Just because coffee is freshly roasted doesn't mean it tastes better; in fact, the opposite is true. If you brew a cup of coffee that was roasted just a few days ago, it will most likely result in an unbalanced, gassy drink with unregulated acidity and little flavor complexity. Proper degassing is the solution.

What does it mean to degas coffee?

During the roasting process, as the bean changes from green to the familiar brown color, a series of chemical transformations occur, producing gases, especially Carbon Dioxide. This gas gets trapped inside the bean and is slowly released over the following days. If we don't allow this to happen before brewing the coffee, what we'll get in the cup will be mostly this gas, which envelops the coffee itself and prevents its attributes from being extracted.

 

How to degas?

Ideally, leave the coffee in its original bag with the valve, which allows the CO₂ to escape while preventing oxygen from entering and causing oxidation. Keep it in a cool, dry, and dark place, preferably inside a cabinet. 

The necessary resting time for each coffee depends on the type of roast, the bean, its processing/preparation, but especially on the extraction method for which it will be used:

• For filter coffees, it's ideal to let the coffee rest for a minimum of 5 days from the roast date.

• For espresso coffees, it's optimal to degas for at least 10 days.

The extraction method changes the required rest period because coffee behaves very differently.

In espresso, this gas is a practical problem. The sealed extraction means the CO₂ has nowhere to go: backpressure is generated, it produces excessive crema, and extractions will not be consistent. On a sensory level, acidity can appear very exaggerated, while there will be a gassy and bitter roasted taste, without us being able to perceive the coffee's true expressiveness.

In filter, the effect is less dramatic. After the first pour, or what we know as blooming, we can observe bubbles coming out of the coffee: this is the CO₂ being expelled, so it doesn't create the same backpressure as in espresso. However, we still won't perceive the full expressiveness of that coffee without proper resting. This CO₂ can act as a physical barrier, making it difficult for water to uniformly wet the coffee particles. Consequently, the extraction is usually less efficient and less homogeneous.

 

Signs to identify resting

We can tell if it needs more resting if:

• the coffee bubbles too much, whether it's dripping from the portafilter in espresso or during blooming in filter;

• the crema is very foamy in the espresso;

• the coffee bed is very bubbly in the filter.

But be careful, more resting is not always better. While coffee is safe to consume several months after roasting, if it rests too long, it loses attributes. We can tell it has rested too much by:

• lack of crema in espresso;

• very light body;

• blooming does not release bubbles in the filter

• cup with less intensity, complexity, and definition

And most importantly: make sure your coffee is labeled with its roast date. You can find the roast date of your Right Side coffees in the lower right corner of the label.