What Is Aged Coffee?

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Video: What Is Aged Coffee?

Video: What Is Aged Coffee?
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What Is Aged Coffee?
What Is Aged Coffee?
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Aging improves the taste of coffee beans, but older people are not always better. In recent years, there has been a trend towards aging coffee, which can be compared to the thesis: Matured wine is great. Aged whiskey is better!

While it sounds great, it's not necessarily true that all types of coffee will be good just because they're aged. The maturation of coffee however, it is not entirely new.

Here is a little of the history of aged coffee, expectations and truths.

When coffee first came to Europe around 1500, it was aged. At that time, coffee supplies to Europe came from the port of Moka in present-day Yemen. Importing coffee into Europe required a long voyage by sea, so naturally there was time to grow old. Weather and salty sea air have significantly changed coffee.

Europeans preferred it to the taste of fresh coffee. In fact, when the Suez Canal was opened in 1869, Europeans largely rejected fresh coffee, which was already available to them, in favor of the old one.

Green coffee
Green coffee

This led to the coffee being deliberately "aged" for six months or more in large open warehouses in the ports of carriage. This place provided plenty of salty sea air to mimic the aging process that Europeans at the time were accustomed to.

Over time, the desire for matured coffee has faded, and fresh coffee beans have become the preferred type of coffee in Europe.

Similarly, the US relationship with aged coffee has changed over the years as fresh coffee has become more affordable. In recent years, however, the trend of deliberate aging of coffee is growing in Europe, America, Taiwan and elsewhere.

Expectations

Coffee
Coffee

Many traders have had high expectations for aged coffee as a valuable product similar to aged wine or whiskey. While this is true for some coffees, others are simply stagnant, old coffees are repackaged as a special product.

Moreover, some people claim that every coffee matures well. This is very controversial. It is also said that the older the coffee, the better. Once again - this is very doubtful.

The truth

Only some types of coffee are suitable for this procedure. They must age under suitable conditions, otherwise they lose the oils that give the aroma and taste of coffee. In this case, the coffee simply becomes stale.

Also, most experts agree that coffee it does not continue to improve with age as it simply loses more of its flavor. So if you buy coffee that is eight years old, you may not want to drink it!

The aged coffee not the same as old coffee. Genuinely aged coffee is carefully stored, usually for six months to three years. It is monitored regularly and the grains are rotated to distribute the moisture. This also prevents the appearance of mold and rot.

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