whole cherry dries around the seed for weeks, so fruit sugars and ferment flavours soak in and the cup is heavy, sweet and berry- or wine-like. | Buyers who want big fruit; espresso drinkers who like sweetness. |
| Honey (pulped natural) | The skin comes off but the sticky fruit layer stays on during drying, landing between washed and natural: syrupy body, balanced acidity. | Buyers who found naturals too boozy and washed too sharp. |
| Anaerobic and co-fermented | Cherries or seeds ferment in sealed, oxygen-free tanks, sometimes with added fruit or spice, which pushes tropical, wine-like and sometimes polarising flavours. | Buyers chasing novelty; competition coffees; not the bag to recommend to someone who asked for 'a nice coffee'. |

## How an expert narrows the choice

```mermaid
timeline
  section 1 · Format
    ground / capsule : ask Ground for
    whole bean : skip Ground for
  section 2 · Flavour family
    fruity and floral : ask Process, Roasted for
    fermented and funky : ask Process
    roasty and smoky : skip Origin, Process
  section 3 · Freshness policy
    roasted to order and shipped within days / roast date printed : ask Roast date
    best-before date only : ask Brand strength or intensity number : skip Roast date, Harvest
  section 4 · Single origin or blend
    single farm or microlot : ask Origin, Variety, Harvest
    single origin (country or region) : ask Origin
    blend : ask Arabica or robusta : skip Harvest
```

1. **Format.** Whole bean (you grind), ground, capsules, or instant?
   This removes most of the catalog in one answer. A buyer with a grinder only wants whole bean; a buyer without one needs a grind that matches the brewer, and a capsule buyer needs the one capsule system that fits.
   If ground or capsule: ask Ground for.
   If whole bean: skip Ground for.
   Skip if already known: owns_grinder, brewer_type, capsule_machine.

2. **Flavour family.** Fruity and floral, chocolate and nuts, roasty and smoky, or funky (fermented)?
   This is the roast-level and process question a novice can answer. It cuts the set into thirds, maps onto the first ring of the trade's flavour wheel, and beats 'light, medium or dark' because one roaster's medium is another's dark.
   If fruity and floral: ask Process, Roasted for.
   If fermented and funky: ask Process.
   If roasty and smoky: skip Origin, Process.
   Skip if already known: flavor_preference, roast_preference.

3. **Freshness policy.** Roasted to order, roast date printed, or shelf coffee (maybe months old)?
   Experts check the roast date first. The question separates roasters that print a roast date and ship to order from brands that print only a best-before date. It is the best proxy for whether the bag tastes like its description.
   If roasted to order and shipped within days or roast date printed: ask Roast date.
   If best-before date only: ask Brand strength or intensity number; skip Roast date, Harvest.
   Skip if already known: buys_specialty, price_sensitivity.

4. **Single origin or blend.** Single origin (changes with each harvest), or a blend (same every bag)?
   Asked last because it halves the set rather than quartering it. Blends are built to taste the same all year and to hold up under steamed milk; single origins change with each harvest and show where they came from.
   If single farm or microlot: ask Origin, Variety, Harvest.
   If single origin (country or region): ask Origin.
   If blend: ask Arabica or robusta; skip Harvest.
   Skip if already known: origin_type_preference.

## What to surface

### Format

Whether the coffee is sold as whole beans, already ground, in capsules for a pod machine, or as instant powder. Whole bean keeps its flavour for weeks; ground coffee shows a clear loss within 24 to 48 hours of grinding because grinding exposes over a hundred times more surface to air. Capsules trade flavour and choice for convenience and lock the buyer to one machine system. Experts buy whole bean and grind at home, and tell anyone without a grinder to buy small bags of ground coffee often rather than one big bag. [33] [34] [26] [24]

Values: whole bean, ground, capsule, instant.
Question to ask: Whole bean (you grind), ground, capsules, or instant?

Used as: top-level split, filter. Data: on the listing, backfill cost none. Look for it as: In the title ('Whole Bean', 'Ground', 'Capsules') or an 'Item Form' field. On roaster sites it is a variant selector next to bag size.

### Flavour family

Which of the broad taste groups on the trade's flavour wheel the coffee sits in, worked out from its tasting notes, roast level and process. For a buyer, 'fruit and flowers' usually means a light roast and often a natural or anaerobic process; 'chocolate and nuts' a medium roast or a blend; 'roasty and smoky' means the roast dominates and the origin barely shows. The four values collapse the nine centre-ring groups of the trade's wheel (Specialty Coffee Association with World Coffee Research, 2016), which roasters use for tasting notes and some retailers filter on a collapsed version (Counter Culture: fruity, chocolatey, earthy, floral, nutty). [3] [4] [2] [1] [22] [39]

Values: fruity and floral, chocolate and nuts, roasty and smoky, fermented and funky.
Question to ask: Fruity and floral, chocolate and nuts, roasty and smoky, or funky (fermented)?

Used as: top-level split, filter. Data: derived from listing fields, backfill cost low. Look for it as: Not a field. Derive from the tasting notes line ('Berries, Stone Fruit, Earl Grey' or 'Dark Chocolate, Molasses'), the roast level and the process, mapping each note to its wheel group.
A note-to-wheel-group lookup covers specialty listings. Where there are no notes, fall back to roast level alone (light to fruity, medium to nutty, dark to roasty) and flag it as inferred. Natural and anaerobic process override toward fruity or fermented.
Chart: Coffee Taster's Flavor Wheel.

### Freshness policy

What the seller tells you about when the coffee was roasted: a printed roast date with shipping within days, a printed roast date alone, or only a best-before date. This facet is the specialty-versus-shelf line in one value. Roasted coffee is fresh food: sources put the peak somewhere between about 3 and 21 days after roasting depending on brewer and roast, and all agree the decline is clear within one to two months. A best-before date is set by the packer, usually 6 to 12 months out; US law requires no quality date at all, so a missing roast date is the seller's choice. [25] [33] [36] [30] [29] [60] [14] [15] [26]

Values: roasted to order and shipped within days, roast date printed, best-before date only.
Question to ask: Roasted to order, roast date printed, or shelf coffee (maybe months old)?

Used as: top-level split, filter, sortable. Data: derived from listing fields, backfill cost low. Look for it as: Phrases on the listing or roaster site: 'roasted to order', 'ships within 48 hours of roasting', 'roast date on bag', 'roasted Monday-Friday'. Mass-market pages say nothing, which is the third value.
One lookup per roaster, not per product; the policy is a property of the seller. Record 'best-before only' when nothing is stated rather than leaving it blank, because silence is the signal.
Chart: Freshness window.

### Single origin or blend

Whether the bag comes from one country, region or farm, or combines several origins into a recipe. A blend is built to taste the same in February and August; the roaster changes the recipe as components go in and out of season, and the balance is tuned for espresso and milk. A single origin is a snapshot of one place and harvest, so it changes from crop to crop and the best ones sell out. Neither is higher quality. Blend for consistency and milk drinks; single origin for black coffee and for tasting where it came from. [47] [48] [22] [26] [20]

Values: single farm or microlot, single origin (country or region), blend.
Question to ask: Single origin (changes with each harvest), or a blend (same every bag)?

