Does a roaster print the roast date on every bag? Only if it chooses to. No US rule requires a roast date, so most supermarket bags carry a "best by" date and nothing else, and a "best by" cannot be worked back to the roast day. Below: where to find the roast date and the origin line, which roasters on our shelf stamp every bag, how long coffee keeps according to the people who publish a figure, and how to open, reseal and store a bag. 5 minutes.
Turn the bag over. The answers, when the roaster prints them, are usually on the back or the bottom.
The National Coffee Association puts it in one line: "Coffee begins to lose freshness almost immediately after roasting." It names four enemies: "air, moisture, heat, and light." Over time, it says, roasted beans "will noticeably lose aroma," and the brewed coffee "will lack flavor and may taste stale."
Freshly roasted beans also give off carbon dioxide for a while. That is what the small one-way valve on a roaster's bag is for, and it is why Quills Coffee says it ships "after an initial resting period to degas."
We have not run a staling test of our own. These are other people's figures, in their words.
| Coffee | Retains freshness | Who says so |
|---|---|---|
| Unopened package, beans or ground | "Until the best-by date" | NCA |
| Roasted beans, room temperature | 1–3 weeks | NCA |
| Roasted beans, refrigerated | 2 weeks | NCA |
| Roasted beans, frozen | 3–4 months | NCA |
| Ground coffee, room temperature | 1–2 weeks | NCA |
| Red Bay's own beans | "ideally within 8 weeks of the roast date" | Red Bay Coffee |
The NCA figures are from the National Coffee Association and assume "opened coffee has been transferred into airtight containers." Red Bay's is from its FAQ. Both read September 28, 2026. They don't agree, and we are not going to pretend to settle it: a trade association is describing coffee in general, a roaster is describing its own bags.
Correction, September 28, 2026: this page used to carry a week-by-week timeline, percentages for lost aroma ("about 40% by day 30"), a claim that ground coffee oxidizes "about 5x faster," and statements about decaf, cold brew and grocery-store coffee. We could not find a source for any of them, so they are gone.
A roast date is a fact: the day the coffee was roasted. A "best by" date is an estimate of how long it keeps. The NCA's table treats an unopened package as fresh "until the best-by date"; a roast date lets you apply whichever window you trust, the NCA's, the roaster's or your own.
Our preference, and it is only that: buy bags that print the roast date, because then you know what you're comparing.
The NCA's five rules, in its words: "Buy smaller batches of freshly roasted coffee" ("enough for one or two weeks"). "Take it out of the retail packaging." "Store it in opaque containers." "Keep it in a dark and cool location." "Wait to grind your coffee beans."
Bag or canister? The NCA says retail packaging is often "not ideally designed for long-term storage" and recommends an airtight container. Roasters' bags vary: Red Bay describes its own as "a resealable pouch with a one way degassing valve to keep your coffee fresh." If your bag reseals and has a valve, it is doing the canister's job; if it doesn't, move the beans to something airtight and opaque.
Fridge and freezer. The sources disagree. The NCA: "There are differing views on whether freezing (or refrigerating) coffee is a good idea," because coffee takes up moisture, odors and tastes from the air around it; if you do it, "be sure to use a truly airtight container," take out "no more than a week at a time," and put the rest back "before any condensation forms." Red Bay: "Avoid putting your coffee in the refrigerator or freezer as this can cause your beans to become stale faster." For a bag you'll finish in a few weeks, a dark cupboard away from the oven satisfies both.
Whole bean until you brew. The NCA and Red Bay both say to grind the amount you need just before brewing. If you don't own a grinder yet, the best home coffee grinders starts at a $79 hand grinder.
Most roaster bags are a foil or kraft pouch with a one-way valve (the small plastic disc near the top or on the back). The valve lets CO₂ out and no air in, which is what lets a roaster seal coffee soon after roasting.
You don't have to take anyone's window on trust. Buy one bag with a recent roast date, brew it next to whatever is on your counter, and brew it again two weeks later. Your own cup is the test that matters for your kitchen.
We don't roast coffee. Each roaster ships your bag itself, so it never sits in a warehouse of ours. What each one says about its own schedule, read from its own site on September 28, 2026:
All four are on the bean shelf; the roast-to-order bags have their own. Prices are the store's on September 28, 2026 and can change. We have not placed test orders to time any of these schedules.
The National Coffee Association's table gives roasted beans kept airtight at room temperature 1–3 weeks and ground coffee 1–2 weeks. Roasters set their own windows: Red Bay Coffee says its beans are best "ideally within 8 weeks of the roast date." The roast date is what lets you apply either. If you buy whole bean, a burr grinder lets you grind right before brewing.
A roast date is the day the coffee was roasted. A "best by" date is the packer's estimate of how long it keeps. With only a "best by" date you can't work back to the roast day, because the bag doesn't say what shelf life the packer assumed.
The National Coffee Association's answer: after the peak of freshness, most roasted beans "won't expire in the sense that they're unsafe to brew and drink, unless they have been exposed to moisture and develop mold." They do decline: they "noticeably lose aroma," and the brewed coffee "will lack flavor and may taste stale."
The sources disagree. The National Coffee Association says "there are differing views" and that, if you do, the container must be "truly airtight" and you should take out no more than a week's worth at a time. Red Bay Coffee says to avoid both. For beans you'll drink within a few weeks, an airtight, opaque container in a cool, dark place satisfies both.
The National Coffee Association gives opened roasted beans, moved to an airtight container at room temperature, 1–3 weeks. It also suggests buying "enough for one or two weeks" at a time rather than stockpiling.
Whole bean. The National Coffee Association's table gives ground coffee 1–2 weeks against 1–3 for beans, and both it and Red Bay Coffee say to grind just before brewing. See our brewing guide for grind sizes by method.
Cut or tear straight across the top, above the zip strip if the bag has one, and never through the one-way valve. Squeeze the air out and zip it, or roll the top down three or four turns and clip it. Keep the beans out of light. Full steps above.
Only the ones that choose to: no US rule requires a roast date, so most supermarket bags carry a "best by" date and nothing else. We can only speak for the roasters whose bags and pages we have read. Red Bay Coffee says its pouches come "with the roast date stamped on the back." Frequent Coffee stamps a roast date on every bag and prints a 3-to-10-day resting window next to it (we checked our listings with them on September 29, 2026). Quills and Dekáf roast to order, so the roast date is within days of your order date by design. If a brand you are looking at is not on our shelf, we have not read its bag: look at the back-of-bag photo on the maker's product page, or ask them. If the only date you can find is a "best by," the bag will not tell you when it was roasted.
Bigger brands, in their own words (each read from the brand's own site on October 6, 2026; we have not handled these bags): Counter Culture says "We print both on our bags, but the roasted on date is the one you will want to consider." Peet's says its grocery coffees are "stamped with their roast date." Stumptown tells buyers to "finish a 12oz bag within about a month of the roast date," and Intelligentsia recommends its coffee "within three months of the roast date"; both pages assume you can read a roast date, though neither says where on the bag it is printed. Fréscopa (Lehi, Utah): we found no roast-date statement anywhere on frescopa.coffee, so we cannot say whether its bags carry one; ask them before you buy. Starbucks at-home bags: its freshness page does not mention a roast date, and we have not read a bag. Where a brand is silent, assume a "best by" only.
Look for two lines on the label: a roast date (when) and an origin line (where it was grown: a country, region, farm or co-op, or "blend"). The roaster's name and city tell you where it was roasted. A bag with only a "best by" date and a brand name doesn't answer either question. Every bag on our shelf ships from the roaster that made it, and its page says where it was roasted. More above.