Used as: top-level split, filter. Data: on the listing, backfill cost none. Look for it as: 'Single-Origin' or 'Blend' on the card or in the title; Counter Culture filters on 'Coffee Type: Blend, Single-Origin, Decaf'; Peet's says 'Signature Blend'. A named farm or lot size on the page marks a microlot (a small, separately kept lot from one farm).

### Ground for

The brewer the grind was made for, or for capsules, the machine system the pod fits. Coffee ground for one brewer and used in another over- or under-extracts no matter how good the beans were, because each brewer needs a different particle size. Default supermarket 'ground' coffee is a drip grind, which runs through an espresso machine in seconds and tastes sour and thin. For capsules the match is literal: Nespresso Original pods come from dozens of brands, Vertuo pods carry a barcode and come only from Nespresso. [52] [53] [55] [56] [57] [24] [26]

Values: whole bean (any brewer), espresso, moka pot, drip machine, pour-over, French press, cold brew, Nespresso Original, Nespresso Vertuo, K-Cup, other.
Question to ask: Espresso, drip, pour-over, French press, moka, cold brew, or which capsule system?

Used as: filter. Data: on the listing, backfill cost low. Look for it as: A 'Grind' variant selector on roaster and marketplace pages ('Whole Bean, Drip, French Press, Espresso'; Trade lists eleven options). For capsules it is in the title ('Original Line compatible', 'Vertuo').
When a ground SKU names no brewer, record it as drip grind, which is the industry default. Never infer an espresso grind from silence.
Chart: Grind size scale.

### Roast level

How far the beans were roasted, from light to dark, as the roaster describes it. It is the one field every listing carries and the one experts trust least. The words are house dialect, so one roaster's medium is another's French roast, which is why reviewers quote an instrument number (see Agtron) instead. The level does set the broad taste: light keeps acidity and origin fruit, dark replaces them with caramel, smoke and bitterness. It does not set strength or caffeine: by weight light and dark carry about the same. [8] [6] [43] [44] [26] [27] [45]

Values: light, medium-light, medium, medium-dark, dark.
Question to ask: Light, medium or dark?

Used as: filter, shown on the card. Data: on the listing, backfill cost none. Look for it as: 'Roast Level' field or in the title. Peet's publishes it as a 0 to 100 slider ('75 out of 100'); Lavazza as 'intensity 7/10'; UK grocers as 'Strength 4'. Normalise all of these into the five words and keep the original in strength_number.
Already the only field in the current add-on. When a brand gives only a number on its own scale, map the top fifth to dark, the bottom fifth to light.
Chart: Agtron roast scale.

### Roasted for

Whether the roaster developed the roast for espresso, for filter brewing, or for both (sometimes called omni). Espresso extracts at high pressure, so roasters develop espresso roasts further to make them more soluble; a light filter roast on a home espresso machine needs 201 to 204°F water, a finer grind, a 1:2.5 to 1:3 ratio and a week or more of rest before it stops tasting sour. Buying the roast made for your brewer removes most of that fiddling. Specialty roasters put the word in the product name; mass-market bags use 'espresso' to mean dark. [32] [31] [29] [28]

Values: espresso, filter, omni (both), unspecified.
Question to ask: Espresso machine, or everything else?

Used as: filter. Data: derived from listing fields, backfill cost low. Look for it as: Derived from words in the product name ('Gachatha Espresso', 'Filter roast', 'Omni') and, on mass-market pages, from a brew suggestion ('Ideal for Cafetiere or Filter'). Not a field anywhere.
Skip the question when grind_for is already known; a buyer who said 'espresso machine' has answered it. Record unspecified rather than inferring from roast level.

### Caffeine level

Whether the coffee is regular, half-caffeine, or decaffeinated. A hard filter that costs nothing to ask and that memory usually already answers. Decaf is not caffeine-free: the US convention is at least 97 percent removed and the EU legal line is 0.1 percent caffeine by weight in the roasted bean, which still leaves roughly 9 to 14 mg in a large cup. Half-caf is a stated blend of regular and decaf beans. Roast level does not change caffeine noticeably; the levers are species and decaffeination. [16] [17] [21] [44]

Values: regular, half-caf, decaf.
Question to ask: Regular, half-caf, or decaf?

Used as: filter. Data: on the listing, backfill cost none. Look for it as: 'Decaf' in the title; a 'Caffeine Content' field on marketplaces; Onyx filters on 'Caffeine: Decaf, Full, Partial'.

### Process

What was done to the coffee cherry between picking and drying: fruit washed off (washed), dried whole (natural), dried with the sticky layer on (honey), or fermented in sealed tanks (anaerobic). After roast level, process is the strongest predictor of what the cup tastes like, and unlike roast level the words mean the same thing everywhere. Washed is clean and bright and shows the origin; natural is heavy, sweet and fruity, sometimes wine-like; honey sits between; anaerobic is intense and can be divisive. Specialty roasters state it and let buyers filter on it; mass-market bags rarely do (Peet's is an exception with 'Washed and Wet-Hulled'). [39] [40] [21] [22] [24] [26]

Values: washed, natural, honey, anaerobic, co-fermented, wet-hulled, other, unspecified.
Question to ask: Clean and bright, or big, sweet and fruity, even a bit boozy?

Used as: filter, shown on the card. Data: needs research, backfill cost medium. Look for it as: A field on specialty roaster pages ('Process: Washed'; Onyx filters on 'Anaerobic Natural, Dry Washed, Innoculated, Natural, Red Honey, Washed'; Trade shows 'Natural/Dry Processed, Washed') and in titles as 'Natural' or 'Honey'. Rarely stated on mass-market bags.
Take it from the page where it is a field. For mass-market bags one lookup on the brand's page, and record unspecified when nothing is stated; do not assume washed.

### Origin

The country, and where stated the region and farm, the coffee was grown in. Origin is a weaker predictor of taste than process and roast, but it is how buyers remember what they liked, and the roasters' own notes follow regional patterns: a washed Ethiopian reads 'citrus, floral and stone fruits', a Colombia and Brazil blend 'chocolate, caramel and roasty', an Indo-Pacific wet-hulled blend 'earth, spice'. The level of detail is itself a tell. A farm name, lot size and producer means a traceable lot; 'Americas, Indo-Pacific' means a commodity blend. [23] [26] [21] [33] [24]

Values: Ethiopia, Kenya, Colombia, Brazil, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Indonesia, Vietnam, India, Rwanda or Burundi, other, multiple (blend).
Question to ask: Is there a country whose coffee you already know you like?

Used as: filter, shown on the card. Data: on the listing, backfill cost none. Look for it as: 'Origin' field or in the title; region and farm in the description. Mass-market pages give a continent or nothing.
Keep the roaster's own granularity (country, region, farm). Do not resolve 'Americas' to a country.

### Roast date

The day the beans were roasted, as opposed to the best-before date, which is set by the packer and says nothing about age. It is the number experts read first and the one almost no listing carries as a field. Sources place 'past its best' anywhere from 2 to 8 weeks depending on brewer and roast; ground coffee is measured in days. Too fresh is also a problem for espresso, which wants 5 to 7 days of rest at minimum, and light roasts need the longer end. The useful value is days since roast, read against the sources' rest, peak and fade zones. [25] [30] [29] [35] [33] [31]


Used as: shown on the card, sortable. Data: needs research, backfill cost high. Look for it as: Rarely a field. Appears stamped on the bag, sometimes visible in a product photo, or implied by 'ships within 48 hours of roasting'.
Per unit, not per product. For roasters with a ships-within-N-days policy, estimate roast date as order date minus N and label it estimated. For the top 100 ranked coffees read the bag photo; lazy-load the rest. Never convert a best-before into a roast date.
Chart: Freshness window.

### Arabica or robusta

Which coffee species the beans are: arabica, robusta, or a stated mix, as in Italian espresso blends such as Lavazza Super Crema, listed as an arabica and robusta blend. '100% Arabica' is printed on nearly every bag above the cheapest tier and separates nothing within specialty, where everything is arabica. Robusta carries roughly twice the caffeine of arabica, gives a thicker crema and a heavier, harsher cup, and is what makes a traditional Italian espresso blend taste the way it does. A buyer who wants that kick and crema should look for the robusta share; a buyer who found espresso too bitter should avoid it. [41] [42] [27] [28]

Values: 100% arabica, arabica and robusta blend, 100% robusta, unspecified.
Question to ask: Pure arabica, or an Italian-style blend with robusta (thick crema, more kick)?

Used as: filter, shown on the card. Data: on the listing, backfill cost low. Look for it as: '100% Arabica' in the title or bullets; blend composition in the description ('blend of Arabica and Robusta'); robusta share sometimes as a percentage.
Specialty bags with no claim are arabica. Record the robusta percentage when the brand gives it; otherwise record 'blend' without a number.

### Brand strength or intensity number

The number a mass-market brand prints on its own scale, such as 'Strength 4' on UK supermarket bags (1 to 5) or Lavazza's 'intensity 7/10'. The number measures how dark the roast is, not its caffeine, and each brand runs its own scale, so a 4 from one brand and a 4 from another are not the same roast. A 'strength 5' can have less caffeine per scoop than a 'strength 3' from the same shelf, because dark beans are lighter. Keep the number on the card for buyers who navigate by it, and translate it into roast level for comparison across brands. [45] [46] [28] [27]

Range: 1 to 10 points on the brand's own scale. UK grocers use 1 to 5 (Taylors Rich Italian is a 4); Italian brands use 1 to 10 (Lavazza Super Crema is a 7).

Used as: shown on the card. Data: on the listing, backfill cost none. Look for it as: 'Strength 4' on the pack front and in the listing title; 'Intensity 7/10' on Lavazza and similar pages. Absent on specialty coffee.
Store with the brand and the scale's maximum. The facet exists only where a brand prints it, so absence means not applicable rather than missing; no backfill, and never compare across brands.
Chart: Agtron roast scale.

### Agtron number

An instrument reading of roast colour on a 25 to 95 scale, where lower numbers are darker, taken on whole beans and again on the ground coffee. It is the only roast-level measure that compares across roasters. Coffee Review reports every coffee as two numbers, whole bean then ground ('55/68'), and names the roast from their average: above 80 light, 70 to 80 medium-light, 60 to 70 medium, 50 to 60 medium-dark, 40 to 50 dark, below 40 very dark. Roasters' bands shift by about ten points, so treat any cut-off as rough. A few roasters print it (Onyx: 'Ground Agtron #130', on a wider 'gourmet' scale). [6] [5] [8] [19] [20] [7] [58]

Range: 25 to 95 Agtron (M-Basic scale). Coffee Review names a coffee light when the average reading is above 80, dark at 40 to 50 and very dark at 25 to 40. The ground reading runs higher than the whole-bean reading (their example is 55/68).

Used as: shown on the card, sortable. Data: needs research, backfill cost medium. Look for it as: Almost never a field. Onyx prints 'Ground Agtron'; Coffee Review prints 'Agtron: 55/68' in each review.
Backfill from Coffee Review for coffees they have reviewed (several thousand), which covers most of the top-ranked specialty bags. Below that, show the roast word only; do not invent a number from it.
Chart: Agtron roast scale.

### Growing elevation

How high above sea level the coffee grew, in metres, printed as MASL on specialty bags. Higher-grown beans are denser, which generally means more acidity and complexity in the cup and more difficulty extracting them. The useful height depends on latitude: World Coffee Research puts 'high' at above 1,600 m near the equator but above 1,000 m at 15 degrees or more. Robusta grows below about 600 m. Roasters print the number because buyers have learnt to read high as good, which is roughly but not always true. [49] [9] [31] [19] [24]

Range: 600 to 2300 MTR (metres above sea level). Most arabica grows at 1,000 to 1,800 m, with some Ethiopian farms above 2,000 m; robusta sits below about 600 m.

Used as: shown on the card, sortable. Data: needs research, backfill cost medium. Look for it as: On specialty roaster pages as 'Elevation: 1950 MASL' or 'Altitude', and on marketplaces like Trade as a range ('900-1650m'). Absent on mass-market pages, which are most of the catalog by volume, so it is researched rather than a listing field.
Where present, take it from the page. Backfill from the roaster page for the top 200 single origins; for blends record the range of components or leave blank; never estimate from the country.
Chart: position on a vertical scale from 600 to 2,300 m, with the latitude-adjusted 'high' line drawn when the country is known.

### Decaf method

How the caffeine was taken out: water only (Swiss Water, Mountain Water), pressurised carbon dioxide, ethyl acetate from sugar cane, or methylene chloride. The method is the main thing specialty decaf buyers compare. Water and CO2 methods carry a 'chemical-free' story and the CO2 method is credited with keeping more of the origin flavour; sugar-cane ethyl acetate is common in Colombian decafs and said to leave some sweetness; methylene chloride is the traditional solvent and the one buyers most often want to avoid. Roasters that use a water or CO2 process say so prominently; silence usually means a solvent. [16] [18] [17]

Values: Swiss Water or other water process, CO2 process, sugar cane ethyl acetate, methylene chloride, unspecified.
Question to ask: Water or CO2 process only, or any decaf method?

Used as: filter, shown on the card. Data: needs research, backfill cost low. Look for it as: On specialty decaf listings in the title or first bullet ('Swiss Water Process', 'Sugarcane EA', 'CO2 Decaf'); mass-market decaf usually says nothing.
Only applies when caffeine_level is decaf. Specialty pages carry it; for the rest one lookup on the roaster page, and unspecified when that fails.

### Cup score

A trained taster's score for the coffee on a 100-point scale, where 80 and above is the trade's definition of specialty coffee. The 80-point line is the widely accepted trade definition of specialty: 80 or above on the Specialty Coffee Association form. Within specialty, 80 to 84 is 'very good', 85 to 89 'excellent', 90 and up 'outstanding'. The SCA replaced that form with the Coffee Value Assessment in November 2024, so new scores will not be on exactly the old scale. And a roaster's own score (Onyx prints '87') and Coffee Review's blind score are different instruments; keep them labelled. [12] [13] [10] [11] [7] [19]

Range: 80 to 95 points (100-point scale). The roaster-printed scores we checked sit at 86 to 87 (Onyx). Anything at 90 or above is in the trade's 'outstanding' band.

Used as: shown on the card, sortable. Data: needs research, backfill cost medium. Look for it as: A few roasters print it ('Cup score: 87'); Coffee Review prints its own rating per review. Absent on nearly all listings.
Backfill from Coffee Review for the coffees it has reviewed and from roaster pages where printed; label the source on the card. Lazy-load the rest; never estimate a score.
Chart: a point on an 80 to 100 scale with the three named bands shaded.

### Variety

The cultivated type of the arabica plant, such as Bourbon, Typica, Caturra, SL28 or Gesha, which World Coffee Research catalogues the way grape varieties are catalogued for wine. Variety sets the ceiling on cup quality and explains price. Gesha is rated 'exceptional' at high altitude with low yield, which is why Onyx pays about four times as much for its Gesha green coffee as for its blend components; Bourbon, Caturra and Catuai are the common names on Latin American bags; Ethiopian lots are often listed by research code or as 'landrace'. Only the top tier of roasters print it, so for most of the catalog it is unknown. [9] [21] [20] [19] [23] [24]

Values: Gesha, SL28 or SL34, Bourbon, Typica, Caturra or Catuai, Pacamara or Pacas, Ethiopian landrace or research codes, field blend or mixed, robusta, unspecified.

Used as: shown on the card. Data: needs research, backfill cost high. Look for it as: 'Variety' field on specialty roaster pages (Onyx filters on it; Trade shows 'Mundo Novo, Red Catuai, Yellow Catuai, Colombia'). Absent elsewhere.
Backfill only for single-origin coffees in the top 200 by rank, from the roaster page. Leave blends and mass-market bags as unspecified; a guess here is worse than a blank.

### Harvest

The month and year the cherries were picked, which the very top roasters print alongside the roast date. Green coffee has its own freshness clock. The trade treats green coffee as fresh for about a year from processing; after that, and certainly by 18 to 24 months, it is 'past crop' and roasts into flat, papery, woody or hay-like cups no matter how recently it was roasted. A bag that states 'Harvest: December 2025' lets the buyer check both clocks. Almost nobody prints it, so it is an annotation for the top of the catalog, not a filter. [50] [51] [23] [20]


Used as: shown on the card. Data: needs research, backfill cost high. Look for it as: 'Harvest: December 2025' (Tim Wendelboe), 'Harvest: April' (Onyx). Otherwise absent.
Backfill only where the roaster prints it (top 100 single origins). Do not infer from the country's harvest calendar; that gives a season, not a year.
Chart: Freshness window.

## Numbers worth computing

| Metric | Formula | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Days since roast (days) | `days_between(today, roast_date)` | The number a buyer actually needs. Under about 5 days espresso is still gassy; the peak sits somewhere in days 5 to 21 depending on the source and brewer; past 30 to 42 days the aromatics are fading. Sort fresh-first within a roaster's catalog. [25] [30] [29] |
| Cups per bag (cups) | `sizing.net_quantity_g / 13.75 for filter and drip (SCA standard brew ratio of 55 g coffee per 1.000 kg water, at a 250 ml cup); sizing.net_quantity_g / 18 for espresso (standard double-shot dose)` | Bags come in 200 g, 250 g, 10 to 12 oz, 16 oz, 2 lb and 5 lb, so price per bag misleads. Experts dose by weight, so weight per cup is the honest denominator. Retailers state it with a slightly larger cup (Trade: '10.93 oz, ~20 cups', about 15.5 g per cup), so say which cup size the count assumes. [58] [59] [24] [19] [23] |
| Price per cup (currency per cup) | `price / cups_per_bag` | Turns a 2 lb supermarket bag and a 250 g specialty bag into the same unit, which is the comparison a buyer choosing between shelf and roasted-to-order coffee actually needs. [24] |
| Price per 100 g (currency per 100 g) | `price / sizing.net_quantity_g * 100` | The within-category comparison when brew method is unknown. Use net weight, not pack count; capsule and pod listings need grams per pod times count (Flavia states 9 g per pack). [27] |

## What you give up

- Push for a roast date and shipping within days and you are buying from a roaster by mail or from a specialty shop, in 250 g bags, at a higher price per bag. Settle for the shelf and you get bigger bags for less, with no way to know how old the coffee is. [25] [33] Board branch: "See more coffee roasted to order".
- Pre-ground saves a grinder but the flavour drops within a day or two of grinding, so buy small and often. Capsules save everything else and lock you to one system, and on Vertuo to one vendor. [33] [34] [56] Board branch: "See more whole-bean options".
- Push toward light, fruity, high-grown coffee and espresso gets hard: it wants hotter water, a finer grind, a longer ratio and a week or more of rest, and it can taste sour under milk. Push toward medium-dark and the espresso is forgiving and the latte tastes of chocolate, but the origin character is mostly gone. [32] [31] [47] Board branch: "See more forgiving espresso roasts".
- A single origin shows one farm and one harvest, and both change; the bag you loved may be gone next season or taste different. A blend is reformulated to taste the same all year, which is what a daily milk drinker usually wants. [47] [48] Board branch: "See more blends built for consistency".
- Dark roasts taste bolder and 'stronger', but the strength is roast flavour, not caffeine; by weight the caffeine is about the same, and by the scoop the dark roast has slightly less. What you give up is everything the origin and process put in the bean. [43] [44] [45] Board branch: "See more coffee with origin character".
- Robusta in the blend buys thick crema and roughly double the caffeine, at the cost of more bitterness and a harsher cup. It is the right trade for a traditional Italian espresso and the wrong one for a pour-over. [41] [42] Board branch: "See more traditional espresso blends".
- Naturals and anaerobic lots give the biggest fruit and the most surprise, and also the widest swing between bags and the highest chance of a ferment note someone at the table calls 'off'. Washed is the safer gift. [39] [40] Board branch: "See more clean, washed coffees".

## How to draw it

**Coffee Taster's Flavor Wheel** (wheel, shows Flavour family). Nine broad groups in the centre ring (fruity, floral, sweet, nutty/cocoa, spices, roasted, green/vegetative, sour/fermented, other) opening out to 110 specific descriptors at the rim. A buyer sees at a glance which sector a coffee lives in and how far two coffees sit apart, which a list of tasting notes cannot show. Used today by Specialty Coffee Association and World Coffee Research, 2016 edition; used in cupping rooms and printed by roasters. [3] [4] [2] [1]

**Agtron roast scale** (scale, shows Roast level, Agtron number, Brand strength or intensity number). A single horizontal scale from 95 (very light) to 25 (very dark), with reviewers' named bands drawn behind it. Roast words from different roasters land on it as fuzzy bands, measured coffees as points, and brand strength numbers as ticks, so the buyer can see that one roaster's 'medium' overlaps another's 'dark'. Used today by Agtron and the Specialty Coffee Association's colour-disc system; Coffee Review prints two readings per coffee. [6] [5] [8]

**Freshness window** (timeline, shows Roast date, Freshness policy, Harvest). Days since roast on a horizontal line with three zones shaded: rest (about days 0 to 5, espresso still gassy), peak (somewhere in days 5 to 21, drawn as a gradient because sources differ) and fade (past about 30 days). A dot for the coffee, a band when only the policy is known, and a question mark when only a best-before exists. A second, longer line in months since harvest for the few coffees that print it. Used today by nobody yet; this is our proposal. [25] [30] [29] [50]

**Grind size scale** (scale, shows Ground for). Brewers laid out from fine to coarse (espresso, moka, pour-over, drip, French press, cold brew) with the buyer's brewer highlighted. It shows why a bag 'ground for French press' is wrong for an espresso machine without any numbers; the micron ranges behind it are crowd-sourced and disagree, so the picture carries the order, not the figures. Used today by every grind-size chart published by roasters and gear sites; Honest Coffee Guide and I'm Not a Barista are the ones most copied. [52] [53] [54]

## Words you will meet

- **Roast date**. The day the beans were roasted, printed by roasters who want you to know; different from the best-before date, which the packer sets months out.
- **Best-before date**. A quality date the packer chooses, usually 6 to 12 months after packing, that tells you nothing about when the coffee was roasted.
- **Degassing**. The release of carbon dioxide from roasted beans over the days and weeks after roasting, which has to settle before espresso brews evenly.
- **Resting**. Waiting a few days after the roast date before brewing, so the gas has left; longer for espresso and for light roasts.
- **Washed**. A process where the fruit is removed and the seed rinsed clean before drying, giving a clean, bright cup.
- **Natural**. A process where the whole cherry dries around the seed, giving a heavy, sweet, fruity cup.
- **Honey process**. A process where the skin is removed but the sticky fruit layer stays on during drying; nothing to do with honey the food.
- **Anaerobic**. Fermenting the cherries or seeds in sealed tanks without oxygen, which produces intense tropical and wine-like flavours.
- **Wet-hulled**. An Indonesian process where the papery husk is stripped while the seed is still wet, giving an earthy, heavy cup.
- **Single origin**. Coffee from one country, region or farm, which tastes of that place and changes with each harvest.
- **Microlot**. A small, separately kept lot from one farm or one part of a farm, usually the roaster's most expensive coffee.
- **Blend**. Coffee from several origins combined to a recipe that the roaster adjusts so it tastes the same all year.
- **Agtron**. An instrument reading of roast colour on a 25 (dark) to 95 (light) scale that lets roast levels be compared across roasters.
- **Specialty coffee**. Coffee that scored 80 or more out of 100 from trained tasters with few defects; the trade's own quality line, not a marketing word.
- **Cupping**. The trade's standard tasting method, brewing ground coffee in a bowl and scoring it; the score is the cup score.
- **Q grader**. A taster certified to score coffee on the trade's scale.
- **MASL**. Metres above sea level, the growing elevation printed on specialty bags.
- **Variety**. The cultivated type of coffee plant, such as Bourbon or Gesha, as grape variety is to wine.
- **Arabica**. The species behind nearly all specialty coffee: sweeter, more acidic, about half the caffeine of robusta.
- **Robusta**. The hardier, cheaper species with roughly double the caffeine and more bitterness, used in Italian espresso blends and instant coffee.
- **Crema**. The tan foam on top of an espresso, made of gas and oils; thicker with robusta and with fresher coffee.
- **Omni roast**. A roast the roaster says works for both espresso and filter brewing.
- **Swiss Water**. A decaffeination method that uses only water and carbon filters, no solvents.
- **Sugar cane decaf (EA)**. Decaffeination using ethyl acetate made from fermented sugar cane; common for Colombian decafs.
- **Past crop**. Green coffee older than about a year from harvest, which roasts into flat, papery or woody cups.
- **Strength number**. A brand's own 1-to-5 or 1-to-10 figure for how dark the roast is; not caffeine and not comparable across brands.
- **Nespresso Original and Vertuo**. Two incompatible capsule systems from the same company; Original pods come from many brands, Vertuo pods carry a barcode and come only from Nespresso.
- **One-way valve**. A small vent on the bag that lets carbon dioxide out and keeps oxygen out, so coffee can be bagged right after roasting.

## Where we made a call

- Roast level words are not comparable across roasters, and even the instrument bands disagree by about ten Agtron points between sources. (confidence high). Sources disagree. Roasted Record calls the words 'house dialects, not standards'. Cloud City puts light at 70 to 85 and Coffee Review at above 80. We present the scale direction as fact and all bands as rough, and never filter on an Agtron cut-off. [8] [5] [6]
- Sources place peak flavour at about 3 to 21 days after roasting; espresso and light roasts sit later; decline clear within one to two months. (confidence medium). Sources disagree. We show the peak as a gradient rather than a single window; all sources agree on direction. Trade: 5 to 21 days (timeline: days 5 to 14); Monastery: 3 to 14 days; Simon & Bearns: 7 to 21 days for espresso; Hoffmann: buy within 2 to 4 weeks. [29] [30] [25] [33] [31]
- Roast level does not noticeably change caffeine: roasting loses in the range of 5 to 10 percent by weight; light gives slightly more per scoop. (confidence high). Both sources agree on mechanism; they give the scoop difference as 'slightly' and as 8 to 10 mg per tablespoon. We say 'about the same' and give no percentage on the card. [43] [44]
- Robusta carries roughly twice the caffeine of arabica; the exact percentage ranges differ between sources. (confidence high). Sources disagree. Lavazza gives arabica 0.8 to 1.4 percent and robusta 1.7 to 4.0 percent; Coffee Hero gives 1.2 to 1.5 and 2.2 to 2.7. We print 'roughly double' and no single figure. [41] [42]
- The UK and Italian 'strength' or 'intensity' number measures roast darkness on a brand-specific scale, not caffeine. (confidence high). [45] [46]
- US federal law requires no quality date on packaged food other than infant formula, so a roast date is the seller's choice. (confidence high). Read directly on the FDA's page after the USDA FSIS page was blocked. [60]
- EU rules require a best-before date on coffee and no roast date. (confidence low). EUR-Lex and the UK legislation mirror could not be fetched by any method in this run; the claim rests on a search summary of Regulation 1169/2011 and a secondary labelling guide. Treat as unverified until the regulation text is read. [14] [15]
- The US 'at least 97 percent removed' decaf line is a convention, not a codified FDA rule; the EU's 0.1 percent by weight is law. (confidence medium). Sources disagree. Wikipedia and Frequent Coffee attribute 97 percent to FDA standards; a search summary of Driftaway and Tasting Table says it is an industry expectation not codified in regulation. We describe it as the US convention. [16] [17]
- 'Specialty' still means 80 points or above, even though the SCA replaced the scoring form with the Coffee Value Assessment in November 2024. (confidence medium). The CVA separates description from scoring and adds physical and extrinsic assessments; sources do not yet say how its affective score maps to the old 80 line. We keep 80 as the buyer-facing threshold and label scores by instrument. [12] [13] [10] [11]
- Green coffee counts as fresh for about a year after harvest and as past crop by 18 to 24 months. (confidence medium). Sources disagree. Perfect Daily Grind's sources say six to twelve months and 'past crop' once the next harvest lands; Green Coffee Collective says 18 to 24 months. We give both ends. [50] [51]
- Published grind-size micron ranges are crowd-sourced and disagree; the buyer-facing fact is the brewer the grind was made for, not a number. (confidence high). Sources disagree. Beans & Barista show the two most-copied charts disagree on French press (690 to 1,300 versus 1,000 to 1,200 microns) and that only UC Davis's drip measurements are peer-reviewed. We chart the order of brewers and quote microns only as 'about'. [54] [52] [53]
- Flavour family as a four-value split is our construction, collapsing the wheel's nine centre-ring groups and retailers' five-bucket filters into novice-answerable choices. (confidence medium). Counter Culture already filters on five buckets and Onyx on a traditional-to-modern slider, which suggests the collapse is how retailers think too. The exact grouping (where 'spices' and 'sweet' go) is ours. [3] [22] [21]
- Mass-market listing fields were not verified directly; Amazon, Walmart, Tesco and Sainsbury's pages were blocked, so field presence rests on brand pages and search summaries. (confidence medium). The specialty side (Onyx, Counter Culture, Tim Wendelboe, Trade) was read directly. Field hints for Amazon-type pages should be checked by the scraper before being relied on. [26] [27] [28] [24]

## References

1. [SCA: How to Use the Coffee Taster's Flavor Wheel in Eight Steps](https://sca.coffee/sca-news/how-to-use-the-flavor-wheel-in-eight-steps-ab2hy) (standards body). Supports: The flavour wheel is the SCA's standard sensory tool, built with World Coffee Research (page read via search summary only).
2. [Daily Coffee News: SCAA Unveils a Whole New Coffee Taster's Flavor Wheel (2016)](https://dailycoffeenews.com/2016/01/19/scaa-unveils-a-whole-new-coffee-tasters-flavor-wheel/) (specialist review). Supports: The 2016 wheel rests on the WCR Sensory Lexicon of 110 attributes.
3. [Coffeester: Coffee Taster's Flavor Wheel, History, Structure and How to Use It](https://www.coffeester.com/knowledge/sensory/flavor-wheel) (primer). Supports: The nine centre-ring categories; The wheel is read from the centre outward, general to specific.
4. [Gevi: Coffee Flavor Wheel Explained](https://gevi.com/blogs/coffee-knowledge/coffee-flavor-wheel-guide) (primer). Supports: The nine centre-ring categories (second source).
5. [Cloud City Coffee: Agtron Roast Value](https://www.cloudcitycoffee.com/blogs/notes-from-the-roaster/agtron-roast-value) (primer). Supports: Agtron scale runs 25 to 95 with darker coffee at lower numbers; One roaster's bands: light 70 to 85, medium 60 to 69, dark 50 to 59.
6. [Coffee Review: Understanding roast definitions for coffee](https://www.coffeereview.com/roast-definitions/) (specialist review). Supports: Whole-bean/ground slash format, e.g. 55/68; Named bands: light above 80 down to very dark 25 to 40; Roast name assigned from the average of the two readings.
7. [Coffee Review: Interpreting Coffee Reviews](https://www.coffeereview.com/interpret-coffee/) (specialist review). Supports: Ratings run 50 to 100 with bands 95-100 exceptional, 90-94 very good to outstanding, 85-89 good; Roast level is reported from a spectrophotometer reading (Agtron).
8. [Roasted Record: What 'Light Roast' Actually Means, Agtron and How We Measure Roast Level](https://www.roastedrecord.com/blogs/news/agtron-roast-levels-explained) (primer). Supports: Roast words are house dialects, not standards; A third set of rough Agtron bands.
9. [World Coffee Research variety catalog: Geisha (Panama)](https://varieties.worldcoffeeresearch.org/varieties/geisha-panama) (standards body). Supports: Gesha is rated exceptional at high altitude with low yield; Optimal altitude is latitude-relative: above 1,600 m near the equator, above 1,000 m beyond 15 degrees; Varieties are catalogued like a standard.
10. [Daily Coffee News: SCA Officially Adopts New Cupping Forms and Standards (5 Nov 2024)](https://dailycoffeenews.com/2024/11/05/sca-officially-adopts-new-cupping-forms-and-standards/) (specialist review). Supports: SCA standards 102, 103 and 104 (2024) superseded the 2004 cupping form and protocol.
11. [MTPak Coffee: Coffee Value Assessment, understanding the new SCA protocol](https://mtpak.coffee/2023/09/coffee-value-assessment-sca-new-protocol/) (primer). Supports: The CVA has four assessments: physical, descriptive, affective, extrinsic.
12. [Wikipedia: Specialty coffee](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specialty_coffee) (primer). Supports: Specialty means 80 points or above on the SCA cupping form; 0 to 5 defects per 350 g; Bands: 80-84.99 very good, 85-89.99 excellent, 90-100 outstanding.
13. [Bean Box: What Is Specialty Coffee? The 80-Point Score Explained](https://beanbox.com/blog/what-is-specialty-coffee) (primer). Supports: 80+ with no more than 5 primary defects per 350 g, judged by Q graders.
14. [Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2011/1169/oj/eng) (regulator). Supports: Best-before is a mandatory particular and no roast date is required (not fetched; search summary only, see judgements).
15. [eClarion: Best Before and Use By Dates, Rules for Food Labels](https://www.eclarion.com/en/support/resources/best-before-use-by-date-rules/) (primer). Supports: Non-perishable products such as coffee carry a best-before, not a use-by; No general production or roasting date requirement.
16. [Wikipedia: Decaffeination](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decaffeination) (primer). Supports: At least 97 percent caffeine reduction under US FDA standards; Less than 0.1 percent caffeine in decaffeinated coffee and 0.3 percent in instant (Canada); A 473 ml cup of decaf contained 8.6 to 13.9 mg caffeine; Methods: solvent (dichloromethane, ethyl acetate), Swiss Water, triglyceride, supercritical CO2.
17. [Frequent Coffee: Decaf Deep Dive, U.S. vs EU Standards](https://frequentcoffee.com/blogs/journal/decaf-deep-dive-us-vs-eu-decaf-standards) (primer). Supports: US: at least 97 percent of original caffeine removed; EU: no more than 0.1 percent caffeine by weight in roasted coffee; The two measures are not directly comparable.
18. [Genuine Origin: What is Decaf Coffee? A Guide to Decaffeination](https://blog.genuineorigin.com/2025/06/what-is-decaf-coffee-a-guide-to-decaffeination/) (primer). Supports: Sugar-cane ethyl acetate is common in Colombia and keeps sweetness; CO2 process is expensive and keeps complex flavours; Swiss Water removes 99.9 percent while keeping origin flavour.
19. [Onyx Coffee Lab: Geometry (product page)](https://onyxcoffeelab.com/products/geometry) (spec sheet). Supports: Onyx publishes origin, process, variety, elevation (1950 MASL), cup score (87), Ground Agtron (#130), caffeine, grind microns, transparency pricing.
20. [Onyx Coffee Lab: Mexico Finca Santa Cruz Gesha (product page)](https://onyxcoffeelab.com/products/mexico-finca-santa-cruz-gesha) (spec sheet). Supports: Farm, producer, elevation (1650 MASL), variety (Geisha), process, cup score (86.75), harvest month and lot size are printed per coffee; Ground Agtron #130 on the gourmet scale.
21. [Onyx Coffee Lab: coffee collection filters](https://onyxcoffeelab.com/collections/coffee) (spec sheet). Supports: A specialty roaster lets buyers filter on roast level, origin, caffeine (decaf/full/partial), profile, process and variety.
22. [Counter Culture Coffee: coffee collection](https://counterculturecoffee.com/collections/coffee) (spec sheet). Supports: Filters include flavor profile buckets (fruity, chocolatey, earthy, floral, nutty), processing method, coffee type (blend, single-origin, decaf) and roast level; Cards show origin, tasting notes and roast level but no elevation, variety or roast date.
23. [Tim Wendelboe: Tatmara (product page)](https://timwendelboe.no/products/tatmara) (spec sheet). Supports: Producer, region, country, variety codes (74110, 74112), process and harvest month (December 2025) are printed; Altitude and roast date are not shown.
24. [Trade Coffee: 78 Blend (product page)](https://www.drinktrade.com/products/the-78-blend) (retail listing). Supports: Grind is a variant selector with eleven brewer options; Marketplace listings carry roast level, tasting notes, process, origin, variety and elevation range; Bag size is stated with cups per bag (10.93 oz, about 20 cups).
25. [Trade Coffee: Coffee freshness explained, what roast date actually means](https://www.drinktrade.com/blogs/education/coffee-freshness-explained-what-roast-date-actually-means) (primer). Supports: Text: best 5 to 21 days after roast; timeline: days 5 to 14 peak, oxidising faster beyond 30 days; Best-by dates are an arbitrary 6 to 12 month window; Grocery coffee often lacks a roast date and may sit for months.
26. [Peet's Coffee: Major Dickason's Blend (product page)](https://www.peets.com/products/major-dickasons-blend) (retail listing). Supports: Publishes roast, brightness, body as 0 to 100 scales, grind variants (Whole Bean, Drip, French Press, Espresso), continent-level origin, process; Freshness is stated as a policy ('roasted Monday-Friday'), not a date.
27. [Flavia: Lavazza Super Crema (product page)](https://www.flavia.com/products/lavazza-super-crema) (retail listing). Supports: Italian blends are listed with an intensity score (7/10), roast level and an Arabica/Robusta blend statement; Single-serve packs state grams per pack (9 g).
28. [Taylors of Harrogate Rich Italian across UK grocer listings (mcgrocer, Sainsbury's, Tesco)](https://mcgrocer.com/products/taylors-rich-italian-ground-coffee) (retail listing). Supports: UK grocer listings carry strength number (4), '100% Arabica', certification, brew suggestion ('Cafetiere or Filter'), no roast date (search summary).
29. [Monastery Coffee: How Long After Roasting Is Coffee Best?](https://monastery.coffee/blogs/news/how-long-after-roasting-is-coffee-best) (primer). Supports: Espresso needs 5 to 7 days of rest; pour-over 4 to 10; Light roasts need 7 to 10 days, dark 3 to 5; Peak within 3 to 14 days; loses quality after 2 to 4 weeks.
30. [Simon & Bearns: Roast Date vs. Best Before Date for Coffee](https://simonandbearns.coffee/en/blogs/kaffeeblog/roast-date-vs-best-before-date-what-really-matters-for-coffee) (primer). Supports: Espresso optimal 7 to 21 days and stable about 6 to 8 weeks; Filter optimal 3 to 14 days, good for 4 to 6 weeks; Darker roasts degas faster, lighter slower.
31. [Home Cafe by Charlie: How to Dial In Light Espresso](https://homecafebycharlie.com/how-to-dial-in-light-espresso/) (enthusiast community). Supports: Higher elevation gives denser beans that need more heat and a finer grind; Espresso range 90 to 96°C; Use beans 7 to about 40 days off roast for espresso.
32. [Seattle Coffee Gear: Working with Light Roast Espresso](https://www.seattlecoffeegear.com/blogs/learning-center/working-with-light-roast-espresso) (primer). Supports: Roasting breaks down bean structure; lighter roasts are denser and harder to extract; Light roasts want 201 to 204°F, a finer grind and a 1:2.5 to 1:3 ratio.
33. [WBUR Here & Now: James Hoffmann on how to make great coffee at home (24 Oct 2025)](https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2025/10/24/how-to-make-coffee-at-home) (specialist review). Supports: Buy within two to four weeks of roasting and use within another three to four; Flavour drops within 24 to 48 hours of grinding; Grocery stores can have older coffee on the shelf; Look for a distinct place and traceability.
34. [Headcount Coffee: The Real Shelf Life of Whole Beans vs. Ground Coffee](https://www.headcountcoffee.com/blogs/coffee-news/the-real-shelf-life-of-whole-beans-vs-ground-coffee) (primer). Supports: Whole beans peak for two to four weeks; ground coffee for days; Grinding increases surface area by more than ten thousand percent.
35. [Coffee Tower: Coffee Oxidation and Staling (citing Marin et al. 2008, Food Chemistry)](https://coffee.towerofrecords.com/coffee/oxidation-staling) (primer). Supports: Whole beans lose about 50 percent of primary volatile aroma compounds within 2 weeks without sealing; Ground coffee stales within hours through lipid oxidation; CO2 carries aroma compounds out as it degasses.
36. [Tasting Table: The Roast Date On Your Bag Of Coffee Isn't The Same As A Best By Date](https://www.tastingtable.com/1165590/the-roast-date-on-your-bag-of-coffee-isnt-the-same-as-a-best-by-date/) (primer). Supports: Mass-produced coffees such as Folgers show only a best-by date.
37. [Roastar: Degassing Valve Guide for Coffee Packaging](https://www.roastar.com/blog/what-you-really-need-to-know-about-degassing-valves) (spec sheet). Supports: The valve lets CO2 escape and blocks oxygen.
38. [Plitek: Coffee Valve technical resource](https://www.plitek.com/resources/technical-resources/coffee-valve/) (spec sheet). Supports: Roasted beans release large amounts of CO2 for several days.
39. [Achilles Coffee Roasters: Processing Deep Dive, Washed vs. Natural vs. Honey](https://achillescoffeeroasters.com/blogs/specialty-coffee-blog/processing-deep-dive-washed-vs-natural-vs-honey) (primer). Supports: Washed: fruit removed and rinsed, clean bright cup; Natural: whole cherry dried, bold fruity sweet cup; Honey: mucilage left on, syrupy body and balanced acidity.
40. [Seattle Coffee Gear: Anaerobic Coffee Processing](https://www.seattlecoffeegear.com/blogs/learning-center/anaerobic-coffee-processing) (primer). Supports: Anaerobic means sealed, oxygen-free tanks before or during drying; Typical flavours: tropical fruit, wine or cider notes, vivid florals.
41. [Lavazza USA: Arabica and Robusta Coffee Beans, Origins and Taste](https://www.lavazzausa.com/en/recipes-and-coffee-hacks/arabica-robusta-meaning-vocabulary-curiosities) (spec sheet). Supports: Arabica 0.8 to 1.4 percent caffeine, robusta 1.7 to 4.0 percent by dry weight; Robusta is more bitter with heavier body.
42. [Coffee Hero: Arabica vs Robusta Coffee](https://coffeehero.com.au/blogs/news/arabica-vs-robusta-coffee-difference) (primer). Supports: Arabica 1.2 to 1.5 percent caffeine, robusta 2.2 to 2.7 percent; Robusta's bitterness comes from higher chlorogenic acid (7 to 10 percent vs 5.5 to 8).
43. [Valor Coffee: Does Light Roast Coffee Really Have More Caffeine Than Dark Roast?](https://valor.coffee/blog/does-light-roast-coffee-really-have-more-caffeine-than-dark-roast) (primer). Supports: By weight light and dark carry about the same caffeine; Dark beans are larger and less dense so a scoop holds fewer.
44. [Podium Coffee Club: Light Roast vs Dark Roast Caffeine, The Real Numbers](https://podiumcoffeeclub.com/blogs/blog/light-roast-vs-dark-roast-caffeine) (primer). Supports: Roasting loses only 5 to 10 percent of caffeine; A tablespoon of light roast weighs 5.5 to 6 g, dark roast 5 to 5.5 g.
45. [Cannonball Coffee: 'Strength 5 Coffee' doesn't mean anything](https://cannonballcoffee.co.uk/blogs/cannonball-coffee-blog/coffee-strength-numbers) (primer). Supports: The UK strength scale measures roast darkness, not flavour strength or caffeine.
46. [Coffee Judge: Coffee Strength Guide](https://www.coffeejudge.co.uk/coffee-strength-guide) (primer). Supports: Strength depends on roasting time, not caffeine; a strength 3 can have more caffeine than a strength 5; Scales are brand-specific.
47. [Meraki: Single-Origin vs Blend for Espresso](https://www.merakitech.com/blogs/coffee-knowledge/single-origin-vs-blend-for-espresso-which-shots-better) (primer). Supports: Blends are crafted to taste the same across seasons; Single origins are a seasonal snapshot that changes crop to crop; Blends hold up to steamed milk; single origins suit black espresso.
48. [Common Room Roasters: Blends vs Single Origin Coffee](https://www.commonroomroasters.com/blogs/specialty-coffee/blended-coffee-vs-single-origin-coffee) (primer). Supports: Blends aim at balance, consistency and depth; Once a harvest is gone it is gone until next year and flavours shift; Blends for daily espresso and milk drinks.
49. [MTPak Coffee: The impact of altitude on growing and roasting coffee](https://mtpak.coffee/2021/10/impact-altitude-growing-roasting-coffee/) (primer). Supports: Higher altitude gives denser beans, generally better quality; Higher altitude gives more acidity and smoother mouthfeel; lower gives heavier body; Most arabica grows at 1,000 to 1,800 m; robusta below 600 m.
50. [Perfect Daily Grind: How long does green coffee stay fresh for?](https://perfectdailygrind.com/2022/04/how-long-does-green-coffee-stay-fresh/) (primer). Supports: Roasters consider green coffee fresh for six to twelve months; Past crop is associated with cereal and aged flavours.
51. [Green Coffee Collective glossary: Past Crop](https://greencoffeecollective.com/pages/glossary/past-crop) (primer). Supports: Past crop is generally understood as 18 to 24 months from harvest; Past-crop cups taste flat, papery, woody or hay-like.
52. [Honest Coffee Guide: Coffee Grind Size Chart](https://honestcoffeeguide.com/coffee-grind-size-chart/) (enthusiast community). Supports: Espresso 180 to 380 microns, pour over 410 to 930, French press 690 to 1,300; The ranges are crowd-sourced from enthusiasts.
53. [I'm Not a Barista: Coffee grind size chart](https://notabarista.org/grind-size-chart/) (enthusiast community). Supports: Espresso 180 to 380 µm, V60 400 to 950 µm, French press 1,000 to 1,200 µm.
54. [Beans & Barista: Coffee Grind Size Chart, What Has Actually Been Measured](https://beansandbarista.com/blog/coffee-grind-size-chart/) (specialist review). Supports: The popular micron charts disagree and are crowd-sourced; Only UC Davis drip measurements (770, 928, 1,115 µm) are peer-reviewed.
55. [Brewed Barista: Coffee Grind Size Guide](https://www.brewedbarista.com/guides/coffee-grind-size-guide) (primer). Supports: Pre-ground coffee is ground for drip machines and is far too coarse for espresso.
56. [Coffee Craft Guide: Nespresso Original vs Vertuo](https://www.coffeecraftguide.com/nespresso-original-vs-vertuo/) (primer). Supports: Vertuo reads a barcode on each pod and only Nespresso sells Vertuo pods at scale; Dozens of brands make Original-compatible pods.
57. [WhichCapsule: Nespresso Vertuo Pod Alternatives](https://whichcapsule.com/us/blog/best-alternatives-nespresso-vertuo-pods) (enthusiast community). Supports: Vertuo lacks the broad third-party ecosystem that Original has.
58. [SCA Standard 310-2021, Home Coffee Brewers: Specifications and Test Methods (PDF hosted by CoffeeGeek)](https://coffeegeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/SCAGoldCupStandard.pdf) (standards body). Supports: Standard brew ratio of 55 g of coffee per 1.000 kg of fresh water; Brewing slurry temperature of 90 to 96°C; Test coffee: 100% arabica at SCA/Agtron roast colour tile #55 to #65, at least 1 to 1.5 weeks off roast.
59. [Podium Coffee Club: Espresso Brew Ratio Explained, 1:2, 1:3 and Beyond](https://podiumcoffeeclub.com/blogs/blog/espresso-brew-ratio) (enthusiast community). Supports: An 18 g dose yields a 36 g shot at the standard 1:2 ratio (blind-check confirmed, not fetched by author).
60. [US FDA: How to Cut Food Waste and Maintain Food Safety](https://www.fda.gov/food/consumers/how-cut-food-waste-and-maintain-food-safety) (regulator). Supports: Except for infant formula, Federal law or regulation does not require quality-based date labels on packaged food.